Simple question- I find most cardio exercises agonizingly boring. Running on the treadmill, the bike things, etc. even when I watch a TV show or listen to music, I just find it insanely boring and can't make myself run for more than about half an hour. I want to lose about 30 lbs before I go on T. I want to be pretty in-shape when I start T (and stay in shape), and I already dislike the fat on my stomach so I don't need T putting more there.
What types of cardio exercises might help, or any good distractions anyone knows of?
Not sure if its an option for you but I always found running outside a lot more interesting and enjoyable than cardio on a machine indoors. The scenery changes and it makes you feel more alive.
Do you live near a national park or some hiking trails? Walking is just as good as running and I find it more enjoyable to a shaded area where you can just pop on some headphones listen to good music and take an hour long stroll. Or possibly you live near a lake/pond swimming is a good full body exercise (one of if not the best workout for your body). If you like semi dangerous life style you can train for a Spartan race too (a dangerous obstacle course)...I think it looks quite fun honestly lol, maybe google it.
Exercising is great but remember 80% of being 'fit' is diet. Please do not deprive your body and mind with a low carb diet though (can i recommend high carb vegan? or just high carb in general) :) A lifestyle change is in order to live a healthy and happy life. It can be a pain for sure though... I know all to well -_-
"To keep the body in good health is a duty ... otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear."- Budda
The good thing about treadmills is that they hold a steady pace. I find that when I'm actually running somewhere fer real, I tend to slow way down because I'm looking/thinking about something (or I'm just lazy and my pussy hurts). So on the treadmill my body can go on autopilot and my mind can check out.. YMMV.
Some of the late model machines include games in them, either built in or to a smartphone where you have a simulated race or you are doing something where you vary your pace & resistance.
Dancing, kickboxing and martial arts are all good cardio exercises and entertaining
Nike fitness or Dance central on X360. Picking up a sport (tennis, volleyball , kickboxing, soccer ). I hate working out too, I just make myself do it.
I find sports you like is an easy way to build cardio depending on what it is. Then there's also MMA. If you are into videoe games then maybe consider getting a Wii, Xbox Kinect, or PS3 Move and get some exercise games. Then, there are exercise DVDS. Also, daily sevens (millitary exercises) are a good way to build cardio.
Thanks for all the replies, I wasn't expecting this many so quickly. I think I'm about to write a reply to all the ideas, if I didn't I probably just missed it.
Running Outdoors- the problem here is mostly that I dislike running, and even though it's not boring, I find it harder to keep a good pace. I end up walking or jogging extremely slowly. It's definitely less boring though.
Spartan Race- I would LOVE to do one of those, or a mud run, or anything like that, but sadly I need to get in better shape before I try. It'd be great once I reach that point of fitness, but I am not there yet.
Diet- I hear so many differing opinions of diets that I honestly have no idea how to adjust mine. I know to get rid of the sugars I'm eating, but I don't know what food groups to focus on eating more of. There's so many diet plans out there that I'm just confused.
Dance Central- you know, I actually thought of this a while ago and forgot XD I just need to clear a space on my floor and go buy the game. I played it at a friend's house once and was amazed at how hard it was to go for a long time.
Kickboxing or Martial Arts- I've considered this before, but I don't have time right now. This summer, I'll try and find some classes to take though, and hopefully I can continue in college in September.
Treadmill games- I've heard of these before, but my gym doesn't have them :P I hope they get them, then I might actually want to go.
Outdoorsy stuff- swimming is a no, I tried it and hated it. It's great for some people but it's not my thing. Also it makes me really dysphoric, but maybe once I get top surgery I'll enjoy it more. Hiking is a possibility, but it seems to me that it takes too much time to be as beneficial as other things.
Sports- I used to play sports but just don't have the time to commit at the moment :P Volleyball was great, and I was about 10-15 lbs lighter when I played, but I had to make choices on my extracurricular activities and I had to sacrifice it. Health-wise it wasn't the best choice, but it was what I was least interested in of my extracurriculars.
I HATE cardio. So I feel you bro. I'm about to move and I've decided that instead of paying for a car I'm just gonna ride my bike everywhere. Last time I lived without a car and did this I lost like 40 pounds so..
I go from machine to machine at the gym. I get bored and limbs have a tendency to go numb if I do one machine for more than 15 minutes.
Ther is a game called UFC Personal trainer for the Kinect/PS Move and you do exercises the MMA fighters do to train. You can specifically train cardio on that game and it does give quite the challenge, giving you a MMA type o fill into you're able to get to a class.
