Best cardio exercise

[Gilroye]

Hey...
Guys what do you think which is best cardio exercise....??
share your opinion with me...

[slipthejab]

Umm... define best.

Help us to help you. What is your goal. Best will differ depending on what you're trying to achieve. The boxer is going to train different than the marathon runner. You need to train your cardio specific to your chosen goal.

What say you?

[Old_kyokushin]

precisely, best.... for what?
It'd be also useful to know a little bit of your background... Age, weight, injury history, level of shape, sports you practiced... that sort of things. :)


Osu!

[Frodocious]

Umm... define best.

Help us to help you. What is your goal. Best will differ depending on what you're trying to achieve. The boxer is going to train different than the marathon runner. You need to train your cardio specific to your chosen goal.

What say you?

I'm with Slip. There is no best cardio exercise. There are cardio routines and exercises that are more appropriate for certain sports, body types and injury histories than others but no real 'best' exercise.

[PASmith]

It's Tae-bo.

[robertmap]

Ummm my suggestion would be sex - brilliant cardio - mind you at my age it's like the advert, climbing the stairs to the bedroom leaves you knackered.... Maybe that's why I live in a bungalow :evil:

[Knight_Errant]

I think the best cardio exercise is a mix of different exercises.

[Gary]

I'm with Robert.

Edit: Philosophical opinion, not as a cardio training partner!

[Kuma]

Hey...
Guys what do you think which is best cardio exercise....??
share your opinion with me...

One that you enjoy and will be consistent with.

[slickoneuk]

Tabata style of exercise can really help with cardio but a word of warning. My best friend is a motoX'er. He complained to me about his fitness and how he was knackered at the end of races. I suggested he looked up Tabata and give it a bash. He took me at my word. 2 weeks later I got a message from him, he had collapsed, been hospitalised with exhaustion, anemia and doc reconed there was a chance he may need a blood transfusion. Turns out he was tabata style exercising every day, sometimes twice a day! As I told him, do what it says on the tin!

[slipthejab]

The whole point is.... again.... he needs to define what he's going to be using his cardio for. Horse for courses.

[icefield]

Tabata style of exercise can really help with cardio but a word of warning. My best friend is a motoX'er. He complained to me about his fitness and how he was knackered at the end of races. I suggested he looked up Tabata and give it a bash. He took me at my word. 2 weeks later I got a message from him, he had collapsed, been hospitalised with exhaustion, anemia and doc reconed there was a chance he may need a blood transfusion. Turns out he was tabata style exercising every day, sometimes twice a day! As I told him, do what it says on the tin!

its not the best....oh i cant be bothered anymore with this arguement

As slip says the exercise is not the thing its the effect on the energy system that you are looking for thats important, the exercise is the means to the end not the end itself

[slickoneuk]

I never said it was, but cheers for not bothering any more. Close the door on your way out.

[Axelator]

In terms of just working everything cardio wise I would say burpees.

[lord-humungous]

Best cardio is running. Or skipping. Do both.

[Kwajman]

One of my doc friends told me to get your heart rate up, if your knees can take it, he suggests jump rope, if not, swimming.....

[boards]

As an exercise for general fitness I have to go with swimming, its a whole body workout and is great for breathing and cardio.

[Doublejab]

Hey...
Guys what do you think which is best cardio exercise....??
share your opinion with me...

The best cardio workout depends what you're training for, as many have said.

If you're a judo player then it's Randori.

If you're a BJJer/Submission grappler it's rolling.

If you're a boxer it's sparring and padwork.

If you're a marathon runner it's running long distance.

If you're a swimmer it's, yep, swimming!

Other types of conditioning are useful as well, but for each sport the overall best form of cardio is to actually do it. Something thats easy to forget.

[Iam]

Exercise classes, aerobics, "Body Combat" type classes. Being in a group with the music going helps motivate.

"Body Combat" is basically shadow boxing & kicking to music - do it for an hour with barely a break to catch breathe, & throw your air punches hard rather than waving your arms, & it's a tough session. I'm sure it's got other names in other countries/gymns, tae bo as mentioned earlier is the same, I think.

Classes where you do a mix of stuff are not as hard on any old, injured ankles, shins & knees as just running, not as boring as running & swimming lengths. (Swimming just makes me bored, & hungry).

Plus, you're surrounded by lots of fit women.

Plus, in Body Combat type classes you're probably the only one there, including the instructors, who has a clue, so you sort of rule :)

[Hapuka]

Depends on what you can physically do.
I found skipping, running, pad work, sparring, heavy bag work and tire tossing to be the best exercises for me. Though at the moment I cant really do any of them thanks to my leg, so I've opted for cycling in the meanwhile.

[lord-humungous]

Suggest everyone reads; “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall. The (debatable) theory is that our bodies are designed for running (and endurance), this is one of the reasons why humans have made their way to the top of the food chain. In any case, there is a clear argument that everyone who is able, should run.

[Maayan Marzan]

Actually, I like hiking and walking. I can't run anymore - too many injuries over the years. But, I can walk forever.

[Pkhamidar2com]

there is no best cardio, which is why i like to mix mine up

for me i do the following to increase my stamina to high levels for martial arts

wednesday - 1 and a half hours swimming

friday - 30 min biking, some running, brisk walk, practice kicks
saturday, brisk walk, practice kicks, bike
sunday, 30 min bikeing, some running, brisk walk, practice kicks

i would add some jumprope if it didnt hurt my ankle... :(

[Seventh]

Sprints awe hell yes :)

[lma]

Going to try that Tabata. I don't believe the whole four min workout thing. It does lookgood though.

[Seventh]

Oh trust me, 40 minutes of nice jogging seems more fun compared to the 4 minutes of hell a Tabata will give you.

Try doing the following:

20sec of non stop squats, as fast as you possibly can
10sec of rest
Repeat above 8 times, totaling an overall time of 2 minutes and 40 seconds.

[TheMadhoose]

Running must be if not the best exercise. Sustaining 3 - 5 miles steady running has a quicker improvement on fitness and stamina than arsing about in a studio ever will.