Is too much cardio bad for you?
strive356
Posts: 18 Member
I guess you should just stick to hiit twenty minutes a day. That's high intensity interval training. or running or sprinting in intervals of walking and running. or you could do that with any exercise in cardio. The rest is weight training.
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Replies
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Why?4
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How much is too much?
For you? For me? For everyone?
In what way bad for you?
BTW I did over 300 hours of cycling last year, it certainly wasn't bad for me - but I'm not you....
20 minutes of (genuine) HIIT every day would be an awful routine by the way - true HIIT should be done at an intensity that requires proper recovery.
But my guess is you are just doing a variety of interval training and unlikely to be HIIT, certainly hope it isn't your routine as that would be a shortcut to injury.8 -
I guess you should just stick to hiit twenty minutes a day. That's high intensity interval training. or running or sprinting in intervals of walking and running. or you could do that with any exercise in cardio. The rest is weight training.
why?
i can't train for a half marathon on 20 minutes a day of HIIT.... so no.9 -
I'm with the rest of them ... why?
I'm a long distance cyclist! I ride centuries (100 mile rides in one day) each month and have done for the past 13 months, as well as many, many times before that. I also do audax/randonneuring events ... 200 km, 300 km, 400 km and longer. All as one ride.
And of course I do all sorts of training in between all that.
Oh, and I ran my first 10 km in mid-January. It was definitely over 20 minutes!!3 -
Cardio is good. Too much cardio is when you go full throttle from zero to a hundred without proper gradual increase or proper recovery, but this is the case for any kind of training. HIIT would be horrible for me because it makes me want to eat all things. The measly amount of calories burned doesn't make up for wanting to eat 800 or so extra calories. I stick to low to moderate intensity most of the time with some interval training here and there for good measure on my non-hungry days, all properly fueled and with proper recovery after harder sessions.3
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Too much of anything is not good.
That’s what ‘too much’ means.
Finding the the right ratio for your own body and fitness/health goals and limitations is what’s important.11 -
Not sure how I'm going to run my ultra next month that way... think I'll stick to my 2-3 hours a day4
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20 minutes?
I feel like you are making excuses not to exercise more because that is a laughably small amount if you want to be fit. I'd only recommend that for someone just starting out, who is overweight and unhealthy.8 -
20 minutes is not a lot. 30 minutes a day is more typical, and you could certainly do more.
From a heart health perspective, medical professionals typically recommend at least 30 minutes a day, 5-6 days per week.
If you are struggling to make 20 minutes, you might want to consider backing off the intensity a little to allow you to make 30+ minutes.2 -
"Too much" of anything is bad for you,
But what is too much?
Too much ignorance is really, really bad for you.
Maybe stop guessing and get a little education and knowledge.3 -
'Too much' - 20 mins is not too much for MOST people... every one is different.
In my case I used to do around 120 mins a day, that ended up being too much for me so I dialled it (way) back.
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I guess you should just stick to hiit twenty minutes a day. That's high intensity interval training. or running or sprinting in intervals of walking and running. or you could do that with any exercise in cardio. The rest is weight training.
If you were really doing HIIT then more than a couple of times per week is excessive and counter-productive. I suspect you only mean video based circuit training.
Personally, 20 minutes is barely a warm up.
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As long as it is a sustainable routine that doesn't hurt you physically or harm your work and social life, there probably aren't many routines that would qualify as "too much" cardio. Some days I go on 30 minute runs; some days I go on two hour walks (working my way up to longer runs). 20 minutes is definitely not a lot--nowhere near anything that approaches "too much" cardio or something that would be bad for you.0
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Most of my cardio is walking at around 3.25 mph. I shoot for two hours a day (but figure 90-120 minutes are good enough). 20 minutes of walking is almost nothing.1
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lisaquelleington wrote: »WYES. MARATHONERS HAVE MOST HEART DISEASE IN THE WORLDlisaquelleington wrote: »Lifting is cardio you *kitten* for brains. AETOBIC DYSTE IS ONE SMALL PART OFCTOTAL CELLYLAR RSP. AND NOT ANY MORE HOOKED UP TO GEART THAN ANY ITGER SYSTEM
NO idea what you're trying to communicate, but you need to try spell check and Camel Case.
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stanmann571 wrote: »lisaquelleington wrote: »WYES. MARATHONERS HAVE MOST HEART DISEASE IN THE WORLDlisaquelleington wrote: »Lifting is cardio you *kitten* for brains. AETOBIC DYSTE IS ONE SMALL PART OFCTOTAL CELLYLAR RSP. AND NOT ANY MORE HOOKED UP TO GEART THAN ANY ITGER SYSTEM
NO idea what you're trying to communicate, but you need to try spell check and Camel Case.
noooooooooooooo... camel case is worse than all caps....1 -
TavistockToad wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »lisaquelleington wrote: »WYES. MARATHONERS HAVE MOST HEART DISEASE IN THE WORLDlisaquelleington wrote: »Lifting is cardio you *kitten* for brains. AETOBIC DYSTE IS ONE SMALL PART OFCTOTAL CELLYLAR RSP. AND NOT ANY MORE HOOKED UP TO GEART THAN ANY ITGER SYSTEM
NO idea what you're trying to communicate, but you need to try spell check and Camel Case.
noooooooooooooo... camel case is worse than all caps....
