Amazing Cardio Exercise !

I just found the best cardio exercise to do!!!

I was doing treadmill in the basement, but it felt really boring and just uncomfortable.

So I was thinking of what I could do, and I remembered I had a hacky sac somewhere in my room. After searching a while, bingo, found it!!!

I went into the basement, cranked up the music, put on a nice thick sweater on, and started playing hacky sac withmyself for over an hour!!! OH MY GOD you won't believe how good it was. It's amazing for cardio. It's a great substitute I think. You are constantly moving around, and it's actually very fun to do!!!

You lose track of time, and after an hour or so, your sweating like a pig!!!

I think it's very good and safe. I don't think this could be bad in any way, I keep thinking about it, and it keeps the heart rate up, keeps you sweating, and it's fun!!!

I suggest you give this a try (for those who don't know what a hacky sac is, it's those small balls, which have beads inside them).


Terinox

Terinox,
Now that sounds like fun. If I can get my cordination in order I'm going to have to try and give this one a try. I'll let you know how it goes.
Tobey

Great, it's good to hear your gonna give it a try! The key is to have great music nice and loud, wear the sweater to make you nice and hot, keep a bottle of water nice and close, and just go at it. It's really fun and sweaty!!!


Terinox

ok, I have to address this. The sweater thing, that is not a good idea. This is a common misconception that if you sweat more you are somehow losing weight faster. You realize that wearing something like that only dehydrates you faster and after you begin drinking water again that comes back. Therefore using something to make you sweat in all actuality does nothing more than dehydrate you (temporarily) during your workout therefore decreasing athletic performance.

Terinox I am not trying to flame you at all on this, it is just something that I see a lot of people do and I couldn't help put point it out.

How bad is it??? I thought it just helps you keep your body warm and the heart rate up. Should I not be drinking water when I'm doing cardio? I usually wear a t-shirt, then a sweater over it, I should stop? I've done it a few times, and I felt okay. The cardio still seem energetic, and the performence was okay.

But since I don't know too much about this, I'm just gonna take your word for it. I'll stop wearing the sweater. But what about hte actually hacky sac cardio? Is there anything wrong/bad with that? Am I not doing the "proper" cardio with it, or would you say it's an okay way to exercise? And equivalent to something like bike/stairmaster?


Thnx
Terinox

LOL, ok you took it too far Terinox. It isn't harmful to do the hacky sack or to drink water. When you perform cardio, or any activity, it is extremely important to stay hydrated. So continue to drink as much water as you can. Now if your basement is cold you can start off with the sweater, but once you warm up, get rid of it. As long as you feel comfortable the entire time you should be ok. Your midsection should not feel like a furnace though (with something like a sweater on it the heat cannot escape that area). Think about this. Your heart is in your chest, and you are building up all this heat around it without giving it a way to escape. It is not good for the heart, organs, etc. That is the purpose of sweating, to cool the body. With a sweater on, the body isn't able to completely cool your midsection.

As far as the hacky sac goes, continue doing it. I think it is a great idea. I would try it, but thinking back to my days of hacky sac, I would spend the whole time picking the thing up off the floor or picking up the pieces of whatever I just broke. :) It sounds like you enjoy doing it, it gets your heart rate up, gives you a good workout, etc..... There is no reason to stop. As far as the calorie expenditure comparison, I'm not sure. Remembering watching the activity in the past, it always looked like it was burning a lot of calories because movement never stops. I would compare it to an aerobics class maybe. Just a guess.

Sounds great dude, and thnx for the advice. I will keep doing it, and keep track of how hot my body is getting, and of course plenty of water to drink :)

I'll keep ya'll updated on how much fat this game gets fid of :)


Terinox

Just a couple quick questions for you Terinox. . .

What are your short term goals here? Are you trying to lose weight? Are you trying to lower your bf%? Both? Either? General conditioniing?

I know from your posts you have been lifting for some time, but how long have you been doing cardio now? And, how long has it been since you first modified your diet?

Finally, what are the results you are seeing (if any)so far?

Okay, here it goes...:)

In terms of short term/long term goals, I want to lose about 20 pounds by the summer time. I am hoping for those abs to start being noticable by then. And obviously, along with that, I do want to drop the body fat as well. I want that "ripped" look.

