Okay guys...I have a serious problem with cardio

Now that this is bumped...if you can find a heavy bag in your gym or something, use it. Break your time up into rounds of whatever duration you're comfy with, and hit it with full intensity and good form with a short breather between rounds. Done properly, this is excellent cardio. And I second rope-skipping. I'd do it more often if it weren't so daggum hot.

 

I have a problem with skipping. It gave me shin splints, and they keep coming back every time I try no matter what - which doesn't happen with running.
The heavy bag is a blast :evil: we have them at the gym but now it's closed for summer, so nothing.
Circuit training works too! - someone said hindu squats?

 

^ do you skip on a matted or sprung floor? flat boots or running shoes? I only got pains on a hard floor at the old gym, and that was doing double unders and I do a lot more of them now without the same problems on a rubber matted floor

 

Very odd that you have that problem with skipping. Maybe your doc or a chiropractor or something could suggest shoes that will help you with that. Sorry I don't have more to say...I've never had that problem.

 

Couch to 5K is good. I recommend this to a lot of people who want to start running regularly again.

 

My doc said Don't skip - he's ever so useful :bang:

 

How cruel of him!

 

The only thing that breaks when I skip is my rope

 

May I ask what you mean by "double unders"? Thanks.

 

You hop once, the rope passes under you twice.

 

Just as I suspected, thanks. I've been working on learning that for some months now. I'm so close, but so far...:bang:

 

Swimming is a fantastic source of cardio when you're down and out. Especially if you've had injuries in the past. IMHO its the best source of cardio if you have a history of injuries as it is non impact. In addition its a full body workout which trains flexibility if you do more than one type of stroke(front crawl, back crawl, butterfly, breaststroke) I also find that swimming forces you to breath effectively.

 

Hey nice thread here. I have a little experience in the cardio arena so Im gonna share a story and give some advice based on my personal experience so keep in mind Im not a pro. I used to run 5 to 10 K a day for almost three years, I stopped and started lifting serious weights about a year later and about a year after I started lifting and didnt do a single healthy thing for almost ten years.

I recently returned to fitness, and found that all the smokeing and sitting around had ruined my cardio beyond belief so heres what I did to make improvements.

I didnt force myself to run until I was six months off the smokes and had been working out. I made a workout that included alot of ma and shadow boxing ontop of body weight exorcizes, I didnt and dont take long rests between my exorcizes I go from one exorcize to the next with no rest, look at my journal journey of chaos and give it try.

My blood pressure is back to normal and I recently ran pretty hard for twenty straight minutes, not to bad for 36 and just six months ago I was smokeing a pack a day. So my advice is add the cardio into your workout and it dosent have to be running.