There's also the work-out DVD "T-25". Before I got out of working out and started to gorge in bad foods about a week again, I did that and lost 17 pounds. The work-outs are only 25 minutes plus a cooldown, but they are intense and they work....for me at least. I'm going to start it up again next week.
Jumping on a pogo stick. It is actually an amazing workout. Lol. Even though it doesn't look like it would be.
I would be on my way to an emergency room within 5 minutes. LOL.
The first thing that popped into my head was the app Zombie, Run. It simulates you being chased by zombies while you run and gives you missions to complete. They have a 8 week program for begginners.
If you're into/scared of that kind of stuff that could work.
I'm scared of zombies so I'm gonna try it myself, in the woods at night. If that doesn't get me running I don't know what will...
If you want to lose lbs, it's all in the diet. Exercise gets you fit and can psychologically motivates you to eat better (so the workout wasn't a "waste") but the biggest thing is diet. Someone changing their diet will lose 30lbs. Someone not changing their diet and exercising only will not lose anywhere near 30lbs unless morbidly obese. The way I think about is lke this: if you want to set yourself up for failure, exercise to lose weight. If you want to be successful, eat better to lose weight.
But to get in shape: I defo say take up some sort of martial arts. Also, lots of gyms are opening up these days for parkour. It's a lot of fun and really exciting. The one I go to also has tricking which is the best fun ever. I'm not a runner either, cannot be bothered with it and just get bored. Also, outside is weather dependent (I live in Canada) and treadmills are bad for your knees. Cycing I do enjoy but the real kind over stationary. There's also lots of at home workouts that mix up excersises. There's one called T25 that's just 25 mins a day workouts, but it sure gets the work done! And try to get some weights or use gym weights to do cardio weights (lower weight, more reps) too. This one lots of people miss out and yet in terms of cardio fitness, it's one of, if not the, best!
LLately I'm trying to do all my sitting on a yoga ball instead of a chair and I figure if I kinda wiggle around it will add up thru the day. :)
Quote from: randomdude5 on April 26, 2014, 10:54:44 PM
Jumping on a pogo stick. It is actually an amazing workout. Lol. Even though it doesn't look like it would be.
Oh man. Totally, when I was like 9 won a pogo stick from Radio Disney and got so good at it. I don't know if it's easier as a kid but if you county your hops it's really not boring :3
Quote from: CursedFireDean on April 26, 2014, 10:37:06 PMDiet- I hear so many differing opinions of diets that I honestly have no idea how to adjust mine. I know to get rid of the sugars I'm eating, but I don't know what food groups to focus on eating more of. There's so many diet plans out there that I'm just confused.
It's simple. It's about calories. You need to find out (through online calculators such as this one (http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm)) what your "maintenance level" of calories is and reduce it to lose weight. Without tracking your calories, you're probably not going to be adequately balancing your diet and exercise and all of that cardio is likely to be wasted because you're not eating within a caloric deficit.
One pound of fat = roughly 3500 calories. If you reduce your daily caloric intake by 500 calories, in a week that's the 3500 calories and theoretically 1 pound of fat lost. There's really no good excuse not to track your calories. There are even apps like MyFitnessPal for your smartphone or websites like these that will help you keep track of things:
http://anytimehealth.com.au/ (http://anytimehealth.com.au/)
http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/ (http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/)
I do swimming, especially ocean swimming. If you have easy access to a pool or beach, it's one of the best full body workouts.
I run on the treadmill or Jump roap alot of athletes do it, I've also done insanity before its crazy.
I don't know if its a safe option for you where you live, but I ride my bike EVERYWHERE. Its interesting because you're constantly going different places and seeing different things. I don't personally wear headphones while I ride around on the street, but you certainly can to make it more interesting.
I'm trying something new now where after meals (not just snacks) I'm trying to take at least a 20-30 minute walk just to regain focus and keep myself stopping on munching things after I'm done eating. Go on a walk and brush my teeth. Oftentimes I find that with eating its really that once I start eating I just want to keep going, so getting out of the house and walking has sort of a double purpose. It keeps me moving so I'm not just sitting around with all that food in your belly (and is light cardio), and puts a clear break in between meal times and work time which comes after meal time. I'm finishing up grad school over the next 5 weeks... so at the moment its either meal time or work time. =p
Also, have you tried the row machine? They're kind of fun, and if you get bored doing the same thing for hours its fun to switch it up. Sometimes I'll go for a run outside around the park and then to the gym, use the row machine at the gym until my ass hurts too much to continue (usually takes ~20mins... I have a bony ass...) and then run back around the park and back home. That way its like a super cardio day, but it doesn't require me doing the same thing for an hour. If you're not into running maybe either do a shorter running bit, or cut it out all together and add an exercise bike in there. If you're at a gym you can also do circuit training which would probably be less boring for you. You're not doing traditional repetitive cardio that way, but still getting a hell of a work out.
