photo credit: andronicusmax
If you are like me, once you hear the word cardio you sort of cringe and dreaded thoughts enter your psyche. I am not against cardio by any means but am not very fond of the traditional treadmill/jogging approach. The main reason is because I hate running for long periods in any form or fashion, especially inside of four concrete walls.
The first time I got really lean, I became obsessed with running. Some would say I was addicted to the runners high but my addiction stemmed from seeing a full row of abs and veins in the mirror every morning. The attention I received played into the equation as well. Vanity took over.
Unnecessary Measures
This was when I believed that insane amounts of training and cardio was required to look great naked. I remember waking up about 2 hours before class, walking down the hill to the rec’ center and jogging for about an hour on the treadmill 5 days per week. Then in the afternoon I was in the weight room doing some sort of bro split.
It took a long time for me to burn out as I was eating very well. In between classes I consumed cafeteria food about 5 times a day and would estimate my intake to be about 3500 kcals daily with a hefty dose of of pasta, rice and soft serve ice cream. Heck, it was probably more than 3500 kcals most days. I eventually learned that all of the cardio I was doing was very unnecessary to maintain my lean physique.
I soon dropped the insane amounts of cardio, tightened up the diet and voila: I got the same result with a lot less work.
Getting To My Freakin’ Point
Anyway, all of that to say that I never jog anymore. I would rather eat sand and drink rubbing alcohol than jog a mile ever again, really.
However over the past year I have been very sedentary due to my current line of work, therefore some cardio is necessary when on a diet, especially if I want to drop body fat at an appreciable rate.
On that note I make sure my cardio sessions are random and varied to ensure I get off my can and actually do something.
Here are a few ways I keep it interesting.
Running For My Life
Across the street is a newly developed condominium community with a really long drive leading up to the entrance. Some days I put on my iPod and head out for a quick set of sprints. In general I will not keep track of how many I do, I just go all out until boredom sets in or when I begin to taste my breakfast for a second time.
I do a light warm up with mobility drills, stretching and some light walking around the block. Then I alternate furiously sprinting and walking between light poles. This is an efficient way to get some cardio in when you are pressed for time plus it does wonders for blunting your hunger. I limit sprints to no more than 2 times per week and I never do sprints before leg training days. They can be very taxing and tend to hinder my performance in the weight room. I would never advocate doing intense intervals more than 2 times per week if you are already in the weight room 3-4 days. Too much high intensity work is a recipe for disaster.
Chlorinated Baptism
Living by the rec’ center or by your university is extremely convenient if you enjoy swimming. I rarely get in the pool but when I am in desperate need of change in my cardio routine, doing some laps in the pool can be a great workout.
I am not a great swimmer but can usually get a decent workout in the water. Generally, I will limit myself to about 30 minutes and swim laps until my shoulders and back are toast. Nothing fancy here, I just try to get the blood flowing and aim to get as winded as possible.
Walking Through The Woods
There are some decent trails in the woods where I live and this is probably my favorite method of burning some extra kcals. I put on my head phones and trek through the woods. I am away from everything urban and enjoy the outdoors. I can easily spend about an hour walking through the trails as the scenery is pleasing and it allows me to forget that I am doing any cardio at all.
A Stroll In The Park
This is another preferred method of mine. We have some really nice parks in the city; I love hanging out and walking around with friends on a sunny day. With this method, I can accomplish two goals at the same time. I can maintain my social life and burn a decent amount of kcals when walking for 2-3 hours.
These are merely suggestions for ways to make your cardio more bearable. I have friends who hate running on the treadmill as well, so they participate in pickup basketball games or flag football for the extra kcal burn. However you have to do it, just make sure it’s enjoyable and get it over with.
Rockclimbing for me
I need to try that. Never been actually.
Christy:
Hmm, I didn’t figure those were very accurate? Guess I was wrong
Well, it takes a bit of fiddling around and you need to know your VO2max in order for the numbers to be accurate. The F11 does have the built in OwnIndex test, but I always double checked by using various VO2max tests in addition.
I’m not sure how the F11 compares to something like the Bodybugg or GoWear fit, but from what I’ve read the GWF reads low on exercise.
In the end it’s all just trial and error anyway
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True that on the trial and error. The bodybugg seemed to be really accurate for me. It was a lot of fun to use and gave me a good idea on just how fast leisurely walking around can add up to the kcal burn.
That guy in the pic looks as if he works out good. Great bod on him!
I’ve gotten the highest calorie burn by lifting heavy weights in the morning and then spending the rest of the day walking around a lot. I can easily hit 3500 that way with a bodyweight of 140 lbs.
I’ve done intervals in the past and they worked well for me in the beginning, but now that I’m able to move more weight in the gym I find that trying to do intervals on top of heavy lifting impairs my recovery. I invariably injure myself when trying to do sprints – I can do bike sprints but they make me want to die and I hate them. So I’ve decided that walking seems to work quite well for me when I need to burn some extra calories. :p
Is 3500 a typo? That is 25 kcals/pound just to maintain.
Nope, not a typo. I appear to have a very fast metabolism. Even on days where I don’t exercise at all I burn 2000 kcal. I don’t have a car, so I walk and take the bus most places which is a factor. The 3500 kcal was a bit of an outlier, though – like I said, heavy lifting in the morning and then about 5 hours of leisurely walking. Heavy lifting alone puts me at about 2700 kcal.
I believe it then if you are walking 5 hours a day. I think we could have a lot of fun together at the all you can eat buffets
I am curious to see how much my burn changes when I get back on campus this fall. I hope I can afford my food bill!
Unfortunately, I have the tendency to go a bit crazy at all-you-can-eat buffets
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Honestly, I was quite surprised to find that my calorie requirements are that high. Like I said, even sitting on my butt all day long I need about 2000 kcal. What I did to determine my calorie burn was wear my Polar F11 all day, every day, for a week. At first I figured the numbers were off and the F11 was just reading high, but then I thought “screw it” and decided to just try eating that much for a while. Lo and behold I maintained my weight for more than six weeks (before going back to cutting for summer).
Great to see that you’re a fan of interval training, JC! I’d also rather drink rubbing alcohol than jog. As you said, many people are doing excessive cardio to compensate for poor diet, and some are addicted to the endorphin rush. Either way, all that cardio is a significant strain on the body and can ruin your health.
I also wrote an article about why I dislike cardio – Cardio: A Waste of Time and Energy. It’s one thing if you truly enjoy endurance sports, but other than that, I don’t see much point in it.
I am a fan of interval training because it’s fun. I also like it because it’s brief and mimics my previous athletic training.
You forgot the best one: shopping!
haha, actually when I wore my bodybugg for a while I learned that just walking around the zoo, going to the mall and grocery shopping can really add up fairly quickly.