I love cardio, but.....

cwsoxfan

cwsoxfan

Cathlete
can't do high impact due to an injury check-in....Just kidding. We don't need any more check-ins.

Just curious who else is in the same boat. What have you been doing for cardio?

I've been treadmill incline walking, elliptical and recently added the Stairmaster. I was at the gym today and thought maybe I need to start incorporating some aqua jogging or something.

My dh said maybe I need to start walking on my hands. Nice guy! ;-) Or jumping on one leg. ha!

Any ideas to get me out of this cardio rut? Michele, I wish I hated cardio right about now. :)

Dallas
 
Hi Dallas! I tried to e-mail you a while back but my message came back "undeliverable"!;( I wasn't too happy about that!

How is your recovery going? I tried looking up your situation in my Running Injury Free book but I could not find anything on it! How long is your "sentencing"?

Hang in there, I know it is tough and very little can be said to ease your itch! You will get through it and when you get back...you will be stronger. The rest from your usually poison will actually be great for your body!
 
Hi Dallas -

I don't know how bad your injury is - hopefully not too bad! Anyhow, I'm in a similar boat. Some sort of pulled shin muscle, probably shin splints. Even walking hurts, so I'm out of action for a bit.

I plan to focus on upper body weight training, flexibility/stretching and try out some new stability ball work. I think I can try some of Cathe's floor work for legs, and will give it a go in the next few days.

I think my situation is fairly short-term, hopefully just a week or two, so I'm just looking at it as a 'rest and regroup' time.

I've also started a bit of research on elliptical trainers. I do need some other form of cardio that lessens the impact. I love, love, love impact work, but I keep coming up with all these pesky little injuries. So I'm hoping that using an elliptical as part of my routine will help out there.

Good luck and fast healing!
 
Sarah, thanks for trying to find impingement in your book. Since I e-mailed you I have found a ton of info on the internet and have switched PT's. I hope she will be the answer. I was really impressed with her yesterday. I go again tomorrow. I learned so much from her. I've been bugging Elaine, Marietta and Laurie as well. Thanks to all of you! Ha ha, my "sentencing" - I'm not sure at this point. I didn't think it would be this long. :-( I AM grateful I can do something. I know I have to be patient. Thanks again for all the advice. I see you're back to "normal". Good for you!

Shannon, I had shin splints in high school. Not fun! I've been doing upper body, core, floor work for legs and yoga as well. Good luck to you as well! How often do you change your running shoes? I should have been changing them more frequently. I was even wearing the wrong size shoe, according to my new PT. :eek:

Dallas
 
Hi, Dallas, as a professional at injury who has oft been unable to do impact, I love kickboxing. Removing all the jumping, I can still get a kick booty, sweat dripping workout. Although I can do impact at the moment, I still use kickboxing for cross training so I can continue to do it. In fact, I love all the low impact high intensity I can get. Low Max is the bomb although I love the hi impact best. There are some things I just dare not do any more. I am lucky in that I can get away with a fair amount of impact on the step and make do with minimal floor impact but enough to keep me happy. I did Step Blast today. What fun! I have at long last learned to do tricky foot work and Rhythmic Step has become a favorite. Avoided it for years. :)

Great advice on the shoes! I change mine frequently and only use them for working out. My sister tools around in her workout shoes and I chide her for it. It wears 'em out more quickly. I always recommend the injury prone look to their feet. Feet can cause knee and hip issues. My podiatrist is my best friend. :) Not really but I like her alot and my orthotics were just adjusted. They are huge now but they work. Good luck and I hope you heal quickly and well!
Bobbi "Chicks rule!"http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/tiere/animal-smiley-032.gif
Tell me what you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? -Mary Oliver
http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/linie/smiley-linie-008.gif
 
I do all my cardio walking on the treadmill. It does get a bit boring, but it helps if you keep changing the songs you listen to, and adjust the speed and the incline to the beat of the song. My songs are anywhere from a 2.4 speed with an incline of 15-18, to a 4.0 song with an incline of 5-7, and everything in between.

HTH,
Nancy
 
Yep, Nancy I've been doing that. I start at zero incline and increase the incline each minute to level 13 and back down again. That gives me an hour on the treadmill. If I put on a good show I've Tivo'd (like Lost) then it goes by quickly. I just feel the "need for speed". lol ;-) Did you get my e-mail yesterday?

Bobbi, good for you for getting RS!!! I love that one. So much fun and I always seem to burn a lot of calories with that one. I can't do that right now. I've only done low-impact kickbox a few times since I hurt my foot in Jan. Do you use Cathe's DVD's? I've done the step only portion of LM for some variety. I couldn't do lunges and squats for awhile. That may soon change though with this new PT. I can only hope! Do you have the new Low Impact Step DVD of Cathe's. I've been thinking about that one too. I figured it's easier to add intensity than trying to modify down.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

Dallas
 
Hi Dallas,

The suggestion to do low impact kick boxing reminds me of the Power Strike Millennium workouts. I used them in the past when I had an injury and they're great. And that's coming from someone who is not particularly fond of kick boxing. Do you have any of them by chance?

You know I feel for ya! Every time I think of you and your long drawn out recovery I'm knocking on wood all over my house!
 
I have not had an injury, knock on wood, but many times on this website kickboxing is a recommended alternative. You might want to try an intermediate kickboxing workout. IMHO, Janis Saffel's stuff is very good.
 
Thanks Elaine for letting me bug you too! ;) No, I don't have any Power Strike. Where do I get these? I've definitely heard of Janis. Thanks Candi. Do you all use weighted gloves when you do these to increase the intensity?

Dallas
 
Dallas,

The short answer is yes and it does make a huge difference...for me anyway.

The long answer is: I use 2 lb ankle weights that I wrap around my hands as an alternative. They are weighted with tiny lead pellets (feel like a beanbag) so they're easy to wrap and very comfortable. The only reason I do this is because I couldn't find the weighted gloves and just happen to have these lying around.

I will eventually get around to purchasing the gloves :)

P.S. I'd like to recommend QUICK FIX TOTAL CARDIO KICKS with Janis Saffel. I just recently recommended this to Marie (red-mct). It's an intermediate workout but after I do it I really feel it like I've worked. There is a lot of kicking but Janis has one of the girls doing the lower impact version throughout so this may help you a lot. I purchased the video but if you get the DVD there is an added 10 minutes. The workout is broken into 10 minute sections for shorter workouts or you can do all of them at one time. There is some great standing ab work included. I purchased mine at Ross in their clearance isle but I've seen it on Amazon and at Ebay. Janis also has her own website.

Here are some reviews I found on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/cu...04-1059837-6049516?_encoding=UTF8&n=130&s=dvd

HTH :)
 
Dallas,

I was lucky enough to get Powerstrike 1, 2 and 3 from ebay from a person who had recently purchased them and decided they weren't for her. She included the original receipt when she shipped them and I got a deal!!

Anyway, you can get them from their website here:

http://www.powerstrike.com/

The first two are only available on VHS but they are a little better (IMO) than three which is available on DVD.
 
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