mindless workouts - Page 3

gypsygirl64 · 10-30-04, 10:19 AM

I don't think Cathe cardio is mindless at all. If I really didn't concentrate, I could really hurt myself!

I do have some older beginner/intermediate videos that I have memorized and I like to use them if I have something on my mind and can't concentrate.

Carol_is_fit · 10-30-04, 10:25 AM

I also don't feel aerobics or step is "mindless". I have to concentrate when I'm doing it or I fall off the step - LOL!! I love to lift, and I concentrate very much when I'm doing strength training, remembering to use good form and tighten my core. Otherwise I know I'm wasting the workout time. I also do yoga and I have for years, but I honestly don't find it benefits me mentally any more than a really fun cardio workout or a really tough strength workout does. I suppose as in everything, we are each unique in what motivates us or does not. Working out - no matter what the discipline - IS my mental release. ALL types of it. Without it, I'm a major crank, I don't sleep as well, I feel like a huge slug, and I can't concentrate as effectively during the day. It keeps me centered and focused.

Carol

Vintage VFer · 10-30-04, 10:33 AM

Oh, uh yeah. I'm a closet tri-athlete. (In my dreams!!!)

gypsygirl64 · 10-30-04, 10:36 AM

Alta,
Every time I see your avatar it makes me laugh!

tapdancer · 10-30-04, 10:54 AM

I guess it is just how you look at things. I find aerobics with complex choreography quite challenging and I believe it helps the brain...(studies have showed this to be true.)

Kickboxing/Tae Bo is challenging to me also and it is a type of meditation to me.

Joanna · 10-30-04, 11:14 AM

Well, what is mindless to one person is not mindless to someone else. I am extremely choreography-challenged so what someone more inclined in that regard could do effortlessly requires serious concentration from me. Just try to remember that we are all different people here

Joanna

horsemom2 · 10-30-04, 11:16 AM

Yoga has been totally boring and mindless to me whenever I have tried it!!
When I do cardio or weights or AWT, I am constantly thinking of what muscles are working and how to work them less if the activity is too intense or how to work them more or differently if I want more intensity or a new challenge. My mind is constantly modifying whichever workout I am doing to make the workout feel good.

Barb S
who just never could get my mind into yoga and uses Tai Chi and dynamic stretching instead

ots · 10-30-04, 11:50 AM

I love to dance. Sometimes, it is mindless. That's when the joy of movement can be the most fun. Learning choreography can be challenging. But sometimes, that's just work. Once the choreography is learned and the moved are established, the simple pleasure of moving takes over. It's the reason I love to swim too. I'm not learning how to swim. I'm not improving my stroke. Just moving and enjoying the rhythm of the pace, the silence, the feel of the water.

Daisyglow, I hate spinning and running. For me, it's crushing boredom. Yeah, my heart is pumping non-stop and I'm sweating like mad. But I am also counting seconds until it is over. If that's what step and aerobics do to you, then, don't do it.

Other mindless activities that I enjoy despite my also being in my 30s include: playing frisbee and keepaway with my dog, singing to my favorite album for the 500th time, and the worst: playing minesweeper when I'm on the phone.

BTW, I love yoga too. But, often it isn't taking me to a higher plane. Sometimes, I find it too silly. i.e. "feel like someone is licking ice cream off your body."

Colleen · 10-30-04, 12:02 PM

I don't find any type of exercise "mindless". Even when I'm doing a cardio workout with very basic choreography that doesn't require any brain power to follow, I'm thinking about my movements, my breathing, and how my body is responding to the exercise. My movements are mindful whether I'm doing yoga, stretching, Pilates, aerobics, or strength training.

IMHO, any exercise can be moving meditation.

I'm glad that there are so many healthy activities that I enjoy. I'm never bored!

CrystalLR · 10-30-04, 12:23 PM

Well, you DO have to find the "right fit" for Y-O-U, that is a given key to staying consistent and getting results. If your goal is to become more flexible and strong, especially in a core sense, and not add to bone density or cardio vascular conditioning to the optimum, then yoga may fit you. Just keep in mind that by doing only one form of exercise you are missing out on the "whole picture" as well as may arrive at a day of boredom for having overdone that one form. Just my experience personally and with clients. The BEST exercise for an individual is what fits their goals and lifestyle and that will consistently do. Bottom line=the best workouts are those which you will consistently do.
BTW, everyone is entitled to their opinion, so there isn't any real need to apologize for a "rant". At least, IMHO

Crystal

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10-30-04, 10:19 AM
gypsygirl64 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Michigan	I don't think Cathe cardio is mindless at all. If I really didn't concentrate, I could really hurt myself! I do have some older beginner/intermediate videos that I have memorized and I like to use them if I have something on my mind and can't concentrate. __________________ Laura