Depends on your age.
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In response to the crazy posts regarding marathoners having more heart disease than any other athlete - which I'm not going to quote since I think the person posting is either a bot or has some serious issues - here's a pretty good article with technical references. Heart DISEASE is not the issue at all.
The bullet from the article is that there may be some increased risk of dying from a cardiac event during or immediately after any endurance activity lasting for more than 3 hours, though the risks are far lower than sitting on the couch being fat. The risks are higher for young male athletes than they are for older or female athletes. No one is really sure why exactly. Additionally, many of the heart related deaths at endurance events are due to heart defects unrelated to endurance training/racing that are sort of 'weak links' in the athlete. The defect was small enough to be undetectable during routine activities but is unable to withstand a prolonged endurance event.
https://www.peakendurancesport.com/endurance-injuries-and-health/endurance-health-and-lifestyle/heart-attack-risks-greater-athletes-competing-endurance-sports/
To the OP - 20 minutes is not much. 30 minutes 5-6 days a week would be better. BUT how much depends on what you're trying to achieve. If you're trying to burn calories, 20 minutes is much not but better than nothing at all. Barely. If you're trying to run a 5k it's not enough because I bet you can't run that far in 20 minutes. When I'm not injured I typically run 3-8 miles 5 days a week and 10-20 one day a week at something like a 9-10 min/mile pace depending on the distance. I run a handful of 5ks and either a couple half marathons or a marathon a year.
The last time I had a test of my cardiac function (precaution due to a non-heart related incident but the doc wanted to make sure) the sonographer had a fantastic day - he said he was SO HAPPY to see a heart in good condition for once.4 -
In response to the crazy posts regarding marathoners having more heart disease than any other athlete - which I'm not going to quote since I think the person posting is either a bot or has some serious issues - here's a pretty good article with technical references. Heart DISEASE is not the issue at all.
The bullet from the article is that there may be some increased risk of dying from a cardiac event during or immediately after any endurance activity lasting for more than 3 hours, though the risks are far lower than sitting on the couch being fat. The risks are higher for young male athletes than they are for older or female athletes. No one is really sure why exactly. Additionally, many of the heart related deaths at endurance events are due to heart defects unrelated to endurance training/racing that are sort of 'weak links' in the athlete. The defect was small enough to be undetectable during routine activities but is unable to withstand a prolonged endurance event.
https://www.peakendurancesport.com/endurance-injuries-and-health/endurance-health-and-lifestyle/heart-attack-risks-greater-athletes-competing-endurance-sports/
To the OP - 20 minutes is not much. 30 minutes 5-6 days a week would be better. BUT how much depends on what you're trying to achieve. If you're trying to burn calories, 20 minutes is much not but better than nothing at all. Barely. If you're trying to run a 5k it's not enough because I bet you can't run that far in 20 minutes. When I'm not injured I typically run 3-8 miles 5 days a week and 10-20 one day a week at something like a 9-10 min/mile pace depending on the distance. I run a handful of 5ks and either a couple half marathons or a marathon a year.
The last time I had a test of my cardiac function (precaution due to a non-heart related incident but the doc wanted to make sure) the sonographer had a fantastic day - he said he was SO HAPPY to see a heart in good condition for once.
That person usually rants about calories... in caps.... lots of caps!1 -
"TavistockToad wrote: »That person usually rants about calories... in caps.... lots of caps!
DARN. I FORGOT TO USE ALL THE CAPS. IT'S MUCH MORE CONVINCING IF YOU APPEAR TO BE A LUNATIC.
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I do a lot of cardio - running, walking, elliptical, stair climber, sometimes the stationary bike. I like the endurance it gives me for skating, which I will do 3 hours of tonight. I average 80 minutes of exercise a day according to my devices, probably 30% is strength work, and it's been 2+ years at this pace and I'm doing well.0
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I'm guessing that you're getting that from some weight lifting sites or people? I've read that as well, from some of the top people in the industry, that when you're trying to gain muscle focus more on lifting and 20 min of HIIT in between lifting days. I will say that the last couple weeks I was doing an hour of cardio everyday, lifting and non lifting days and I over did it. I could feel it in my lifts. I had to take a break and I'm taking the cardio down a notch. I'm still doing it, 30-45 min depending if it is a weight training day or not. You have to figure out what works for your body and your goals. I think it also depends what level of fitness you are. Good luck1
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KellyPoetry wrote: »How much is too much?
For you? For me? For everyone?
In what way bad for you?
BTW I did over 300 hours of cycling last year, it certainly wasn't bad for me - but I'm not you....
