I’m a young guy who used to play volleyball regularly, but I stopped recently. Unfortunately, I stopped enjoying it and quit. To stay fit, I joined a gym and started going three times a week.
For the first few months, I never did any cardio. When I played volleyball, I always hated the conditioning and warm-ups, so I just avoided cardio completely and was relatively content with that.
Then I started noticing that I was getting out of breath walking up the hill to my house and realised that I should probably work on my cardio a bit.
I tried running outside and on a treadmill, but I hated both. Running made my lungs burn and, if I was outside, I had to deal with the weather, which I usually dislike (too hot, too cold, sunburn, pollen allery etc.). I also think my running form is probably terrible because my knees would start hurting, too.
There was always a StairMaster at my gym that I avoided because everyone using it looked absolutely miserable and drenched in sweat. I thought it was too extreme and would rather stick to the treadmill.
Eventually, I gave it a try.
While I’m sure I look just as miserable, it has become a completely different experience for me compared to other cardio exercises. For the first time, it's mainly my muscles that hurt, not my lungs. There are no side stitches or any of that. Tho I do sweat like a mf while on it, I even feel as if people are juding me for the amount of sweat I am dripping everywhere, but I am sure its only in my head.
But the craziest part is that, about 15 minutes in, I get this insane high, it's like I'm on drugs! I’ve been using the StairMaster for about a month now, and the feeling hasn't faded at all. I still feel as euphoric as I did the first time I tried it and afterwards, I feel like I’m walking on air for the rest of the day.
At this point, I actually have to stop myself from doing too much of it and try to limit myself to 45 minutes, because I still have other things to do.
My heart rate usually hovers around 170 throughout the session, and after just a month, my resting heart rate has dropped from around 75 to 65.
I never thought I'd become someone who enjoys cardio, but the StairMaster changed that.