Agility ladder as cardio ?

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Jumpropegirl5467
Jumpropegirl5467 Posts: 98 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I was wondering if agility ladder exercises should be incorporated as a cardio ? And how long the exercises should be done (10-20-30 min?) in order to have a successful cardio day.

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  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,405 Member
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    Yes, or no. What are your aims?
  • Jumpropegirl5467
    Jumpropegirl5467 Posts: 98 Member
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    yirara wrote: »
    Yes, or no. What are your aims?

    My aim is simply to use it as a HIIT cardio exercise
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,969 Member
    edited November 2023
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    Cardio is about heart rate and oxygen. HIIT is about strength and cardio together and working so hard you cannot go any harder, basically. It is reaching 100% maximum heart rate. Should be done with supervision. Are you in a gym?

    I would think if you are using an agility ladder on the ground it's not different from other conditioning exercise - except maybe the boredom factor...
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,128 Member
    edited November 2023
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    cmriverside wrote: »
    Cardio is about heart rate and oxygen. HIIT is about strength and cardio together and working so hard you cannot go any harder, basically. It is reaching 100% maximum heart rate. Should be done with supervision. Are you in a gym?

    I would think if you are using an agility ladder on the ground it's not different from other conditioning exercise - except maybe the boredom factor...

    And it should be done sparingly: true HIIT is too hard on the body to do for longer durations and requires sufficient recovery (definitely shouldn't be a daily thing, 2 to 3 times per week max)

    For me, 'successful cardio' means progressing over time: being able to go longer and/or go faster than, for example, a few months earlier; or doing the same exercise but that it feels easier than before. HIIT can contribute, but ideally I like a mix of steady state low intensity cardio, steady state higher intensity and interval training (I don't do true HIIT myself).
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,195 Member
    edited November 2023
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    Jumpropegirl5467 wrote: »
    I was wondering if agility ladder exercises should be incorporated as a cardio ? And how long the exercises should be done (10-20-30 min?) in order to have a successful cardio day.

    If done with some vigor, agility ladder exercises could count as cardio. Maybe I'm reading too much into your phrasing, but there's no particular reason they "should" be incorporated, unless you enjoy them and think they will make your fitness more well-rounded in ways you desire.

    How long cardio should be done is IMO long/often enough to be a manageable challenge to your current cardiovascular (or other physical) capabilities It may give you a few minutes of "whew" feeling right after the workout, but should leave you feeling energized rather than exhausted for the rest of your day. How many minutes that is, how often, depends on your current fitness level.

    As you get fitter, you can add duration, frequency, or intensity to keep that manageable challenge always in the picture (or change type of exercise). The challenge creates fitness progress. The "manageable" avoids injury, and helps make sure you recover properly between workouts, because recovery is where the magic (rebuilding better) actually happens.

    Most mainstream authorities suggest working up to 150 minutes of moderate cardiovascular exercise per week, ideally spread over at least 5 days; or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise; or a combination.
    Jumpropegirl5467 wrote: »
    yirara wrote: »
    Yes, or no. What are your aims?

    My aim is simply to use it as a HIIT cardio exercise

    HIIT is oversold these days.

    Others are correct: It should be proportioned as a side dish or even a condiment in one's workout menu, not the regular main workout "meal". Elite athletes don't train all high intensity every workout, and they have the best professional advice money can buy. I can't think why us regular duffers would want to overload with high intensity.

    HIIT can be useful as part of a workout plan, yes . . . after a person has base fitness. It's not a great beginner strategy. It's unnecessarily fatiguing, and can be more injury-prone.

    Despite what's been said, the starting point historically for HIIT was cardio (cycling for example) with a minimal strength challenge, and focused on ramping up heart rate as far as possible for short time periods. Most of the research about HIIT benefits seems to have been done on that type of cardio HIIT. It could be done with any cardio modality that lets an individual drive heart rate up near actual max at full out effort.

    The more recent "HIIT" that is fast-paced strength or calisthenics makes some of the benefit claims that were demonstrated for cardio-centric HIIT, but I'm not sure the research really holds up those claims. (Strength exercises raises heart rate for reasons that have nothing to do with oxygen consumption, and it's driving up oxygen consumption that delivers some of those benefits.) This strength-y version of HIIT can be quite high risk for injury, because form suffers at high intensity. Bad form with weights (or bodyweight) is dangerous.

    I do some classic HIIT on the rowing machine sometimes, such as Tabata intervals. I didn't do it when I was a new rower.

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