Cardio Modalities

[aHarness]

You couldn’t pay me to use one regularly to get an ‘effective’ workout.

What do you mean? It gets my hr to its target very easily, I find it extremely comfortable with zero pain, and I enjoy it. As far as cardio goes I’m not sure what else I could ask for.

Never heard of it being recommended for knees.

This is surprising honestly

I tried researching further but everything I see recommends it for knee health

 

[Brazzilian]

1 on 1 boxing trainning

 

[anarchocapitalist]

I have bad shoulders so no. About once a week I'll do something that raises my heart rate, gets me breathing heavy, and more of a focus on my aerobic capacity like skipping rope. If I'm just trying to burn some additional calories I'll do something easier like stair mill or spin bike. My focus is split 50/50 between bodybuilding I also like to hike and climb mountains so I burn a lot doing that.

 

[ape1nope]

Rowing.

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

Ditch the elliptical.

An hour on a row machine

 

[Worldsfastestfatty]

get an alice pack, load it, and hump

Id second this - I recently completed an endurance test called the "fan dance" which is fast paced march/hike up a mountain in Wales... then back down, along a road, then turn around and back up and down again - all with a 35lb pack (plus water so close to 40lb for most of it) on your back. About 5500ft of elevation in total. It's far more taxing than I thought it would be coming from an endurance sport background prior to strength training.

Now I'm suggesting anyone does anything like that for routine cardio but I did find that in training for it, even 1 hour sessions with the bag on my back created a disproportionate amount of energy use compared to very little fatigue (after the first couple of weeks once you adapt to the mode of exercise).

I'm also a big fan of cycling and rowing. Trying to limit use of elliptical as I find it can create mobility issues for me if I over use it. Stair master is okay but gets dull after a while.

Ski-erg is great for HIIT

Anything but treadmill walking - bores the hell out of me.

 

[BillsMafia]

Cardio on treadmill at 12%incline 3mph is best

 

[R3aper7]

Cardio on treadmill at 12%incline 3mph is best

Damn 12%? Have to hold on lol

 

[BillsMafia]

Damn 12%? Have to hold on lol

Yea some what lol but that should get you in a good heart 130 to 140

 

[alfresco]

What I used to do before my weight workout but have not done lately, may do again as a ‘test’ .

This is what I would do; go into the spin studio between classes, turn off the lights, get a spin bike and take the seat off, raise the handlebars all the way up and forward and start cranking in the dark, no music, only the sound of your breath. I would close my eyes and not open them for one hour. You get to know yourself pretty well in that hour.

 

[massephase]

Swimming. When I'm not climbing trees

x2 for swimming.
I have no issues with my legs on cardio machines, I just hate doing cardio on them ...
and while I love running and think it is very effective, I can not do it too often at my bodyweight,
so I recently picked up swimming again.
it is low impact, the stress is spread pretty evenly across upper and lower body and if you can switch between different strokes/ styles you can further take stress off of certain bodyparts/ muscle groups.
and for offseason another benefit is that it makes you hungry

 

[b-boy]

Sprints! Preferably uphill!

 

[Fa Seeshus]

x2 for swimming.
another benefit is that it makes you hungry

 

[R3aper7]

Sprints! Preferably uphill!

Hill sprints

 

[SDRaver]

Interesting about the battling ropes. In 2008 I was fortunate enough to live near and train with John Brookfield aka Mr Hands in his battling rope system of training.

To get brutally humbled by such a quiet and humble man was even more humbling. It's one thing to watch his feats of strength on video. It's another to see him do them in person in his backyard and then try to attempt the same thing failing miserably.

For those that aren't familiar with him it's worth checking out some of his videos.

After my first ever grip strength training session with him a friend had to come get me. I couldn't grip my steering wheel and I look like I had crab claws for hands for 2 days