Neither am I. Fat burning workouts aren't necessarily the same as good cardiovascular workouts. So first you have to decide what your goals are. You want to lose fat? Wake up in the morning, drink a cup of coffee, maybe take in 20g of whey protein with water (to prevent going into too much of a catabolic state and losing muscle mass) and get on the treadmill for 45min-1hr at a decent walk. If you get bored, jog for 30sec-1min every now and then. But you can't expect to get on a treadmill and run for 5min (or jump rope etc) and burn stored bodyfat; it doesn't work like that. Want an intense, quick workout...hit a punching bag. I don't mean slap it around like a candy-ass, i mean really work it over with some fast combo's while trying to punch through the bag. Nothing like it.
As stated, good idea, IMO with the run/walk intervals. That's what I do sometimes and it works for me. My gym has TVs in front of all the cardio equipment which can help you to zone out for a bit reading the closed captions. I think with each run it's kinda like accomplishing a small goal and your reward is you get to walk for a bit. That's what I find myself telling myself anyway.
Get on the stationary bike, put your ipod on and imagine racing a lap...over and over. Not only will you work the majority of muscles you use when you ride, but you will learn where you aren't comfortable or are unsure of a section of track (if you find yourself skipping sections in your imaginary lap, it is because you aren't secure/comfortable with that section).
Thanks for all the input guys!! I'm def going to try everything said here-slowly but surely and see what fits best!
I learned to run (and more importantly to enjoy running) by using the Nike + running workouts from ITunes. The coached interval runs tell you when to speed up and slow down so you don't have to watch your time and you gradually increase your pace. I started with Lance Armstrong coaching me on a 40 minute interval program, alternating walking 4 minutes with jogging 4 minutes. Over time I went from walk/jog to jog/run to run/fast run. It also helped me learn to pace myself so I could continue running for more than a half mile. I have Lance A., Jay Balonik, Serena Williams, and some others. Good tunes, good coaching, no thinking required. Lots of different workout options.
I love jumping rope. As mentioned its not the best for just burning fat but it has to be the bestbexercise for pure cardio training. I guess that's why boxers do so much of it. Not to mention when u get good at it and can skip and cross it up with good rhythm it looks really f'n cool. get a leather rope if u give it a go.
It's easier to get the kid a box of Twinkies each week, and feed him McRibs often. Then he won't be able to run, either.
this is great advise....the elliptical is overlooked quite a bit, but you get almost the same amount of calorie burn with out the impact and damage running can do especially if you are carrying extra weight. jump rope??? for a fat guy??? NO switch it up between the elliptical and a spinning bike and start off jogging slowly. even if you can only do a quarter mile, the y key is to build up endurance and go further each time. Switching the activities will help you build up that endurance much faster. Between the 3, if you stick with it, you will see results and fast. Keep pushing yourself to new limits, weather that be intensity, distance, time what have you..just don't let yourself plateau.
This is the most sensible advice offered in this thread for someone in your situation. FWIW, I do neat things with the Army. It is expected that i am able to run, very far, very fast. Every second i am doing that, i want to cut myself, and or put a gun to my head. I hate it. However, and this will probably ruffle some feathers.... There just is no substitute for being able to run, and run far. To do that, you start small. An eleptical bike is a bullshit cop out, and means fuck all. And i believe this is why, There are alot of people who can hang out an eleptical for an hour and burn ~800 or 1000 inflated calories, or w/e the machine is telling you. But they cant run for 20 minutes ( not jog... fucking run) Its kind of like if your really great on a motorcycle, you ought to be ok at hustling a car around a track, but the reverse is NOT true. Thats how running vs eleptical is. If you want to be in shape, and be able to exert yourself... or just chase your kids, run. Start slow, listen to music, find w/e motivation you need.... Run. Your kids are going to be running in the yard, or outside, not playing on a fucking eleptical, which leaves you unprepared for the real world. /rant I just really hate elepticals, and the kind of people you find on them. P.S. -- If its easy, its not helping you. It needs to have a suck factor, it needs to be uncomfortable. You dont have to embrace a world of pain to meet your goals, but you must be willing to endure some discomfort, to get better. The pay-off in the end is worth it. Find something that hurts a little.
You know, some folks ain't able to run. Even in the Army, I hated running. I can sprint. Pretty fast. Back then, I had trouble with the two-mile run, I'd hurt for days with shin splints and backaches. Today, I have no cartilage in my left knee. Should I run? I lost 120+ lbs with an elliptical. Hate me? You should watch my workout on an elliptical. It ain't no slacking. Same with the bicycle. I've been doing it for years, and my calories-in match my calories-burned (as reported by the elliptical and bike) and match the weight delta the scale shows me (and I have two plus years of records in Excel to show it, too). Broad brush you've got there.
A broad brush gets the most paint on the canvas. If your physically incapable of running, then an alternative excercise doesnt make you any less of a person. So do i hate you? No. Your making the most of the options available to you right? Someone who is healthy, and uninjured, shouldnt be camping out in front of an eliptical and a television, if their objective is to be in the best shape they can be. If their objective is to just burn calories so they can eat w/e bullshit they want and stay the same relative shape, then yeah it works for a maintenance option. But if your trying to get into a shape, and your not the size of a fucking house, and have no joint issues. A progressive walk / run program is a fucking great way to go.
losing weight is easy, take in less calories than you normally do. Cardio is pretty easy too, build up to whatever time you have to do a steady routine. Don't jump into 2hrs on a spin bike cause in a week you'll quit. At 20 I weighed 292 (powerlifter) and I raced at 160. I am naturally heavier but I dont watch what I eat I just watch amounts, and alcohol, beer gives me love handles. Whatever you do, do not over do the cardio for the first couple months. Change it up and do 30 mins to get started, cardio sucks, it really does. Even if you watch races or tv it still sucks, the only good cardio is outside on a bike or running.
That's me. What I found out was that my legs aren't straight, and my knees are out of line with my heel impact point and hip. All that running about in basic training genuinely sucked. Running for any length of time hurts, and not in a good way. Docs have told me they can break my legs in several places and straighten them out, but it's not that important to me.
IMO the Insanity program is a really good one for cardio endurance, lower body and overall fitness. If you have a place at home to workout (you don't need too much space) it's definitely worth a look if you are serious about cardio conditioning and looking for a good alternative to running, cycling, etc.
The biggest problem with *fat* people and running is the amount of stress placed on the skeletal system becomes counter productive. Even mildly overweight people will be more prone to lower body injuries. If you are very overwieght, your best bet will be to limit high-impact exercise, like running, jumprope, etc. Eliptical is, meh, better than nothing... The best full body cardio workout is swimming. It's non-impact and works virtually all mucsle groups. But, in order to loose weight, like stated above, consume fewer caliories than you burn. Back on to the injuries topic... as a Drill Sergeant, I see all kinds of overuse training injures. Now, I don't know what the OP's age is, but we are seeing an alarming trend with younger recruits (17-25ish) having femoral neck stress fractures, and other lower-body over-use injuries. Leading theory to the cause of this trend is kids having a more sedentary childhood/poor diet leading to lower bone density. The concurrent trend of obesity isn't helping matters either.
im a young 36 im not fat-i hit the weights 4days out of the week and im just trying to find the right cardio program to even out my system-if that makes sense great advice from ALL you guys!! i def will see what will fit me the best and wont kill me
