best way to increase cardio?

[ZacAttack]

my cardio is shit right now. I really need to increase it. I HATE running. absolutely hate it. any other ways to do it?

[thebeastt]

Originally Posted by ZacAttack

my cardio is shit right now. I really need to increase it. I HATE running. absolutely hate it. any other ways to do it?

Do something like this


Jump Squats
try to reach the sky every rep, go for about 15 with bodyweight
then with no rest in between do

Weighted Jump Squats
go for 15-20 reps and jump as high as you can with the weight over your head
then with no rest in between do

Pushups
as much as you can do then with no rest do

3 different ab exercises with 20 reps each exercise then with no rest do

Burpees (killer)
depending on your condition go for about 10-15

Repeat all those 3 times, you can take 5 min rest in between each round

Even if your in top shape you should be breathing pretty heavy after all of this.

[thatKid]

Originally Posted by ZacAttack

my cardio is shit right now. I really need to increase it. I HATE running. absolutely hate it. any other ways to do it?

Jump Squats
try to reach the sky every rep, go for about 15 with bodyweight
then with no rest in between do

Weighted Jump Squats
go for 15-20 reps and jump as high as you can with the weight over your head
then with no rest in between do

Pushups
as much as you can do then with no rest do

3 different ab exercises with 20 reps each exercise then with no rest do

Burpees (killer)
depending on your condition go for about 10-15

Repeat all those 3 times, you can take 5 min rest in between each round

Even if your in top shape you should be breathing pretty heavy after all of this.

This

and

Sparring and/or Rolling.

Alot of people make the mistake of doing alot of muscle endurance, or a lot of rope jumping/running, and neglect sparring. Sparring trains the muscles that you'll find neccesary when you actally compete.

[nicholassaali]

You do not have to run but maybe tone it down a bit, what about a jog on a treadmill? And then pause from the jog after three minutes and do a set of 20 push-ups. Do this repeatedly and it will build up your cardio instantly.

[McClure]

I wouldn't do any of that stuff at the expense of specific cardio training.

I don't like to run either - but if you can, then do it anyway. It doesn't have to make up the bulk of your conditioning but it should be included.

Just read the faq's/stickies and especially 'How to finally solve your conditioning problem'. That's all the information (and more) you'll ever need.

[Standard]

You really have not given us much information but to give you a blanket answer... find something you enjoy, ride a bike, go swimming, play basketball. All of those things will improve your cardio.

[AlphaWolf]

Originally Posted by ZacAttack

my cardio is shit right now. I really need to increase it. I HATE running. absolutely hate it. any other ways to do it?

If you hate running, do jump rope. Jump rope will help with cardio and also footwork. you can do something like:

Hard Jump Rope: 30 sec
Burpees x10
Repeat 5 times

or something along those lines. Also Ross has a lot of good conditioning circuits on his website

[TheRazorFrazer]

Try this weight circuit for a month. Do it Monday, Wednesday and Friday. For each exercise, pick a weight that you can continue lifting during every circuit. Don't rest between exercises, rest for 120 seconds at the end of each circuit. Complete about FIVE or SIX circuits:

Dumbell Bench Press - 6-8 Reps

Back Squats - 15-20 Reps

Chin Ups - 6-8 Reps

Dips - 15-20 Reps

One Hand Dumbell Snatch - 6 Reps Each Hand

Pull Ups - 6 Reps

Push Ups - 20 Reps

Deadlifts - 10 Reps

Don't fuck around between exercises and this will help your cardio and overall stamina. However, change the circuit up after a month or so.

In between days that you do the weight circuit, heavy bag drills like this are awesome for cardio:

Throw a 2-3 punch/kick combination on a heavy bag, and then sprawl out and back up to your feet as if you were stuffing a takedown. Try and complete 100 combination/sprawls! It is a motherfucker of a conditioning drill.

I found that when I got my cardio to a better level, running became more enjoyable. By doing conditioning drills like the weight circuit, heavy bag workout above, I was able to shed some useless weight and get my cardio almost to where I wanted it to be. However, there isn't a better exercise for improving your cardio than sprints/hill sprints. Look up high intensity interval training. It is your friend.

[Ian Coe]

Originally Posted by thebeastt

Do something like this


Jump Squats
try to reach the sky every rep, go for about 15 with bodyweight
then with no rest in between do

Weighted Jump Squats
go for 15-20 reps and jump as high as you can with the weight over your head
then with no rest in between do

Pushups
as much as you can do then with no rest do

3 different ab exercises with 20 reps each exercise then with no rest do

Burpees (killer)
depending on your condition go for about 10-15

Repeat all those 3 times, you can take 5 min rest in between each round

Even if your in top shape you should be breathing pretty heavy after all of this.

That's more muscular endurance the aerobic conditioning don't you think

[Znap]

We'll I've got shit cardio and the only way I've found that I can improve it for my muay thai fights is to train the same movements.

What this means is one person gets padded with gloves, belly pad, groinguard, mouthguard and shin pads and the other person gloves and shin pads. Then pretty much 2 mins rounds (to start with) of hitting the other person at about 90% of max striking capacity. 1min break in between

After the first round you'll be struggling.

After that 3-4 of those rounds, we do some knee rounds, which is 2 x 1min rounds of your hardest and fastest purely kneeing on the thai pads.

If that doesn't get you tired, you must have some of the best muscular endurance and aerobic capacity around.

Another thing that has also helped me a bit is running in the 130-150HR zones for 30mins-1hour, 3-4 times a week, this had dropped my HR from 70 down to 55 and made recovery faster for all sporting activities.