How long are your cardio. Sessions ?

vsprocket04

I go to the gym 3 times a week and each session i do 40 mins epilator machine ( burning around 350 cals) and 40-50 mins treadmill, walking at a high incline and a fast pace as jogging/ running hurts my knee, (burning between 500-550 cals) i also do a few reps of arm weights/ torso machines in between. Also if I really feel like pushing myself ill do the gym bike at the end, but maybe only between 10-15 mins.

Does the body benefit from long periods of excersie or should I be aiming for shorter time/ more intense ??

FitMelody4Life

You are overdoing it in the cardio department and that can cause muscle wasting, not to mention aren't you just bored out of your mind doing cardio for that long?. You should be focusing more time on weights. Focus on large muscle groups and compound exercises. Don't ditch cardio but make it challeging and keep it under 45 minutes.

vsprocket04

I don't get bored, the time really flies but thanks.for your advice!

BlueBombers

25 minutes give or take. My main focus is weight lifting now that I am at maintenance.

LKArgh

It depends on what are your goals. If you want to build muscles, you need more strength training and less cardio. If you have no set goals and just enjoy it or are trying to burn calories or improve overall fitness, you are doing more than fine

Hungry_Annie

It depends on the day...but I usually do half an hour of cardio minimum. Some days I do more, like last night I did 55 minutes on the treadmill and bike.

donnat238

Normally 60 minutes on the elliptical 5-6X a week.

PhearlessPhreaks

It varies, depending on what I'm doing that day, how happy my knees are or aren't and what I did the day before. I spend about an hour at the gym when I go (5, sometimes 6 days a week, although if it's 6 days, its because of yoga on saturday) and if I'm focusing on strength training, I'll only do about 15 min on the elliptical. On lighter days when I'm just doing ab/core work, I'll do about 30-35 minutes. Maybe once a week I skip the floor altogether and do laps for about 30 min.

seamonster1203

It depends on how active I've been during the day. If I'm in the office all day then I do more cardio, if its a weekend and Ive been running around all day, then I just do less at the gym.

Your body is designed to walk around looking for food all day so you gotta somehow mimic that if you got a less active lifestyle. Also depends on how intense your cardio sessions are. You can walk super slow for 8 hours straight, or you can sprint for 30 second intervals. You pretty much gotta figure out what works for you and know theres no one rule fits all when it comes to shaping our bodies.

Kupe

My cardio session are all out doors, so if it is a run it is minimum of 40 minutes and a ride can be anything up to 4 hours. Trust me I got no muscle wastage as one of the previous poster mentioned. It all depends on what your goals are. I also do heavy weight training, its all about finding the balance.

cardinalsfootball

45 minutes. I find that's long enough for me and works for my schedule 5 days per week.

zb786

Im looking to lose 30lbs. I tend to 30mins of cardio 3 times a week hiit training 2 times aweek and body sculpt exerises. evry week I tend to swap and change compared to my mood. overall i work out 5 times a week no more than 30mins at a time.
I tend to get bored very quickly. ;]

Buddhasmiracle

Cycling 6 days a week alternating between 60 minutes or 120 minutes. Eliptical trainer for 35 minutes if the weather is lousy. I've recently added weight training 3xs a week.

I enjoy cycling and am building up to 50 miles daily. I am not a performance cyclist.

xscat

I run 4.5~5.5 miles a day for 5~6 days a week on a treadmill(usually 6mph~7mph speed); I do 50 min elliptical instead of running when I feel like it... I love running. I find it soothing and fun on its own.

sijomial

I go to the gym 3 times a week and each session i do 40 mins epilator machine ( burning around 350 cals) and 40-50 mins treadmill, walking at a high incline and a fast pace as jogging/ running hurts my knee, (burning between 500-550 cals) i also do a few reps of arm weights/ torso machines in between. Also if I really feel like pushing myself ill do the gym bike at the end, but maybe only between 10-15 mins.

Does the body benefit from long periods of excersie or should I be aiming for shorter time/ more intense ??

