How to improve my cardio?

K

kara1991

New member
Hi I'm 31 F and I'm struggling. Every cardio exercise is torture to me. Especially burpees, my belly is in the way and I feel like my heart is about to stop. I avoid Team sessions because I know I will be a burden and yesterday my regular session turns out to be a Team one and I felt my teammate was so annoyed by me because they had more fitness than I do and I was slowing them down. It's really upsetting.

My question is how do I improve my cardio effectively?

P.S : I'm quite heavy ( around 110 kg)
P.S2: I've been doing crossfit for 4 months now, 2 times a week.
 
@kara1991 Long “slow” sessions running, biking, or rowing will work. Even add in walking. Then the hard part comes, you have to wait. It all takes time. It does get better though.
 
@girljesus Agreed.

HIIT isn't the be all and end all of cardio, and isn't really beginner friendly. You need to gradually improve your aerobic capacity in a sustainable manner and that means longer, gentler cardio sessions.

Do couch to 5k, or go cycling for longer durations or distances. Gradually increase the duration or intensity (there's plenty of free running or cycling plans around on the web) to ensure you're getting fitter.

Just keep it up, and before you know it you'll cope better with the HIIT.
 
@girljesus ^ This is the way. Long and slow, and also realize you are going to have to work on this outside of CF, however, regular CF sessions should put you in a better position than if you were starting from "zero". I improved my cardio fitness and stamina by dedicating an amount of time to be out and active. Weight and body size have something to do with it, but not everything. I chose running, downloaded a good playlist, and made myself be outside for 45 mins to start. Even if I walked the whole time, I committed to moving for those 45 mins. I would listen to my body and more often than not I alternated between walking and running pretty frequently, and would focus on short goals like "run until the next intersection, then walk". Over time, I was able to run for longer amounts of time, and found myself regularly jogging the 6-mile loop around the lake near me on the weekends. Sometimes it took me 1.5 hours, but that's okay. If 45 mins sounds daunting to you, start with 20 or 30. 45 sounded like a lot to me when I started, but I was always proud of myself for doing it. Also, weight loss was not a primary goal for me but I did end up losing about 20lbs in 5 months and felt better in my body overall.
 
@girljesus Thank you for the advice.I'm going to incorporate long walks and running on my off days. I've lot of social anxiety so being outside is a big fear of mine but I'll try.
 
@kara1991 as far as team workouts - dont skip....but talk to your teammate about a fair and balanced way to break things up

-maybe it means you do less than written on the board (if it's 20 burpees each, you cut your reps to 15 for example)

- maybe your teammate wants to do a few more reps

-scale the movement to something where you can keep pace (burpee to a box for example)
 
@chas0118145631 I have been the slow one in team workouts and I've been the fast one. If I'm paired with a slower teammate I just adjust how I approach the workout. I know I'm going to get a longer rest. This means I can attack my section of the workout harder. Any good CrossFitter should see it this way also.

The only time it should be an issue is with synchro movements. A good program should have these workouts rarely and when they are present, try to partner with someone in a similar shape to yourself. If this is not possible, the coach should be modifying the workout so that both of you get the intended stimulus.
 
@chas0118145631 I’m it’s really good shape and sometimes people get nervous doing team things with me.

I honestly don’t care the pace of my teammate at all! It honestly gives me a bigger break which I’m always happy for 😂. We aren’t competing in daily workouts, we are there to move! Show up, do your work and be proud of it. Your partner will be too! Ask them to cheer you on when they see you struggle, it honestly helps!
 
@kara1991 Maybe your partner was annoyed, but any chance they weren’t and you just felt self conscious? I’ve been the slower one and the faster one in partner wods and I promise I haven’t been mad or annoyed at all when my partner needs more rest. Usually they can outlift me so more rest on cardio than I’d normally take = I can lift heavier on the next set of reps, so it all balances out somehow.

To your question: zone two training 2-3 times a week. If you have access to any cardio equipment, hop on that and just go at a comfortable pace for 30-45 min. If no cardio equipment, go for a quick-ish walk and/or alternate walking and a very light jog.
 
@desertfox I thought exactly this -- when I started, I was really self-conscious about scaling on team workouts, now I'm much more secure about it whether I'm the fast/heavy person or the slow/light person in a team. If your partner was actually annoyed, that's on them or the WOD design -- working out with people at various skill levels is part of doing CrossFit.
 
@bigboss424 Totally! If the other person is unchallenged, they should do extra reps, add more weight to the bar, add a weight vest etc. When our coaches brings their non-CF SOs to community workouts, they put a vest on and are sweating plenty.
 
@kara1991 Talk to the highest ranking coach at your box and figure it out with them. There are several ways to go about doing this, and if you’re allready enrolled in classes, I (if I was coaching you) would look at the workouts planned for the week, scaling options, intensity-targets etc etc.

What you don’t want to do is ask a bunch of people online who can’t see you as a whole, because we might miss key-weaknesses or limitations you might have and advice you to do something you’re simply not able to do; which in turn might de-motivate you.

I hope this helps in some way!
 
@xorachox This is excellent advice. EVERY workout should be scalable for all levels of fitness to stay within the target time domain/ intensity/ stimulus. It is your coaches’ responsibility to help you navigate that, especially when you aren’t fully aware of how to assess that yourself.
 
@kara1991 2 days a week is not enough.

There's too much time between sessions, and your body will never be forced to adapt. It's also likely you're missing the days that are intended to help do exactly what you want to do.

If you can't get to the gym on those other 3 or 4 days, do something at home. Go for a run, do sprints, do burpees. Something is orders of magnitude better than nothing, but I'd really try to get to the gym more. Your coach programs workouts for a reason. Good luck!
 
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