Cardio questions

VelveteenArabian

A couple of questions on cardio:

1. I need to do cardio to maintain lung capacity as it helps with my asthma. Is there a way to determine the minimums punt I should be doing per week?

2. I was a at a weight plateau (no change on the scale nor in measurements) for a solid month. I abruptly stopped going to zumba because it went into a musical direction I didn't care for. I always used a HRM and never are more than half of what it said I burned. I have since replaced those classes with more strength training via horseback riding, ballet and bellydance exercises (basically drills, body weight manipulation, muscle endurance). The plateau has broken and remained broken for 3 weeks. I'm netting close to the same amount of calories. Was it somehow overdoing it with the cardio and creating a stall? I always did the dancing and horseback riding, I'm just doing more of them and with more fitness elements.

heybales

2 - Zumba, and other activities that kind of have a set maximum of intensity (like how do you walk faster than 4 mph if that is the fastest you can go?), like you always move to the beat of the music, so arms and legs only move so fast, you don't go faster to increase intensity, you don't carry weights, ect.

But you lose weight doing it. Now you are actually moving less weight around to a level of set intensity. You burn less calories.
Was HRM showing that fact in it's calorie burn estimates?

Classes like that once you get past initial stages and it no longer makes you sore, are just calorie burners too. Initially you burned more in repair process because it was so new, body had to make some improvements. But with set intensity, that need stops.
Again less calorie burn, this time for repair. So actually burning more out of the class not accounted for.

Strength training though is easy to increase intensity. You add weight. Or reps. So you actually burn more doing it, and keep up that extra burn for repair.

1 - cardio intervals to improve or maintain lung capacity. Not sure what minimum punt is though?
Since regular intervals increase the stroke volume of the heart, it also needs improved lung volume to supply that increased oxygen for increased volume.
http://www.exrx.net/Aerobic/IntervalTraining.html

Notice this is NOT HIIT training, wrong system focused on there, this is good old regular intervals.
And though not mentioned there, you do need decent long warm-up and cool-down. This maybe 1 - 2 x weekly is all. The relief part is walking.

VelveteenArabian

Stupid autocorrect.

Minimum punt should have been minimum amount! I'm asking if there's a way to determine the minimum amount of cardio I should be doing in order to maintain good cardiovascular health since it does seem to have a noticeable effect on me.

Yes the HRM was showing fewer calories burned. I thought it was just because I weighed less. I would still have some difficult spots in class but I definitely have not been sore in a long time.

heybales

The minimum amount you should be doing with breathing problems compared to others - totally impossible to answer.

You will have to experiment and decide what the minimum amount is that works.

Like I said, those types of intervals, 1- 2 x weekly is all, 30-45 min, plus some warm-up / cool-down time.

VelveteenArabian

Thanks - I appreciate you coming back to answer!