Just snorted my coffee imagining a gym with an epilator machine!! That would be forty minutes of hell..... :laugh:

How long are your cardio. Sessions ?
At the moment my weekly routine is 2 x 1 hour (which could be rowing, Spinning, elliptical, squash or rarely running) plus one session of 2 hours cycling. In the summer the long session can be a cycle of anywhere from 2 hours to 6 hours depending on distance and training goals.

Does the body benefit from long periods of exercise or should I be aiming for shorter time/ more intense ??
Completely depends on your goals. Long duration, low intensity will generally improve your endurance. Shorter time more intense for speed / power. Also depends on what you enjoy - please don't forget you are supposed to enjoy exercise.

BTW - cardio doesn't cause muscle wasting unless your nutrition is poor. You would either have to severely under eat, be extremely lean already or be training to a level beyond elite endurance athletes.

cwolfman13

Depends...I've just started training for a 1/2 century and a metric century so a bit more than usual.

Monday - Rest Day

Tuesday - 45-60 minute easy paced ride AM or lunch; weight training PM

Wednesday - 60 minute steady paced ride

Thursday - Cardio Cross Training...generally about 20 minutes running the stairwell at work and then a 20-30 minute moderately paced walk to cool down and have some alone time with my brain. Weight Training in the PM

Friday - Rest Day

Saturday - hard spin followed by some muscular endurance body weight and resistance band work

Sunday - Long Ride Day (gets incrementally longer each week)

Barring actually training for something, I generally don't do any cardio beyond about 60 minutes save for a hike here and there and I might take a little bit longer ride or something on a weekend just because.

Really, you'd be better served to find a bit more balance in your fitness regimen if you're just working out for your basic fitness.

FindingMyPerfection

Cardio?


I play tag with my boys for 10 min every 2 hours but that's about it!

Morgaath

Anywhere from 10 minutes of HIIT, to 30 minutes of running (Working on my 5k), to 2+hrs of walking.
From what I've seen from reports, the only time you have to worry about burning muscle is when you are working out at a high rate (Like running) over 45-60 minutes and do not have a supply of carbs in you to burn, and that is just because all the easy to convert fat has been used.

Unknown

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TheRealParisLove

It varies depending on the day and how much time I have available. I've been known to spend up to 11 hours on my bicycle in one day. Sometimes I crank out 20 minutes of very hard intervals. I aim for a cumulative cardio workout of 1+ hours a day at 65%-95% of MHR.

dmoppy

25 minutes give or take. My main focus is weight lifting now that I am at maintenance.

Similar to the above for me. I walk/jog for 10 minutes before I lift on Chest and Back days followed by 20-30 minutes of HIIT using a treadmill with a pattern of 2 minute jog, 1 min high intensity run 4x week. On leg day I only do the warm-up but no HIIT, and nothing (or just basic walking) on my rest day.
When I was losing I ran (treadmill or outside) for 60-90 minutes 3-4 times/week. Yes, I should have started my lifting then but I wanted the weight off as fast as possible – not the best idea but I needed the reinforcement of the loss. Now that I started lifting 3 months ago I can’t believe I didn’t begin it sooner. I thought I would miss the “regular” cardio/run more than I do but the HIIT scratches at least part of that itch.
.

mel4bee

I do heavy cardio (Turbo Fire which is a mix between kickboxing, High Intensity interval training and a bit of dancing) 3-4 times a week, 45 minutes-60 minutes per session. I do a short HIIT (20 minutes) once a week. I lift 3 times a week for 30 minutes per session and I do a few 10 minutes abs sessions here and there. I also walk (3.5-4 mph around 45 minutes 2-3 times a week for now because it is still very cold in Canada)

MeanderingMammal

You are overdoing it in the cardio department and that can cause muscle wasting

Because muscles clearly aren't involved in moving the whole body around...

