What motivated you to start doing cardio?

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Replies

  • Jugie12
    Jugie12 Posts: 282 Member
    What motivated me to START doing cardio?

    The promise that more exercise would let me EAT MORE!

    HAHA! I love it!
  • fenrirGrey
    fenrirGrey Posts: 110 Member
    I'm generally *decent* with cardio during the summer time (I live in Boston, so summer is not that long). Every year I'd go on 5-6 respectable hikes, kayaking, sailing and recently have started doing 30 mile bike trails twice a month.

    Strictly as a cardio endurance perspective, does it matter if you do all your cardio one day a week instead of 20+ mins daily? I reckon my weekend one day cardio is more streneous than if I did them on an alternate day basis.
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,247 Member
    Why are you looking to do cardio?

    Cardio is great for endurance and heart health, but not needed for weight loss, as it just allows you to eat more and maintain the same caloric deficit you can get from diet alone.

    'Cause who wants endurance and a healthy heart, right?

    Forget the cardio, OP!

    It would be grand to have great strength and yet collapse whilst trying to run for the bus..... now then, which bodybuilder was it that said that......
  • MinMin97
    MinMin97 Posts: 2,674 Member
    Funny thing with cardio is that it doesn't feel "good," necessarily, when first starting cardio if you are out of shape. Pick something you enjoy, to get started. For me, a nice big hiking trip is a fun, fun way to get it going...I Love to hike! What would be an activity that is cardiovascular, that you would love? Scrambling all over the rocks at the ocean at low tide? And letting the waves chase you on the shore while you play with friends or children? You'll be so delighted by your surroundings you won't realize your body has been working out! Have fun, then pretty soon you will crave the awesome feeling of working out and won't mind a basic run or trip to the gym.
  • rmarie1017
    rmarie1017 Posts: 58 Member
    I never liked cardio. I used to say that the only time you'll see me running is if it's for my life. After I quit smoking and could actually breathe like a normal person again, I decided to give it a try again. While it's still not my favorite thing, I don't hate it like I used to. It is also very motivating to see how much my endurance has improved since I quit.
  • MinMin97
    MinMin97 Posts: 2,674 Member
    You don't have to run on a treadmill. My cardio is hiking - nothing gets your heart pumping like climbing up the side of a mountain! I also really enjoy riding my bike. Every now and then, I'll do a step workout at home in my basement, but primarily the great outdoors is my cardio playground.
    Oh, yess!
  • fenrirGrey
    fenrirGrey Posts: 110 Member
    Just an overall desire to be able to do more and have more energy.

    Cardio builds stamina and makes the body function more efficiently. It also burns a lot of calories.

    The only real downside to cardio is that, well, it makes the body function more efficiently. Meaning you are burning fewer calories at rest. It's like weight loss crack - once you start it it becomes less and less effective for weight loss and you have to do more and more of it to maintain the same weight loss. Once you build up your stamina, though, you'll find strength training easier along with everything else in life. :)

    I can hike briskly up a mountain now, but I burn fewer calories doing so than when I weighed 280 and could only manage to stagger up the mountain. But I enjoy the view a lot more and don't need to eat as much food to support the hike. :)

    If I'm being honest, this was also part of the reason I was/am lazy with cardio.
  • jwlav
    jwlav Posts: 31
    I hated cardio until i started doing Muay Thai. Cardio for kickboxing is crazy! And its fun. It makes you want to be in the best shape so you dont get your *kitten* whooped! Now that is motivation
  • derbylea
    derbylea Posts: 22
    I like how I feel when I am done. Which should not be confused with I like cardio- but I do like the way I feel after.
  • Jugie12
    Jugie12 Posts: 282 Member
    It wasn't so much motivation to do cardio - I'm a girl that likes to lift, not run - but I did find a way to CONVINCE myself to walk, run or get my sweat on with the eliptical. See, I love this podcast called "Stuff You Should Know" (and it's free!) but I never get any time to myself to listen and enjoy it. I realized that cardio is ideal for that - slap on my headphones, push 'play' and i'm just peachy jogging or whatever until the podcast ends. It keeps my mind engaged and distracted so I'm not counting down the freakishly long minutes until I'm finished. I get bored with cardio like nobody's business but the podcast keeps me entertained and I learn all kinds of things, which is right up my nerdy alley!
  • maddmaddie
    maddmaddie Posts: 160 Member
    What motivated me to start cardio? Fat loss and stamina. Cardio on the treadmill can be extrememly boring when its only at one speed. I HAVE to do intervals to keep me interested. Plus, staring at a wall can also get old but thats why its good to distract myself with intervals (I always have to watch the time to know when to increase the speed).

    If I haven't exercised in awhile (*ahem* college is fattening!), it can be difficult to get back in a routine because my body has loss stamina and strength. So at first, trying to do cardio every week may be difficult but I know I'll build myself back up. :)

    Cardio exercises: Insanity!!! Jogging outside. Bicycling outside. Ellipitcal - with intervals. Treadmill - with intervals.
  • katysmelly
    katysmelly Posts: 380 Member
    I started because I quit smoking and it motivates me to stay quit if I feel how hard my lungs work.

