Cardio Modalities

[R3aper7]

So I primarily perform cardio on the elliptical, bike, treadmill or stairclimber. Does anyone utilize alternative forms of cardio to take the load off the legs, ie battle ropes, skierg, rowing machine etc.?

 

[bbxtreme]

HIIT cardio on the assault bike or the battle ropes can be very effective for shedding some fat and taking a load off the legs.

But in my opinion a treadmill shouldn’t be eating up a ton of leg muscle if done correctly. Walking is a natural movement. I would say just avoid the step mill if you’re worried about the legs.

 

[R3aper7]

HIIT cardio on the assault bike or the battle ropes can be very effective for shedding some fat and taking a load off the legs.

But in my opinion a treadmill shouldn’t be eating up a ton of leg muscle if done correctly. Walking is a natural movement. I would say just avoid the step mill if you’re worried about the legs.

Thanks for responding. Normally I just walk very briskly at an incline for liss and do my hiit on a stair climber. I’m gonna rotate the battle ropes and assault bike in as well.

I never really thought of cardio as being fatigue inducing, but Im feeling a little run down lately and I was curious as to what other members were doing for their cardio.

 

[bbxtreme]

Thanks for responding. Normally I just walk very briskly at an incline for liss and do my hiit on a stair climber. I’m gonna rotate the battle ropes and assault bike in as well.

I never really thought of cardio as being fatigue inducing, but Im feeling a little run down lately and I was curious as to what other members were doing for their cardio.

Excess cardio along with over training, dieting, stress, lack of sleep etc can add fatigue. It becomes one of those things you have to adjust for based on your life at the moment.

But as long as you’re hitting 120-130bpm doing the cardio I’d aim to not have it be intense with doing LISS. Or you can sub in some 15 minute HIIT sessions to take a load off as well.

 

[R3aper7]

Excess cardio along with over training, dieting, stress, lack of sleep etc can add fatigue. It becomes one of those things you have to adjust for based on your life at the moment.

But as long as you’re hitting 120-130bpm doing the cardio I’d aim to not have it be intense with doing LISS. Or you can sub in some 15 minute HIIT sessions to take a load off as well.

Admittedly I really don’t follow my heart rate, I’ll start to pay attention to that.

 

[alfresco]

Rowing.

1 hr @ 10 calories per minute is what I do. (It’s boring.)

Ditch the elliptical.

 

[danieltx]

Rowing.

1 hr @ 10 calories per minute is what I do. (It’s boring.)

Ditch the elliptical.

Why?

 

[aHarness]

Rowing.

1 hr @ 10 calories per minute is what I do. (It’s boring.)

Ditch the elliptical.

I love the elliptical. It’s my favorite form of cardio by far personally.

 

[FuriousAngus]

The elliptical is my favorite for LISS; 0 impact on any of my joints and I can do it for a very long time, only problem is it's hard to work on your phone during, making the recumbent bike a better option if you need to do that sort of thing.

The stepmaster/stairmaster is my absolute favorite for "longer" HIIT (I do the Norwegian method, 4x4); it allows me to step things up pretty hard with minimal effect on joints as well (as opposed to running, which can be an issue due to an ankle problem that I have).

Assault bike for very short HIIT sessions (real sprints).

 

[romo]

You know my favorite is still the treadmill on a pretty steep incline.

 

[AllOkJumpmaster]

get an alice pack, load it, and hump

 

[Siggy]

You know my favorite is still the treadmill on a pretty steep incline.

Its been my favorite for years ever since I tore my acl. Too bad most machines only go to 15 degrees. Right now I use the one at LVAC it goes all the way to 30 degrees.

 

[alfresco]

Why?

Unnatural movement. Long term issues with your knees. You couldn’t pay me to use one of these machines on a regular basis. People like it because it is easy.

 

[R3aper7]

You know my favorite is still the treadmill on a pretty steep incline.

Yeah this is primarily what I use for all of my LISS sessions. Just started monitoring as per advice above but atm 8% and 3.2mph puts me right in that 120-130 bpm

 

[R3aper7]

Rowing.

1 hr @ 10 calories per minute is what I do. (It’s boring.)

Ditch the elliptical.

The elliptical is more so used to mix things up but it is in the rotation from time to time. I primarily walk at an incline. I feel like rowing is overlooked by bodybuilders as I don’t see it commonly recommended or used. Maybe bc it’s fatigue inducing?

 

[aHarness]

Unnatural movement. Long term issues with your knees. You couldn’t pay me to use one of these machines on a regular basis. People like it because it is easy.

I thought elliptical was recommended for people with bad knees? Never heard that personally. Been using it daily for 2 years now myself

 

[Hyperemia]

I guess all my cardio is leg dominant. I Mountain Bike when the weather allows it, upright stationary bike if indoors / short on time, or a brisk walk outside.

Maybe I’ll give rowing another shot, didn’t love it the last time I gave it a go.

 

[Fa Seeshus]

Swimming. When I'm not climbing trees

 

[alfresco]

I thought elliptical was recommended for people with bad knees? Never heard that personally. Been using it daily for 2 years now myself

You couldn’t pay me to use one regularly to get an ‘effective’ workout. But hey that’s just me. But do some research. Never heard of it being recommended for knees. A bike yes. Rowing yes (not weight bearing).

 

[curcumin]

You couldn’t pay me to use one regularly to get an ‘effective’ workout. But hey that’s just me. But do some research. Never heard of it being recommended for knees. A bike yes. Rowing yes (not weight bearing).

I think you got it backwards there but to each their own and there are many ways somebody's knees can be problematic. But in general the advice is elliptical is a safe option for people with knee issues. Perhaps there is some particular way that the knees are bad that the elliptical can aggravate them.