Yes, I have been lifting for over 2 years now, and am seeing very good results. In terms of cardio, i've been doing it since about November, but not consistently, it was on/off. But, I've started doing cardio consistently since about mid january. But it's more intense now, and more dedicated in the past week or so.

I started modifying my diet in early November with the help of some people on this board, and especially with Medicine Mans help. I've improved my eating a lot, but it could still use a shitload of improving. I've cut all junk food out, any type of soda or high sugar drinks. No fast food, except the occasional saturday night pizza. I take AT LEAST 150 grams of protein a day, usually more. Protein shakes every now and then when i'm not getting enough protein from elsewhere.

In terms of results, not much, since I just started doing cardio seriously just recently. In terms of weight lifting, i'm seeing great results, and my body is getting bigger/stronger, but now it's time to cut the fat. I know i might lose a little bit of strength, but that's a risk i'm willing to take, as long as it's minimal. I want to be nice and cut for a while, probably for just a year or two, but of course I'm still going to keep working out, that's something I will never stop. Then, after 2 years, i will start doing some hardcore AS, and put on about 20-30 pounds if I can. But there is still a long time till then, and who knows what will happen by then :)


That's my story, and i'm sticking to it.
Terinox

Terronox>

It sounds like you are makeing a good effort, but you really should be seeing results pretty fast at first with dramatic changes. You say you have been doing regular cardio and madifying yout diet since Mid Jan. Thats about three weeks, right?

First, losing 20 lbs by summer should be quite do-able, and seems like a very resasonable goal. By doing it right you can preserve most of your muscle too. As a result bf% will fall corespondingly.

My advice, and I hope it is not gratuitous, is to keep up the cardio, as you are already doing and make sure you do it continously for 30 min 4 or more times/week.

The second point I want to make is that if food doesn't come from a fast food resturant does not mean that it is not junk food. In fact, many fast food resurants have salads, but watch the dressing. Even the low fat ones usually have fat. Don't think for a second that if a burger from the buger king is junk food, but the one you make at home is somehow better (although if you make a buger at home it can me more lean- if it is not its exactly the same).

I have done low carb diets and eaten the burger alone at fast food resturants, without the bun, or ketchup. It is consistent with the low carb thing. From the sound of it you want to go low fat, so if you are REALLY serious, I woould kill any thoughs of an occasional satuday night pizza (maybe, and I stree the maybe, you can consider ONE slice of pizza on an occasioanl Saturday night). It is so high in fat. Chips and dips should be off limits on any diet.

My suspicision is that I am not telling you any thing that you do not already know. I also believe that as you get more serious you will get more strict. To me, it sounds as though you are on your way already to making the requisite modifications. Remember, the more strict you are the better and faster the results will be. But, you need to go with something you know that you can stick to, because the last thing you want to do is suffer a setback.

Best of luck.

Thnx a lot for the comments and advice, I will do my best in everything (food, diet, cardio) and let you know what happens. Hopefully, in a few months, I can post a new pic, with less hair and less gut :D


Terinox

Oh, and also, I will be starting Clen in about a month, so I think that will help out alot as well.

In terms of the cardio, I do "the hacky sac game" on M/W/F/S and on Tu/Th I do bike/stairmaster. What is your opinin on this? Does it seem okay to you, add/remove anything?


Thnx
Terinox

Maybe I date myself, but I have NO IDEA what the hacy sac game is. The rule of thumb is that if you are getting your heart rate up to 65%-75% of your target heart rate and keeping it there for 30 minutes, you WILL make progress. As I say, I think you are already on your way.

Hehe, read my original post, u'll get what the hacky sac game is :)

I sure hope I am on my way, and we'll see what happens.

Later

I missed that. I get it.

:)

I used to hacky sac everday, all day.. when i was in highschool... especially in the summer, and even inside in the winter.. haven't done that in a looong time though, and don't know if the cordination is all together... lol. But it is really fun to do. I think I might actually grab one some time and give it a try.
I know the first day or two you can really feel it in your legs when you've gone at it for a while. :)
hope it works out for ya!!!

GI.... HARD!!

Good call Jason, but one problem, what about the folks that can't do that chit (hakeysack). I couldn't do that chit to save my life.. Oh well, guess I will stick with sex for now..

Heck Guy's,
IC's gonna have to try this one on for size. Huh.... does it still count if you have to use a basketball? Them damn hacky sacs are just to damn small!!LOL
IC