I wouldn’t say I like cardio. I hate having to run, skip, or ellipse my way into a leaner, lower fat me. Some may think that it has to do with laziness. But it’s not. At least not for me. I’m not too fond of the feeling of it. I like lifting, doing calisthenics, and so many other fitness activities. But not straight cardio.

Even though I am not the most flexible, I enjoy stretching exercises more than cardio, even with the discomfort and pain that stretching brings.

If I don’t have my private music distracting me, 30 – 60 minutes of straight cardio end up dull and mountainous. Without the right diversions, I cannot wait until it’s time for me to stop.

Cardio tends to obliterate all my energy and leaves me exhausted, so I usually do it last in my overall daily workout, like whenever I schedule it the same day as strength or flexibility. Otherwise, I will get it done on a separate day altogether.

We all must do cardio because it is a vital leg of the pillars of fitness. Leaving it out means we are seriously shortchanging the fitness program. As a result, we won’t burn as many calories and fat, maintain our optimum weight, or help the body build as much muscle.

We also won’t increase our energy output, build endurance, improve our heart rate, or add blood circulation throughout our bodies to reduce the threat of heart disease. The fact is cardio burns more calories than other methods of training.

What are the pillars of fitness?

There are several interpretations of what makes up the pillars of fitness. But unfortunately, fitness professionals can’t agree if there are even four or five pillars.

Cardiovascular exercise is always included and is sometimes described as endurance, mobility, stamina, or aerobic.

Below are some of the different interpretations of the fundamental fitness pillars. As you can see, cardio is essential to our entire fitness success.

This article aims to highlight ways to make cardio more enjoyable. We gotta do cardio. We cannot get by it with hope and magical results without it. But we can find ways to make it tolerable, enjoyable, and, do I dare say, fun!

Ways to Distract and Enjoy Cardio

Find Something You Like

Look for activities that you may enjoy more than others. For example, if you seriously hate jogging, don’t bother with it. Instead, try riding a bike, elliptical, or rowing machine. 

If you hate doing cardio indoors, look for outdoor activities, or vice versa. For example, you may find running, walking, or bike riding much more enjoyable with the many commotions outside.

Whenever I ride my bike on the streets, I ride faster, concentrate more on keeping up with traffic in certain areas and be more cautious around pedestrians. But, I also appreciate the fresh air and scenery all around me.

Riding from the city to the beach and back offers me various views, from people to bustling outdoor restaurants, city artwork and murals, and the beach scene and vacationing tourists. 

Before I know it, I’ve reached the first leg of my roundtrip, and now it’s time to head back and find new areas to appreciate.

Find Activities Without Machines

• Swimming – targets the total body including arms, legs, core, glutes, and back. It does not stress the joints, keeps you cool, and sweating is not an issue. It’s suitable for all ages and fitness levels.

• Martial Arts, including boxing – hits the total body, uses every muscle group, increases strength, balance, flexibility, stamina, and muscle tone. It also build self-confidence, gives a feeling of accomplishment.

• Team Sports – like basketball offers full-body, strength, and cardio-and is excellent for isolating legs and arms.  Beach volleyball – is ideal for the whole body and, like basketball, provides isolation of legs and arms and is a great endurance builder. Racquet sports- like racquetball, squash, tennis, paddleball, offer full-body, strength, and endurance workouts.
• Dancing – great for all fitness levels, no experience required, improves endurance, legs and core strength, and cardiovascular output.

• Jumping Rope – total body exercise that burns maximum calories, builds endurance, naturally strengthens the core, and is lots of fun. 

• Power-Walking – builds endurance, the cardiovascular system in particular heart and lungs. To maximize weight loss can be added to running routine in intervals as walk-then run-then walk.

• HIIT – high-intensity interval training. I like HIIT because it combines strength, balance, and cardio into one high-energy routine that ends quickly and leaves me with a strong sense of accomplishment.
• HIIT is clinically proven to maximize caloric expenditure and burn fat. Because it also incorporates strength training with a short burst of strength and cardio within a 20–30-minute span, HIIT is more effective in ensuring weight loss than straight cardio.
• Take a Group Fitness Class– enhances motivation, improves cardiovascular endurance, increases muscle toning, can discover new friends, motivational with like-minded people.
• Get a Workout Buddy – goals can be achieved quicker, keep your form, and encourage you to try a little harder each time; helps keep you on track and adds fun to the workout.
• Bring Your Own Music/Entertainment – you won’t be thinking about the time or length left to complete. The right music or distraction and push you to overachieve and get you to the next level enhances your mood, pushes you into a concentrated zone.
• Conclusion
• If a cardio choice starts to feel tedious and laborious, revisit your options or search for something new. There are endless possibilities available to encourage you to keep going. Remember that only you control your fitness outcome, not the machine or activity.