    Plus, I like the buzz.

    I don't exercise on machines - I run or hike outside. But, I would if I could get to a gym or had a machine in my house. I'd love to have a treadmill right in front of a nice TV and I could watch TV while I exercised. That's one of my lottery fantasies.
  • millers617
    millers617 Posts: 21 Member
    For me it was all mental. I knew I needed to get over the fact that I wasn't immediately going to come out of the gate doing 40 minutes running on the elliptical. I was once athletic, so you immediately want to be a superstar.

    So, I just started off doing 7 minutes, until I could go 10, until I could go 15, then quickly progressed to 30. Because I finally got some endurance back, I started running a couple days a week. Then I forced myself to sign up for a 5k so I would HAVE to run 3X a week. Then I started feeling like I could be a superstar again, so my husband and I added in the 30 Day Shred 2-3X a week. So I run, elliptical, and 30DS to keep me from getting bored.
  • asiamonique
    asiamonique Posts: 9 Member
    I danced in college and I was constantly moving. I even worked out before the workout we would have as a team, so I use that as my motivation now when it comes to interval training and even my basic cardio workouts. :happy:
  • pazzoo
    pazzoo Posts: 6 Member
    I wanted something easy where I would sweat and burn calories with easily measurable results. The treadmill fit the bill. On days when I'm less motivated to go I tell myself it's more about enjoying listening to half an hour of my favourite music.
  • tlc12078
    tlc12078 Posts: 334 Member
    I had a problem moving for awhile myself, but once you start n keep at it, you keep going, you cant stop n I love that feeling of the go go go me, instead of I dont feel like it me.
  • Kell_Smurthwaite
    Kell_Smurthwaite Posts: 384 Member
    For me, an over-riding factor in my doing cardio is actually a financial one - I do not drive and using public transport all the time costs money, so if it's a walkable distance, I walk. I walk pretty much everywhere - to work (although I get the bus back as it's late at night and not really safe to walk home again at that time of night), to and from my kid's school, into town to go shopping or to the library or to the cinema - everywhere (unless the weather is REALLY bad!). At the gym, I only do a very small amount of cardio as a warm up and cool down (we're talking 5 minutes at each end) and concentrate on weights as I don't have access to those at home - I like to get my money's worth and I can walk or run for free outside, so in the gym, it's weights time!

    I also recently took up running (I'm doing the Couch to 5K training programme) and finally figured out why people run - it's because it feels so damned good when you STOP! LOL!

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  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    I'm generally *decent* with cardio during the summer time (I live in Boston, so summer is not that long). Every year I'd go on 5-6 respectable hikes, kayaking, sailing and recently have started doing 30 mile bike trails twice a month.

    Strictly as a cardio endurance perspective, does it matter if you do all your cardio one day a week instead of 20+ mins daily? I reckon my weekend one day cardio is more streneous than if I did them on an alternate day basis.

    I don't think it matters. Endurance building is about intensity and duration. As far as I know, 3 workouts at 30 minutes is equivalent to 1 workout at the same intensity level for 90 minutes. Just keep in mind that you probably aren't maintaining the same intensity for 90 minutes.

    But what really matters is just doing something. Family obligations prevent me from doing a lot of cardio on the weekends, but I have a 1-hour daily lunch at work and a fully-equipped free gym 100 feet from my desk, with a shower nearby. My 60-minute lunch can include up to 45 minutes of heart-pumping cardio. It's not that I *like* standing on a boring elliptical for 45 minutes, but it's my optimum opportunity to build stamina, and I used it.

    Now that my stamina has improved, I'm starting to swap in 2-3 days a week of "10-minute cardio, half-hour weights, 10-minute cardio". It's a better use of my lunch break than sitting on my butt.
  • lkarinal
    lkarinal Posts: 107
    CHALENE JOHNSON motivated me to do cardio :)
  • amccrazgrl
    amccrazgrl Posts: 315 Member
    I'm not a fan of cardio at all. I use to struggle mentally doing just 20-30 mins 3-4 times a week.
    I could only get myself to do the Arch Trainer b/c that one I didn't mind as much as treadmill.

    Now I'm living in an apartment and have to take my dog on a 20-30 min walk before I go to work so he will rest during the day. That walk is more leisurely and I only burn around 100-140 calories. We go 5 days a week. On the 6th day I take him to the dog park where he can do whatever he wants, walk around, play, stand by me. I enjoy taking him b/c he has had 2 TPLO (aka ACL) surgeries one on each back leg. That helps him build up stamina and muscle on his legs.

    I been thinking of adding a more brisk walk on a few days where I get off early to take advantage of the cooler afternoons.

    I really wish I could get him to like the Walky Dog where you attach a pole to ur bike seat and walk that way.

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