Hey chicas, Ive been trying to figure out how much cardio to do? I mean people always say 45 mins is enough, but then you hear about these celebs that are working out 2-6 hours a day for a part in a movie or something. so how much should we really do?
I was reading a fitness magazine in the gym the other day and it said not to do more than 60 minutes of cardio. Basically it said that you would not see more results from doing 2 hrs than 1 hr. I try to keep mine between 45 mins and 60 mins. Maybe this will help.
I think it's a bit more of a complicated answer than just X minutes. A lot of it depends on what your goals are, why your are exercising in general, and why you are doing each exercise in particular. And you get into a situation very quickly where you'll find that the right number is going to be very different for everyone.
For myself: Well, I like to eat and I like to eat a wide variety of foods, some of which are more calorie dense than others. To balance the way I eat, I do 30 min of hard cardio on the machines 3 times a week. But that isn't my only goal. I also like racquet sports- so I play racquetball for at least an hour a couple of times a week for fun. I want to get leaner and faster on the court, so I interval train jogging 3 times a week for about 45 min. I live near a beautiful redwood-covered mountain range that looks out onto the ocean, so I go hiking sometimes. And sometimes my SO and I take a walk along the ocean just to appreciate the view (with rent what it is here, that view costs us a lot of money!). All of these are cardio exercises and for a wide variety of reasons they are all add up to the "right" number of minutes for me.
The Unites States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends:
Quote: -- To manage body weight and prevent unnecessary weight gain, engage in 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on most days of the week
I think most of those celebs incorporate cardio and strength or better yet intervals of both into those 4-6 hours. To lose weight I have heard it recommended that you need at least one hour 5 days per week. If you do cardio for more than an hour then your body stops burning calories from the food you eat and turns to your muscle mass. But granted this is more than 60 minutes in one session. If you wait until later in the day or break it up with some strength training you can do more and should see a benefit.
yikes. and all this time i was thinking, "i ate about 300 calories more than i should have so let me do an hour and 30 minutes on the elliptical". thanks for the insights!
brat_61886 , 07-21-2006 12:47 PM
butterfly28 , 07-21-2006 01:10 PM
3fcuser1058250 , 07-21-2006 03:23 PM
Stephanie Osborne , 07-21-2006 03:23 PM
