Intense, Effective, and far from Orthodox Cardio: What's yours?

[thesinner]

When someone says they're doing cardio (especially on these boards) that usually means one of three things: Elliptical Machines (HIIT or distance), Bike Work, Running (HIIT or distance). Unfortunately, these are just 3 out of countless things you could be doing.

My purpose for creating this thread is to explore the less popular things we could be doing to fire up the ol' ticker, and maybe walk out with a few new/interesting ideas for things to do for future cardio workouts.

To get the ball rolling, here's a few 'out of the norm' activities that I like:

-Medium Distance Sprints (usually 800's and 400's)
-Speed/Agility drills (5m Box drill, Suicides/Lightnings/Ladder Sprints, bear crawl, crab walk)
-High Octane Cardio (HOC) [this refers to doing circuits of calisthetics and classic cardio movements (i.e Running, jumping rope, etc)]

[RedwolfWV]

I'm a security guard in the evenings. The building is 5 floors plus the basement. I run the steps... from the basement to the 5th floor. Took me quite a while to be able to do. Now I can do them 2 stairs at a time, with 5lb ankle weights on. Its quite a workout.

[thesinner]

That sounds like a pretty sick workout right there.

By 2 steps at a time do you mean:
1) Step your 1st foot on the step, push off, put your second foot on the same step, and push off again before advancing to the next step. (Double foots)
2) Going every OTHER step.

[RedwolfWV]

I meant every other step, but I might have to try your #1 idea. That sounds intense!

[thesinner]

I meant every other step, but I might have to try your #1 idea. That sounds intense!

Last summer I used to run this one staircase next to my college's football stadium, and my buddy (who's a HS football coach) got me hooked on doing them that way.

Other fun things you can do on stairs (I forgot to put stairs and bleachers on my initial list):
- One-footers: Run up the entire flight with only one foot.
- Hops: Instead of running up the stairs, jump (with both feet) up the stairs, kicking your heels to your butt or bringing your knees to your chest. By using both legs simultaneously , you'll increase your power-output (and ROM), so you'll burn more calories per step.
-High Knees: Especially with ankle weights, these just make your life suck

[Dagron]

I like to sprint 140's at a rugby pitch (football field will suffice), start in a corner, and sprint across the width of the field, around the corner, and up 100 yards across the length of the field. Upon completion, immediately go into a slow jog, catching your breath while you jog. I take about 25-30 seconds to run the 140 and 1:30 to get back to the start and go straight into another rep. 20 minutes of THAT will push just about anyone to the limit