the hardest part for me when doing cardio is staying motivated for 30-45 mins.
hell after about 10 my mind is gone and after that i constantly struggle to stay motivated. Basically i just keep thinking "hey fatass your fat and out of shape, keep going or stay fat" lol..
I have a recumbant bike that I use, and will start running a little when i drop some pounds and regain a bit of athletisicm.
I don't have the same problem when lifting. I actually enjoy that, but its constantly changing, excersise to exersise.
Playing frisbee is a great cardio to me and my friends. We use an entire football field and go crazy. What's more challenging is have to run a long ways on the field after a sloppy throw.
i agree with both posters. when i am by myself doing "cardio" and being serious it is usually hiit. however, imho its much easier to get a cardio style workout than a strength type workout doing random fun stuff. shoot some hoops, throw a ball around, bike instead of drive etc.
I generally find the most effective way to do cardio is to go to the gym and walk on the treadmill for a an hour or so. If you time your visit right, you can watch the young and the restless to liven up your workout.
"I generally find the most effective way to do cardio is to go to the gym and walk on the treadmill for a an hour or so. If you time your visit right, you can watch the young and the restless to liven up your workout."
Lol :)
And when you say 'go to the gym,' you mean drive all the way there, even if it is a couple of blocks away.
Long distance cardio sucks, I hate doing it. I would rather do sprint/interval training any day of the week. But even doing that, it can be hard to stay focused and really intense sometimes. Here is an example of some mental imagery scenarios I used doing intervals on a Versaclimber for my last BJJ tournament. It really made the time go by faster and kept my intensity high for the whole round.
I did 7 minute rounds on the Versaclimber, with intervals of 20 seconds all-out sprint, 10 seconds slow for the entire round. Then I rest a minute or two (simulating time between matches) and do it again.
I print a routine such as the one below out, tape it to the versaclimber where I can see it, and off I go.
Example visualization routine #1
Work for the takedown
Coming on top, working to pass his closed guard
Pass and hold him to score the points
He recovers half-guard, Pass Half guard
Pass and hold him to score the points from side control
Get mount, Maintain Mount and Attack
He reverses you, attack from Rubber Guard
Get underhook, switch to Butterfly Guard, Sweep
PREVENT THE GUARD PASS!
He passes, tries to Knee-Ride, Prevent Knee Ride (Shrimp + Elbow)
HIIT is a good idea; done quickly, no time to get bored.
If your heart is set on cardio, do what I did, buy a big dog who loves to run. I can't run on a treadmill or even on a track for more than 10 minutes, yet I can go out for a 45 min jog with no problmes. I feel like I'm tired out on a treadmill, but in fact, am just bored out my mind. I hate going out running and not getting anywhere.
So with my dog, I know he needs to go out and be walked often, so it's hard to make excuses not to go out for a run. Pick an interesting route and get an mp3 player. Makes the time fly by while you're getting fit.
My wife likes to watch her favorite tv shows while using an eliptical machine or treadmill. Makes it easy for her to get in a 30-minute workout after a lond day at work.
I just tried a Crossfit workout, those are fun, you'll never get bored with those, especially since they usually have a different workout all the time.
lol, paw, I hear you. I know it sounds like I'm a staller by looking at that routine, but I really do go for the finish when I compete. Unfortunately, I can only visualize submitting the guy once during the whole routine, from one position! So I usually focus on positions when I'm using that.
Maybe I should end every one with a submission, though, just to keep myself in the right mindset. ;)