You might take this with a grain of salt since it's coming from a skinny dude who works out for reasons other than weight loss.
There's nothing wrong with a half hour of cardio at a time. There is such a thing as too much cardio, especially if your diet isn't planned around supporting a lot of activity. Even if you're not into weight lifting or body building there's plenty of helpful information here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/does-cardio-burn-muscle/
Muscle burns more calories than fat, so more muscle = you burn more calories even when you're just sitting.
Something to combat the boredom factor could be high intensity interval training. Sorry to throw another link in here but I'm rubbish at explaining and don't want to accidentally give oversimplified or bad information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_interval_training
For cardio, I do different stuff, which helps minimize boredom. Yard work. Long walks. Dancing for 10 to 30 minutes to fast techno on youtube. There's tons of music on youtube and some of the videos are convenient workout lengths, so stopping to pick another video is avoidable.
Eating spicy food is supposed to help metabolism a bit too, if you like hot peppers it might be worth it to work them into more meals.
Editing this in, a digital food scale combined with reading nutrition labels makes a huge difference. What I used to pour for "a bowl of cereal", not knowing how much it really was, probably double or more what I pour now that I can measure and choose how much I need.
I also like Jack's suggestion. I took Karate (quite a few years ago). I think Jack does Tae kwon do, but there are tons of different types. It's goal directed in a way and has a history and even spirituality (you can get into these aspects as much or as little as you want, btw), which I found interesting. If you don't go for those aspects at all, you can do something like cardio kickboxing. It uses martial arts moves without the belts and tournaments and stuff, but I found those aspects fun. It gives you a heck of a workout. With a real martial art, you have a dojo or school where you meet other people, who are usually pretty nice.
For diet, well unless you are really overweight, I think the "clean diet" (no not cleanse-- yuck!!!) ideas are good: shop around the perimeter of the store (the inside is more of the crap), also frozen produce, and you can buy whole grain bread and pasta and condiments (like mustard and vinegar). Say away from highly processed foods and lots of added sugar and salt (as well as things you can't pronounce). Staying away from a lot of fats and sugars is good. Learn how (if you don't know) to prepare about 10 different *meals*.
Here's a blog post: http://www.blogilates.com/blog/2014/01/27/my-ultimate-eat-clean-grocery-list/
--Jay
I hate cardio, I hate running, I can't swim and it makes me super dysphoric...but I love to ride my bike and I like to do stairs. I think the best thing would be to do a cardio where you're also building muscle. I've done insanity and the reason I liked it was because you drip and sweat but you're also super sore because you're ripping your muscles up.
For the diet thing, whoever said diet will make you lose weight and exercising sets you up for failure is wrong. I have a diet which consists of what jay said. Everyone's body is different. Experiment with what you find interesting, keep at it for a few months if you don't like it after that change it. I've seen guys do super clean eating, I've seen flexible dieting, I've seen "dirty" eating if it fits your macros, and people have all had the same results. I do agree with weight lifting, muscle weighs more than fat and it also helps burn fat. Build muscle if anything, just try to get 30 min of cardio 3x a week.
I've been studying nutrition for years and am currently in a graduate program studying to be a registered dietitian (the highest certification for nutrition). I helped a friend lose 65 lbs last year. PM me if you'd like some help.
As for exercise, most of these are great ideas. The main thing is to find something you enjoy doing most days of the week (3-6 days) and will stick to.
@not your average guy-- you can *lose weight* by eating a diet full of additives. Losing weight is a matter of eating fewer calories than you lose. However this kind of diet isn't really very healthy.
The OP asked re ideas on an improved diet, as I recall.
--Jay
OP you can try sprinting
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/par46.htm
you should totally try plymetric exercises. they're high impact though so if you have knee problems it's probably not a smart idea.
but it's like jump training. you jump around alot, really good for your legs and it's also great cardio. i know p90x has a great disk for plyometrics but look around online for things you could do.
also swimming. if you have access to a pool not only can you get cardio but it could really help you build muscle.