[staciec878]

I just want to get a general idea of what everyone does for there cardio?? I really dont like the elliptical because I find it boring. Therefor, I barely ever do it. I like walking/jogging also, but Im currently only doing that for 20 min. Since Im using Couch25k.


So What Do You Do For Your CARDIO??!??!?!?!

[phantastica]

I join a friend at the gym, which makes any endurance cardio more tolerable. Together, we do the treadmill or stationary bike, or swim once in a while. When I'm at the gym alone, I take the much-welcomed opportunity to listen to my iPod for a half hour or better on an elliptical or row machine.

I also incorporate cardio into a lot of my social activities - roller blading, skating, going for walks with friends, meeting a friend for a cardio salsa class, etc.

[marbleflys]

I vary my cardio because I get bored easily....(get an Ipod)...there are 3 different kinds of ellipticals I use, I LOVE the cybex ARC-trainer, and I do treadmill....sometimes 15 mins of each one with wt. sets in between. I have a very short attention span.

the trick is to find what you like, maybe a dancy class or spinning, stairmasters, bikes....or do something different everytime you go.

[Wildfyre]

It varies with me.

Sometimes I do the stationary bike, sometimes I hop on the treadmill (despite my intense hatred of it), and I also have my set of WATP DVDs that I fall back on quite a bit.

I agree with marbleflys, the trick is to find something you enjoy and can stick to! I get bored very easily, so sometimes I just skip the "cardio" per se and leash up my dogs and go out for a walk, or I take my niece to the park and chase her around.

[Heather]

I would get bored faster on the elliptical if I didn't have my ipod and the tvs at the gym. I don't do treadmill much anymore because it hurts my knee.

I also like to ride my bike and walk outside.

I would like to get swimming in, but it just doesn't seem to happen!

[Christina7806]

Sunday...No "planned" cardio but will take leisurely walks, hikes or bike rides.

Monday...Elliptical, 60 minutes including warm up and cool down. I start at level 2 and work up to level 10, going up a level each time the song on my ipod changes, I do level 10 for two songs and then work down each level the same way. By the time I get back to level 4 or 3, I am done.

Tuesday...I run (currently 5.8 mph 2% incline) for 20 minutes and each time I run I increase that by 1 minute until I am doing 30 minutes, then I up the mph by .2 and start at 20 again...this usually takes a total of 7 weeks which includes 1 week staying at 20 minutes for both workouts and one week staying at 30 minutes. At the end of the run, I walk at 3.5-4.0 mph at an incline of 5-15% keeping my heart rate at 65% until I hit 55 minutes for a total and then I cool down.

Wednesday....No formal cardio but bike, hike or walk again. I usually try to walk for at least two hours weather permitting.

Thursday....Same as Tuesday.

Friday....Elliptical except this time I start at level 2 and when I finish level 4 (again changing levels when a song changes) I then go to level 10 for a song and then back to level 4 for a song, then level 9 for a song, etc...working my way with alternating levels going down until I hit level 4 and that is usually the end of 55 minutes and I cool down.

Saturday....I do 30 minutes of intervals running at 7mph at 2% incline for 2 minutes then walking at 3.8mph for 2 minutes. (I increase the mph by .5 if I don't reach a heart rate of 150 at least once during the 30 minutes) When that is over, I do less intense intervals of inclines, slow jogs, whatever I feel like until I hit 500 calories burned on the treadmill....I know this isn't accurate but I use it as a guage to make sure I do the same work load weekly. My treadmill does allow me to input age and weight and has a heart rate monitor so this count is probably closer to being accurate than my old one and it is usually fairly close to what my HRM says I burned.

There you have it. My cardio plan.

[srmb60]

I walk outside! Love it! A couple of times a week, I throw in jogging intervals. Don't love that. In the dead of winter, dancing around the house works quite well.
Can't manage without my mp3.

[lumifan4ever]

Let's see, 3 days a week i take a very intensity cardio class...1 day a week, i take a moderate intensity step class, and at least one day, i walk/jog 2 miles. then on the weekends, i don't have any real excersize planned out, but i try to at least go for a walk. I try to plan on one day not really doing anything in order to give my poor tired sore muscles a break. Sitting here right now...I can feel my butt is sore. It doesn't necessarily hurt when I get up and walk, but just sitting here on it, i feel that it is sore.

So, at least 5 days a week, i am working at a pretty good intensity of cardio. But i just started that on July 2nd. So, i'm still pretty new to the 5 or 6 days a week. I can't wait to start seeing the progess I am going to make by working out so hard.

[Sheila53]

I don't think I would do the elliptical if it didn't have an attached TV screen. So I do elliptical a couple of days a week, run three days a week, stationary bike (TV again) sometimes, rowing sometimes, water aerobics sometimes. I like to vary it, too, because I get bored.

[LisaMarie71]

I mostly run now, but I also do the elliptical once or twice a week and I agree with the others than iPod really helps. One thing that helps if I get bored is to take classes at my gym. There's a great step aerobics class that I sometimes do and it's anything but boring. I like to mix it up -- I've just been focusing on running lately.

[djs06]

Something that helps me immensely is splitting it up. Even if I'm going to do mostly cardio, I'll do 30 minutes on the elliptical, take ten minutes to do some crunches/push ups/toning, etc.. then get back on (usually on the same machine, but sometimes I'll get on the treadmill or rowing machine instead),

[OH2007]

I do a walk/jog thing on my treadmill for 45 minutes, usually 5-6 days each week. (Occasionally, life gets in the way and I only get in 4 days.) I have a NordicTrack, too, but recently got bored with it so it's now sitting in the shed so we have more room in here.

[wisher]

I go trail running or hiking most days. When it's too hot and I'm driven inside I usually switch it up to the stationary bike. I'd like to start swimming more too.

[jaxjob]

I run, walk the dog or ride my bike outdoors and use the stationary bike or exercise DVDs indoors. I rarely do the same thing two days in a row. Occasionally I swim but since I usually have my 3 boys with me the only "cardio" I get is treading water while they jump off the diving board!

I do get bored on machines, the only way I like the indoor bike is when watching TV with the boys or playing Playstation at the same time. Of course I don't really get good interval training while using the PS! When my treadmill is fixed I'll use that too, although I keep a towel over the display since time goes sooooooo slowly if I watch it.

Jax

[NotTheCheat]

I love the elliptical for how it doesn't bother my knees. To help with the boredom factor I read large print books. There are times I am tempted to go over my set time to finish a chapter.