Cardio: help needed...

[D-bol]

Wanted to ask of alternatives to cardio. In the past (4-5y ago) I found treadmill or simply jogging outdoors  produced best fat burn and tone for me. Unfortunately, my knees at present are messed up...In addition, I now wheigh some 60 pounds more...So jogging is no longer an option. Bycicle too cuz it take twice as much time as the treadmill to be effective - time, which I don't have. I swim, but that, despite cutting a bit of waistline and widening the frame is still not as good on fat burn/tone as jogging.

Can you suggest something? The only alternative I see left is to do high rep/low weight...

Please comment.

[Quickerblade]

Hey D-bol...
how bout rowing...i use the step machine but if your knees are banged up then forget it

[pumpster]

Fast walking using an incline on a treadmill can be effective, something like jogging but without the knee aggrevation.

Or elliptical, stairmaster, skier, etc.

[dontknowit]

Swimming,
if it's possible. Once or twice a week.
Over here you pay two euro's on certain times,
and if you buy a card it even costs less.

[Princess L]

Fast walking using an incline on a treadmill can be effective, something like jogging but without the knee aggrevation.

Or elliptical, stairmaster, skier, etc.

Driving thru your heels helps.  Maybe try some retro walking on the treadmill.

[benchthis]

jump rope, boxing

[knny187]

Stay with a weight bearing exercise & NON impact - Elliptical

Second alternative would be a rowing machine, third choise....an exercise bike.


You want to keep injuring yourself & interfering the "consistency" of your cardio regime....keep doing impact exercises.

[D-bol]

You want to keep injuring yourself & interfering the "consistency" of your cardio regime....keep doing impact exercises.

Thanks for comments.

knny187 can you pls clarify your last sentance. What you mean by "impact" exercises?

[figgs]

I agree with bench this that boxing is great cardio. It's loads of fun and relieves stress like nothing else. Put some effort into it. Get into a fighting stance, jab and return to stance, low jab, power punch, then combo after combo. Try kickboxing too.

It will make you feel better and raise your testosterone. I love it.

Also try jump rope.

[WOOO]

Also try jump rope.

that would qualify as hard on the knees....

[figgs]

Of course but I think it's worth a try.

[Overload]

Swimming is the best form of cardio IMO...besides sex of course!

[WOOO]

Swimming is the best form of cardio IMO...besides sex of course!

close... best form of cardio:  hotdog eating contest!!! 

[Hedgehog]

Try different forms of HIIT (High intensity interval training) with a stationary bike or recumbent bike.

Here is a protocol that's been working pretty good for me.

40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest 
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work - Finish

Use a pretty easy resistance, and instead go with a high cadence. I normally use resistence 2/10.

Do it twice a week on non-training days to keep your metabolism up, and it will also improve your VO2 max and overall health.

After a couple of weeks, you could on some of the HIIT workouts experiment with an ever shorter workout, even more intense.

Then use 20 seconds work - 10 seconds rest. And do 8 intervals for a total workout of 4 minutes.

YIP
Zack

[HalloweenMan]

why the fuck would someone recommend jump rope to someone who just said they had fucked up knees?   

[MidniteRambo]

Heavy bag.  Whenever my knees are too sore for cardio, I throw in a Rocky CD and go to town.  Plus, it's alot of fun and breaks up the monotony of the same routine day after day.  If you're not lazy about it you can burn as many calories as an eliptical or treadmill.

[WOOO]

Try different forms of HIIT (High intensity interval training) with a stationary bike or recumbent bike.

Here is a protocol that's been working pretty good for me.

40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest 
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work - Finish

Use a pretty easy resistance, and instead go with a high cadence. I normally use resistence 2/10.

Do it twice a week on non-training days to keep your metabolism up, and it will also improve your VO2 max and overall health.

After a couple of weeks, you could on some of the HIIT workouts experiment with an ever shorter workout, even more intense.

Then use 20 seconds work - 10 seconds rest. And do 8 intervals for a total workout of 4 minutes.

YIP
Zack

hedge... i respect your knowledge, but can cardio for less than 10 minutes really be as effective as moderate cardio for 40 minutes?


i love max-ot... but compared to it HIIT seems like sleeping... 

[pumpster]

Rowing's good, IF it doesn't aggrevate the lower back or knees.

HIIT's as good or possibly even better than moderate longer cardio for fat burning, but everything i've seen says intervals & rests totalling about 15 minutes. Using a bike, which isn't quite as intense as some other forms of cardio, spinning/HIIT's basically essential, is not an option.

Swimming's the best all-round exercise AND is easy on the joints, but isn't considered quite as effective as others for fat-loss. Overall may be better though, when factoring in the reduced likelihood of stress on the body.

[Quickerblade]

And don't do swimming, it does fuck all for fat loss

[WOOO]

And don't do swimming, it does f**k all for fat loss

not true... it just wont be as effective

[Princess L]

And don't do swimming, it does f**k all for fat loss

I can't swim    I sink like a rock 

[dontknowit]

Woman can float better than men cause they have a higher percentage of fat and on the right spots.
Just make sure you don't empty your lung to much.

If you're floating, peddle with your legs and/or arms, and that's it. The breaststroke is based on that principal.

After finding out that you even if you sink, you can come up, start different types of styles like front crawl and the best IMO the butterfly stroke,
not the fastest, but it's the best form of hiit-cardio you can get.

[Lugar]

Try different forms of HIIT (High intensity interval training) with a stationary bike or recumbent bike.

Here is a protocol that's been working pretty good for me.

40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest 
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest 
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest 
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest 
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest
40 seconds work -20 seconds rest



40 seconds work - Finish

Use a pretty easy resistance, and instead go with a high cadence. I normally use resistence 2/10.

Do it twice a week on non-training days to keep your metabolism up, and it will also improve your VO2 max and overall health.

After a couple of weeks, you could on some of the HIIT workouts experiment with an ever shorter workout, even more intense.

Then use 20 seconds work - 10 seconds rest. And do 8 intervals for a total workout of 4 minutes.

YIP
Zack