To provide some context and make the statement meaningful, when one is losing weight by eating in deficit the loss in stored energy affects fat, muscles and organs. By exercising the muscles there is some bias in that loss by maintaining lean muscle mass. That retention in lean mass is more pronounced with resistance training, but using the muscles to perform CV work doesn't cause them to waste away unless one is in an extreme deficit situation.

Essentially the issue only kicks in if one is consistently doing 120-180 minute sessions.

not to mention aren't you just bored out of your mind doing cardio for that long?

A fair comment for the hamster wheels, however personally I prefer going outside to train.

Don't ditch cardio but make it challeging and keep it under 45 minutes.

Define challenging

fwiw my runs probably fall into three categories:

Short recovery runs of up to 30 minutes - That can be up to 6km a couple of times per week
Interval or tempo runs of between 40 minutes and 60 minutes - Generally 8-10Km a couple of times per week
Long run of somewhere between 90 minutes and 120 minutes - Once per week at the moment between 15 and 20Km

I complement that with two bodyweight sessions per week

RivenV

I don't really do anything with a specific cardio emphasis.

There is sometimes a cardio element in my workouts--like doing "as many reps as possible" for a certain time or completing a certain amount of work and noting the time as a benchmark for later.

MeanderingMammal

Does the body benefit from long periods of excersie or should I be aiming for shorter time/ more intense ??

Depends what one is wanting to achieve:

Long, slow (in relative terms) sessions build endurance and stamina
Intervals improve the capacity to operate at highest demand and develop explosive power
Tempo sessions improve capacity to operate at a higher demand for a protracted period of time

dannatona

I normally do 30-45 mins of HIIT cardio at the gym. I've found that HIIT training really gives me better results. My favorite workouts tend to have strength training and cardio mixed circuits. I burn an average of 10 calories per minute and I FEEL the burn lol

suziepoo1984

I cannot do cardio like running/elliptical more than 20 minutes at a time..i get bored to death! I keep watching the second counter on the machine- and yes, i do take plenty entertainment with me- like videos, songs etc. But i just cant do it! I truly admire people who run 60+ minutes at a time...wish i could do that:(
Anyhow, the only cardio i do are walking(is that cardio?)-45-50 minutes 2-3 days a week, zumba classes, U-Jam classes, Bollywood dance classes- all 60 minutes at a time about 2-3 times per week. I have also just incorporated weight lifting twice a week- 30 minutes at a time!

sharde8691

I do a total of 50-60 minutes of cardio 5-6 days a week. Right now I am doing a couch -10K trainer 3 days a week. I supplement the training with the cross trainer and/or stairmaster so that the workout is a full 50-60 minutes. I like to do one fun workout (zumba, kickboxing, etc.) once a week.
Once I lose 30 more pounds, I will focus more on strength-training to sculpt the body i want. Right now I just do upper body and lower body 2 days a week.

JoRocka

I have a serious question... because I seriously do NOT understand.

Why people do XX minutes on the Treadmill and then XX more minutes on the elliptical... or vice versa.

What is the deal with that??


Bulking= zero- (and as Huff said- some how it still feels like too much!)

Cutting- I'll start to include 30-45 minutes of stair master- that thing kicks my butt- great for creating more calorie deficit.

I get 'cardio' in with dance training- but it varies and I not really count it as cardio. can't be bothered- it's training for my thing- not 'cardio' that's a by product.

Spaghetti_Bender

I usually do an hour on the treadmill and elliptical combined.

BrianSharpe

You are overdoing it in the cardio department and that can cause muscle wasting,

The broscience is strong in this answer........loss of lean muscle mass is more a function of inadequate dietary protein intake or a prolonged excessively high caloric deficit (an undesired result of VLCDs)

Your primary sources of fuel when exercising are carbohydrates (glycogen stored in muscle & liver, plasma glucose) and fats depending on the intensity & duration of the exercise.

To the OP, I love cardio (I run, bike, row etc) but a balanced exercise program will include a strength component and there is compelling evidence that interval training offers significant benefits. In other word, mix things up a little, you`ll become fitter and keep boredom at bay.