Best form of Cardio?

[Bones Justice]

I put on a sweat shirt and sweat pants and hit the bike after working out, riding it heavy for 30 min usualy, getting 9 miles or so and a great sweat.

Do the treadmill, elyptical, or even stairmaster produce different results, or is it just a matter of working your body into a sweat.

 

[jes131]

What's your goal as far as cardio goes? Sweating a lot is good for losing water, but other than that it's not a good gauge of anything. If you're looking to simply burn fat, then heart rate is going to be a much better barometer. Typically, you will burn the most calories per hour on the stairmaster, then the treadmill, then the elliptical, then the bike. Of course, all that depends on how hard you train on them.

 

[Behemoth]

The Versaclimber kicks my ass everytime. I hate cardio though. I'd rather just do a set of 20 on squats instead.

 

[Bones Justice]

What's your goal as far as cardio goes? Sweating a lot is good for losing water, but other than that it's not a good gauge of anything. If you're looking to simply burn fat, then heart rate is going to be a much better barometer. Typically, you will burn the most calories per hour on the stairmaster, then the treadmill, then the elliptical, then the bike. Of course, all that depends on how hard you train on them.

Trying to burn fat as well as loose excess water weight. When I'm on the bike, I've got a good deal of resistance and try to maintain a high RPM count which gives me a more explosive 30 min. I guess I will alternate between stairmaster and bike, because the treadmill starts to kill my calfs 6-7 min into it.

 

[jes131]

Well your bike routine sounds pretty good for a fat burn. To burn fat you don't need to get your heart rate up all that high but you want to keep it elevated for a long period. I lift hard and it usually takes about an hour for me to get done so I don't do cardio afterwards since I don't want to be catabolic (during long periods of excercise your body will burn muscle in order to get certain proteins, particularly glutamine). I don't know what your program is like, but if you lift and do cardio right after, you'll want to ingest some protein pre-workout and maybe even a little during.

 

[GymLift]

I put on a sweat shirt and sweat pants and hit the bike after working out, riding it heavy for 30 min usualy, getting 9 miles or so and a great sweat.

Where you live? It's summer. Why you wearing sweat pants and a sweat shirt? The goal is to burn calories, not loose water. Do don't reduce your water retention by sweating it out. Water retention is caused by salt, estrogens, things like that.

The best cardio is whatever cardio (1) you will do and (2) challenges you to do better.

 

[Vegas]

And just on the water retention issue thing, any water that you do lose by sweating out is only temporary. Plus, if you get dehydrated it can be dangerous. Don't take it to excess.

 

[pullinbig]

sled pulling

 

[Tafman]

eliptical is great, also rollerblading outside in 100F degree weather.

 

[LeanMeOut]

I like elliptical machines and bikes, they don't seem to rob you of as much leg size and are lower impact.

 

[pullinbig]

sled pulling.

 

[joshbeam1]

I perfer elliptical, but if u want a REAL workout try pulling a sled.

 

[LeanMeOut]

I perfer elliptical, but if u want a REAL workout try pulling a sled.

LOL