20 minutes of (genuine) HIIT every day would be an awful routine by the way - true HIIT should be done at an intensity that requires proper recovery.
But my guess is you are just doing a variety of interval training and unlikely to be HIIT, certainly hope it isn't your routine as that would be a shortcut to injury.
How many times per week do you do HIIT? I love my elliptical but started incorporating HIIT, it's a great workout for my body tone and cardio/burning fat. Apparently it's better than hours of elliptical .. I like to switch it up
IT's not. Unless you're working to improve your VO2Max.
If your focus is on caloric burn, 20 minutes is less than hours. in fact, 20 minutes is less than 45. 4 -
I guess you should just stick to hiit twenty minutes a day. That's high intensity interval training. or running or sprinting in intervals of walking and running. or you could do that with any exercise in cardio. The rest is weight training.
I feel like I'm missing something, like you wrote this in response to something you read elsewhere. If that's the case, it would be helpful if you posted the article.3 -
20 minutes a day is 2.3 hrs/week. If you go to 1 hr Zumba twice and take a 20 minute walk, you're already over for the week. IDK about you but that's my BASELINE.0
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Like others have said, 20 min of actual HIIT a day is to much. That said I highly HIGHLY doubt you're talking about HIIT. 20 min of cardio a day in general is far from too much. Most weeks I only bike 3 days a week (mon/wed 1 hour fri 90 min) and that's by no means too much.1
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As with most things, this is contextual question and depends on what your goals are. Cardio and strength training tend to compete with each other, so essentially you have to pick a winner.
If you compete in an endurance type of sport, such as cycling or distance running, it's natural that your cardio training would (and probably should) be higher. If you are trying to strength train at the same time then your lifts will suffer, especially if you are also eating at a deficit because you have to fuel your exercise.
If you are looking to improve your physique, then strength training is the winner you should pick. More cardio generally does not help, unless you do HIIT. Ultimately it comes down to optimization. The reason HIIT workouts (when done right) are so beneficial is the "afterburn" and effect on metabolism. More bang for your buck (or return on your time investment). So HIIT on strength training rest days, along with strength training itself will do more for physique. Not to mention that strength training improves your cardio too. I've never had to stop running because I'm winded, it's been because I tire out my muscles over time. Larger, stronger muscles are more efficient and can last longer. My running endurance increased dramatically, despite doing it far less often, after I began strength training (my own admittedly anecdotal evidence).
If you want burn more calories and eat more food, combined with endurance, then do cardio to your heart's content. The real answer to this question depends on what you want to accomplish.
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The only thing that is truly bad for anyone is being inactive.
The best thing for you: whatever motivates you to move.
After that, sure you can look into what experts have to say about the best workouts out there. But don't let that poison your relationship to rule number one: move.2 -
stanmann571 wrote: »KellyPoetry wrote: »How much is too much?
For you? For me? For everyone?
In what way bad for you?
BTW I did over 300 hours of cycling last year, it certainly wasn't bad for me - but I'm not you....
20 minutes of (genuine) HIIT every day would be an awful routine by the way - true HIIT should be done at an intensity that requires proper recovery.
But my guess is you are just doing a variety of interval training and unlikely to be HIIT, certainly hope it isn't your routine as that would be a shortcut to injury.
How many times per week do you do HIIT? I love my elliptical but started incorporating HIIT, it's a great workout for my body tone and cardio/burning fat. Apparently it's better than hours of elliptical .. I like to switch it up
IT's not. Unless you're working to improve your VO2Max.
If your focus is on caloric burn, 20 minutes is less than hours. in fact, 20 minutes is less than 45.
To be fair, I'd rather dig my eyes out with a spoon than spend hours on the elliptical.4 -
MeanderingMammal wrote: »stanmann571 wrote: »KellyPoetry wrote: »How much is too much?
For you? For me? For everyone?
In what way bad for you?
BTW I did over 300 hours of cycling last year, it certainly wasn't bad for me - but I'm not you....
20 minutes of (genuine) HIIT every day would be an awful routine by the way - true HIIT should be done at an intensity that requires proper recovery.
But my guess is you are just doing a variety of interval training and unlikely to be HIIT, certainly hope it isn't your routine as that would be a shortcut to injury.
How many times per week do you do HIIT? I love my elliptical but started incorporating HIIT, it's a great workout for my body tone and cardio/burning fat. Apparently it's better than hours of elliptical .. I like to switch it up
IT's not. Unless you're working to improve your VO2Max.
If your focus is on caloric burn, 20 minutes is less than hours. in fact, 20 minutes is less than 45.
To be fair, I'd rather dig my eyes out with a spoon than spend hours on the elliptical.
Longest I've ever gone was about 90 minutes, and that wasn't too infrequent, as long as I had a good movie or the morning news running.
Although I know folks who'd sooner dig their eyes out with a spoon than watch 90 minutes of morning news.1
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