10-30-04, 10:25 AM
Carol_is_fit Join Date: Jul 2004	All types of workouts have mental benefits for me! I also don't feel aerobics or step is "mindless". I have to concentrate when I'm doing it or I fall off the step - LOL!! I love to lift, and I concentrate very much when I'm doing strength training, remembering to use good form and tighten my core. Otherwise I know I'm wasting the workout time. I also do yoga and I have for years, but I honestly don't find it benefits me mentally any more than a really fun cardio workout or a really tough strength workout does. I suppose as in everything, we are each unique in what motivates us or does not. Working out - no matter what the discipline - IS my mental release. ALL types of it. Without it, I'm a major crank, I don't sleep as well, I feel like a huge slug, and I can't concentrate as effectively during the day. It keeps me centered and focused. Carol __________________ We can secure other people's approval, if we do right and try hard; but our own is worth a hundred of it. --Mark Twain

10-30-04, 10:33 AM
Vintage VFer VF Supporter Join Date: Nov 2001	Oh, uh yeah. I'm a closet tri-athlete. (In my dreams!!!) __________________ Goal:250 / Done:91 POSTURE CHECK!

10-30-04, 10:36 AM
gypsygirl64 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Michigan	Alta, Every time I see your avatar it makes me laugh! __________________ Laura

10-30-04, 10:54 AM
tapdancer Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Michigan	To Each His Own I guess it is just how you look at things. I find aerobics with complex choreography quite challenging and I believe it helps the brain...(studies have showed this to be true.) Kickboxing/Tae Bo is challenging to me also and it is a type of meditation to me. __________________ Diane "To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking." ~Agnes De Milles~

10-30-04, 11:14 AM
Joanna VF Supporter Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Toronto!	Well, what is mindless to one person is not mindless to someone else. I am extremely choreography-challenged so what someone more inclined in that regard could do effortlessly requires serious concentration from me. Just try to remember that we are all different people here Joanna

10-30-04, 11:16 AM
horsemom2 Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: NJ	LOL Total opposite here! Yoga has been totally boring and mindless to me whenever I have tried it!! When I do cardio or weights or AWT, I am constantly thinking of what muscles are working and how to work them less if the activity is too intense or how to work them more or differently if I want more intensity or a new challenge. My mind is constantly modifying whichever workout I am doing to make the workout feel good. Barb S who just never could get my mind into yoga and uses Tai Chi and dynamic stretching instead

10-30-04, 11:50 AM
ots Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: maryland	I love to dance. Sometimes, it is mindless. That's when the joy of movement can be the most fun. Learning choreography can be challenging. But sometimes, that's just work. Once the choreography is learned and the moved are established, the simple pleasure of moving takes over. It's the reason I love to swim too. I'm not learning how to swim. I'm not improving my stroke. Just moving and enjoying the rhythm of the pace, the silence, the feel of the water. Daisyglow, I hate spinning and running. For me, it's crushing boredom. Yeah, my heart is pumping non-stop and I'm sweating like mad. But I am also counting seconds until it is over. If that's what step and aerobics do to you, then, don't do it. Other mindless activities that I enjoy despite my also being in my 30s include: playing frisbee and keepaway with my dog, singing to my favorite album for the 500th time, and the worst: playing minesweeper when I'm on the phone. BTW, I love yoga too. But, often it isn't taking me to a higher plane. Sometimes, I find it too silly. i.e. "feel like someone is licking ice cream off your body."

10-30-04, 12:02 PM
Colleen VF Supporter Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: DC Metro	I don't find any type of exercise "mindless". Even when I'm doing a cardio workout with very basic choreography that doesn't require any brain power to follow, I'm thinking about my movements, my breathing, and how my body is responding to the exercise. My movements are mindful whether I'm doing yoga, stretching, Pilates, aerobics, or strength training. IMHO, any exercise can be moving meditation. I'm glad that there are so many healthy activities that I enjoy. I'm never bored! __________________ Colleen If I had a nickel for every time I've had to prove that exercise can work without pain, I'd be a very rich woman. - Pilates teacher Brooke Siler

10-30-04, 12:23 PM
CrystalLR Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Somerset, PA(1 hr. east of Pittsburgh...where Flight#93 crashed)	Well, you DO have to find the "right fit" for Y-O-U, that is a given key to staying consistent and getting results. If your goal is to become more flexible and strong, especially in a core sense, and not add to bone density or cardio vascular conditioning to the optimum, then yoga may fit you. Just keep in mind that by doing only one form of exercise you are missing out on the "whole picture" as well as may arrive at a day of boredom for having overdone that one form. Just my experience personally and with clients. The BEST exercise for an individual is what fits their goals and lifestyle and that will consistently do. Bottom line=the best workouts are those which you will consistently do. BTW, everyone is entitled to their opinion, so there isn't any real need to apologize for a "rant". At least, IMHO Crystal