Cardio alternatives?

[Keyboard Ninja]

To start off I am running at least 2 days a week, but lately I've been averaging 3 days a week. At least one of those days is on the road (2 miles), and the other 2 days could either be the road or the treadmill (depending on how I'm feeling/the weather). I also use 1 day/week to work on weights (squats, lunges, calves, etc.) Lately I have been trying to run more, but I've come to the conclusion that my knees and legs won't be able to take the abuse much longer.

Jumproping - I suck, and I'm uncoordinated. My feet burn, and I trip all over the darn thing. I just started this past monday so I hope to figure this out soon enough.

Swimming - The pools aren't open just yet for classes, plus I swim like a rock. I hope to get the hang of it soon as well.

Elliptical machine - I have no idea how anyone gets a workout on this thing. I feel nothing after about an hour, and I think it is a total waste of time. Am I doing something wrong?

Biking - I've thought about this, but I don't trust the drivers here on Okinawa. They already have no regard for motorcyclists so I don't think it would be any different for a bicyclist. Is there an indoor setup that someone can recommend? Would it be best to possibly invest some money into a bicycle trainer?




Amazon.com: CycleOps Fluid 2 Indoor Bicycle Trainer: Sports & Outdoors

I only chose that brand because that top picture is from a wikipedia page when you type in "bicycle trainer". Does anyone use something similar? How do you like it? Can I use any cheapo 21speed?

Any input would be great.

[Keyboard Ninja]

Oh, and I have seen these before. What do you all think?



Amazon.com: Schwinn Airdyne Evo Comp Exercise Bike: Health & Personal Care

[zmeiaspas]

Nothing beats running and swimming IMO. I've used ellipticals quite a few times and if you constantly increase the difficulty level you really start sweating a lot. To tell you the truth, if I'm not running on the stadium I prefer being on the ellipticals. It works for me.

Another thing that reaaaaaally gets me tired is playing tennis. I used to compete few years ago and I'm totally out of shape now, so whenever I play someone I get really exhausted. Sometimes I need to stop for like 5-10 minutes because I can hardly breathe.

When I was still competing I used to run on the beach and then go to a monument on top of a hill that has about 2500 stairs to the top. Then I ran up twice, and then I would go up all the stairs once on each foot, jumping like a moron Ahhhh I miss those times!

[mofoiar]

get bas rutten's workout dvd. that shit is ridiculous

[coronadozx]

i occasionally work out on the elliptpical, i like it, and i work my ass off on it. the navy has adopted an elliptical alternative for the PRT, and the last two i've used the elliptical for the cardio. 12 minutes to see how many calories you can burn ... after that 12 minutes, i can hardly walk, i'm drenched in sweat, and it takes a minute to catch my breath! this time around i'm going to use the bike for the PRT and see my result.

anyway, have you also thought about taking an aerobic step class? it may sound gay, but it will definitely give you a great cardio workout.

[Keyboard Ninja]

Originally Posted by coronadozx

i occasionally work out on the elliptpical, i like it, and i work my ass off on it. the navy has adopted an elliptical alternative for the PRT, and the last two i've used the elliptical for the cardio. 12 minutes to see how many calories you can burn ... after that 12 minutes, i can hardly walk, i'm drenched in sweat, and it takes a minute to catch my breath! this time around i'm going to use the bike for the PRT and see my result.

anyway, have you also thought about taking an aerobic step class? it may sound gay, but it will definitely give you a great cardio workout.

I have, but for some reason I have zero coordination during aerobics. On the basketball court I don't get tired, and I can do everything a point guard needs to do. In the aerobics class I'm wondering why I have a pair of left feet

[tutmondigo]

Originally Posted by Keyboard Ninja

Elliptical machine - I have no idea how anyone gets a workout on this thing. I feel nothing after about an hour, and I think it is a total waste of time. Am I doing something wrong?

Are you upping the resistance on the machine? I can go all day on one of those things with no resistance. Crank it up and you'll feel it. Most machines I've been on go from 1-10. If you up it to 10 and the "pedals" aren't harder to move the machine probably needs to be serviced.

[Goin Ape Nutz]

tennis... basketball... love em. Call me lame, but running (or biking, or elliptical) in place looking at a wall/mirror/tv is kinda boring. I'd rather be playing basketball, raquetball, tennis, football, soccer.

Try some iron cardio for a new twist. Set up a weight that is 60% or so of your max weight for any compound (preferably full body like power clean and press, power cleans, sled pulls..) and do 10 sets of 20 reps with <1 min of rest between.