Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

What the best cardio to lose weight? I'm 5'11 and weigh 195. My doc says I should lose about 20 pounds. I have been doing cardio at the gym but am not sure what's the best cardio to shead the pounds. I like the eliptical treadmills but I don't seem to get as good of a workout as I do on the regular treadmill (although I'm sure it's better on my joints). I also do cardio on the stationary bikes but nothing seems to work me as hard and running on the regular treadmilll.

What's best and how much/how long should I do cardio each week?


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Have you tried the stair climber? It is one of the best and impacts the joints less compared to other machines. It helps build muscles because of its resistance as well, it sure works up a sweat

Heres a pic of one:



That is one without the controllable resistance, the gyms have them though.

Hey there!

as for that cardio-thing: I think it's important to work with an "expert" on this. You have to workout within a certain pulse-area to burn fat, which is an individual thing. So you have to get that measured by someone and then you should buy one of those pulse-watches to check it yourself during your workouts.

How long do you usually work out doing cardio? Maybe you just haven't pushed hard enough?
If you run 1.5 hours at a good speed (your pulse tells you...) every second day you should loose serious weight. Although you can't start with 1,5h right away... Once again, a personal trainer would be perfect, ho does a program for you and checks your condition every month or so.


I don't know if rope-skipping is a good fat-burner but it also requires full -body movement.

my gym has a stair stepper, i haven't tried it yet. ive been swimming alot. it seems to help, do you think the stair stepper would be better for weight loss than swimming?

I've used a stair-stepper and things like that in the past but for me I enjoy playing sports for cardio. My favorite for this is playing basketball. Basketball involves tons of running, jumping, lot of upper body and lower body work and it is extremely intense.

I also like playing frisbee, going running sometimes, trail running up hills, playing soccer, and even my sport of table tennis can burn a bunch of calories (if you play it well).

But to me basketball is the best and also, if you watch basketball players you will find that 90% of them are totally ripped and shredded and also a high percent of them are pretty muscular as well. I think it is the intensity, duration, and explosive total body workout that does it.

Swimming is probably pretty good too. I'm not a good swimmer so I don't do it often. (Although last night when I slept 14 hours!!!!!!!!!.....I had a dream that I was in a swimming race.....no idea why. But then again, I was also roller-blading down a bowling ally as well).

Cardio should be fun, so find somethat you really enjoy that burns calories and fat too.

I agree with robert, basketball is a total body cardio experience. You work every muscle in your body, gets your heart rate up and it is much more fun than treadmill running.

yeah, so true....

Go to www.lifelineusa.com and buy a jump rope.

They worked for Lewis, Marciano, Ali, Norton, Leonard, Hagler, Tyson, Holyfield.

Jon

mountain biking

How 'bout spinning?

I know, not all gyms offer spinning classes. Mine does. And I love it, love it, love it. I'd do it 5 days a week if I could. It's very intense and I enjoy it a lot.

Hey Ren,

Welcome to the group! I've never tried spinning although some of my friends really like it. I've also seen some spinning classes and seen puddles of sweat below the bikes so I know it must work well.

It looks pretty tough but also a lot of fun. I don't ride a bike nearly as often as I'd like but I tend to like cycling in general so I might give spinning a try sometime one of these days. We don't have that offered at my gym but I've worked at and worked out at gyms that do have those classes available.

Thanks for the heads up on that.

Hi sdsurfer,

Subject to the qualifications below, it is my view that ALL CARDIO IS CREATED EQUAL. What I mean by this is that one cardio is not "better" than the other. What is key is that you get your heart rate and keep your heart rate between your fat burning range. Once your heart rate is at the right number, the fat in your bdoy does not differentiate between say jogging, eliptical training, hiking, dancing , or whatever.

THE FORMULA FOR FIGURING OUT ONE'S TARGET FAT BURNING RANGE

(220 - your age) * 65% = your lower limit.

(220 - your age) * 75% = your upper limit.

So for me, since I am 29 years old, my numbers are 124 and 143. My fat burning range, that is, is 124-143. If I keep my heart rate between these two numbers, I am burning fat and and not muscle.

If my heart rate exceeds my upper limit for longer than 90 consecutive seconds, then my body will start burning muscle not fat.

The key, then, to doing cardio correctly is to make sure you know what your numbers are (using the above formula) , and to make sure, when doing cardiovascular activity, that your heart rate stays wthin your range. You wil notice that as your heart becomes more fit, you will need to do a more intense activity to get your heart rate up to your fat burning range. For example, when I was out of shape, a light jog was enough for me to get my heart rate to 135 (which is wthin my numbers and therefore okay). However, as I became more fit, I needed to jog faster or power walk on a steep incline to hit that 135 mark, which is great news because it just means that your are in better cardiovascular shape than before.

So there you have it - the key is your heart rate and not so much the activity itself. Whether you do jumping jacks, wave your arms violently in the air like a complete lunatic while jogging lightly, dance to intense salsa music, run, whatever, as long as your heart is beating at the correct number, then you are burning fat adn not muscle.

However, all cardio is obviosuly not equally fun and so do what is fun for you. Moreover, some forms of cardio are easier on the joints than others.

When you become more cardiovascularly fit, you may consider interval training, which in my view is the most effective in burning fat. Interval training is when you spike your heart rate up to about 85 -90 % of your maximum heart rate in brief intervals. The brevity of these intense intervals is key, because if you are above your upper limit for more than about 90 consecutive seconds, your body starts burning muscle and not fat. See the scientific explanation of this given by Kollision in a post called "abs..definition" by danielatler.

What I do is two minutes where my heart rate is at 135, and then one minute of a spike (usually sprinting) when I spike my heart rate up to 170. After the one minute of high intensity, I slow down again to a light jog for two full minutes, so my heart rate comes down again and stays down before I spike it back up again for one intense minute.

So 2 minutes moderate, one minute intense, two minutes moderate, one minte intense........ for twenty minutes.

You can find advice and tips on how to shed body fat with proper cardio etc under the Fitness Category, in the post entitled "My two cents...".

Hope that helps.

Explained perfectly, and to a "t".

Another tip, if you want to shed pounds quickly is to do your cardio first thing in the morning before eating, and wait around 45 mins after you have exercised, until you eat. The BEST cardio that works wonders (for me) is running, but then again I don't have any injuries (touch wood!), and even though I am trying to build a lot of muscle (hence a high carb intake), I am still retaining quite a lowish amount of bodyfat.

You can work your behind off on the gym, but if the diet aint spot on, you will see minimal improvement for maximam effort (a hard ask on your motivation).

I totally agree with all of what save babe said!!!

Wow. compassionategirl, I totally ignored the existence of such an equation. I'm gonna put it to practice. I don't wanna be burnin' no hard earned muscle with cardio!

Fanks!