too much cardio?

helton1515

what is too much cardio?

is 1 1/2 hours of cardio too much?? i just feel so relieved after i do cardio.

helton1515

what is too much cardio?

is 1 1/2 hours of cardio too much?? i just feel so relieved after i do cardio.

dragonfly183

I have always felt there can never be to much cardio. although to much stair master of hill climbing will make your butt and thighs larger and not smaller.

dragonfly183

Although if your weak you should stop

TexasAngelBeth

I do an 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 1/2 hours a day. I use it as a stress relief...so I hope its not too much. I usually run 1.5 - 5 miles depending on my mood and I use the elliptical/stationary bike and the stair stepper

banks1850

I doubt you can have too much, as long as your body isn't telling you to stop. I.E. pain, inflamation, shortness of breath (beyond the normal out of breath stage), dizzyness...etc
It's great that something so good for you makes you feel so good! I wish that was how it worked for me. I am a team sports kind of guy, so I have to force myself to do cardio when I'm not on a team. Blech! I hate running and the machines.

fessler

Cardio...since it is usually a repeated motion is meditative. This is why so many people feel relief after completing it. Meditation is great for stress!

However, the body does need a week (here and there) to recover from all exercise. This means taking a full week off of doing ANYTHING. This allows your metabolic clock to reset itself.

Think of it this way...your body was SHOCKED the first time you did cardio. It did not have an economic way of performing the tast...becaues exercise was still foreign. However...over time it adjusted...doing the same 1.5 hours of cardio burns less calories now...than it did 2 months ago...because your body is more accustomed. Take the breaks people.

I know it's hard...and scarey...but necessary.

TexasAngelBeth

While I understand the concept of taking time off... I am currently deployed and its really the only stress relief we have... what if we changed it around and did the machines for a week then running for a week?

srwings

I don't think there is such a thing as too much cardio assuming you don't have any heart disease or defects. It is possible to overtrain. In terms of high intensity cardio workouts. I do these regularly training at 90% of my max heart for up to 2 hours. Ocassionally I'll hit 100% on hills for brief moments.

playinwfire

euhhh :noway: yeah ok guys! I'm jealous! at one point I used to do 90minutes of cardio a day! I guess I'm the type of all or nothing! and now it's hard for me to just do 30 minutes treadmile! I'm trying though! good job guys:flowerforyou:

cmriverside

Cardio...
...........However, the body does need a week (here and there) to recover from all exercise. This means taking a full week off of doing ANYTHING. This allows your metabolic clock to reset itself.

Take the breaks people.

I know it's hard...and scarey...but necessary.

NOOOOO. I can't go a week without the elliptical. Can't we just use interval training, or circuit, or do something we don't usually do like TexasAngelBeth says? C'mon, fessler, you're killin' me. It's even WORSE cuz I know you're in the fitness industry!

:sad:

Is this another reason why we plateau??

g06m1281

Wow. 1 1/2 HOURS OF CARDIO? Way to go guys. I do not think that I could pull off 1 1/2 hours - maybe an hour max.

oldandbroke

I don't think 1 1/2 hours a DAY is too much. But is too much at once. 40 minutes twice a day would be better. You run out of energy stores after about 40 minutes and then your start burning muscle. That is not good. The other thing is shorter periods will help prevent injury especially for those that are not experienced athletes. When you exercise for a really long session you can create problems for the joints and back because your smaller supporting muscles can become exhausted and let you get out of alignment. The bad thing is that you really don't notice while you are working and even worse it builds over time. I had an Ortho Doc show me a bunch of my X-rays that proved it to me. I just wish I was not so hard headed when I was young and not broke.

TexasAngelBeth

Just to let y'all know... I have cut back my early morning work out to an hour since the gym starts to get busy at 0330 (and I don't like crowds) and then I added a 30 minute abs class 4 nights a week and running 3 nights a week. I love the exercise and as I said before its stress relief for me. I have been changing things around about every 2 weeks now and its working great... I am loosing more this way then I was the previous months of doing the same thing every day. Next week I am going to do a spinning class and see how things go from there I will still keep the abs and running but the spin class will be a trial to see how things work out.
Y'all may want to try just changing things up... since starting the abs class I have dropped some serious weight...it has also helped me get my recommended calories a day. I was having a lot of issues getting 1200 a day, I know crazy as it sounds I couldn't manage that most days. Hope this helps someone out. Good Luck to all

Pookie

what is too much cardio?

is 1 1/2 hours of cardio too much?? i just feel so relieved after i do cardio.

Back when I was doing triathlons long cardio sessions (twice a day) were common.
Overuse injuries especially if this is high impact or high intensity level work is something you need to be careful of.

My present trainer has me limit extended (low level) cardio bouts (more than an hour up to 4) to once maybe twice a week. The rest of my cardio is short bout interval training(20 min) and moderate to high level cadio(45min). He is also using this with his endurance athletes and clients trying to loose weight with good results.

Another thing to keep in mind with long cardio sessions is fueling. Your body burns fat and carbs at the same time(different levels). Most of us are not going to run out of the fat source, but our muscles will become depleted on glycogen. Plain water is not going to cut it. I use Accelerade for anything over 20min. It has a 4:1 carb protien ratio. You don't want to break down the muscle your trying to build up.

neverbeenskinny

All of our bodies are different and will react differently to exercising. Please listen to your bodies, some of us can handle 1.5 hours of cardio at a time, and some of us can only do 30 minutes at a time. But the most important thing is make sure you're not feeling pain while doing cardio, if you are then you're over doing it. GET PLENTY OF REST!! Make sure that your body has time for recuperation before hitting it hard again. If you don't, you will injure yourself and be out of commission, which is counter productive to what we want.

There are no hard and fast answers to whether you are doing too much. Only you can answer that question. But please remember:

* Get enough rest
* Get enough water
* Get enough GOOD nutrition
* And don't try to keep up with someone else, do it for yourself

kistinbee

You guys are all amazing! I don't know how you find the time to get so much exercise in. I work about 10 hour days and I don't have kids but have 2 cats and 2 dogs (one is a 6 month old puppy and one is a 6 week old kitten) so with taking care of them plus making sure there is dinner for my husband, I try my best to squeeze in going to the gym 3-5 times a week. Usually while I'm there I do an hour cardio and an hour of weights (sometimes just 1 1/2-2 hours cardio). I would absolutely love to go more often but can't seem to find the time. Getting up earlier is simply not an option. I get up at 5:30, take the dogs out, feed them, bottle feed the kitten (he was a stray and so malnurished that he is still getting formula), then make a lunch for my husband, get him out of bed, finally get a cup of coffee, fix breakfast for my husband, finally eat myself, then shower, dogs out again, and off to work I go! I come home for lunch, dogs out, feed kitten, eat myself, back to work. I come home, dogs out, feed kitten, feed dogs again, fix dinner for my husband (and myself), eat, dogs out again and to the gym I go. By the time I get home, I do dishes and whatever other chores there are around the house and then it's already 11-11:30 and time for bed. This is my life. Wednesdays I have devoted to myself (it's my night off from everything. I don't go to the gym or cook or do dishes or anything. I usually get lost in a book. Fridays there is always something going on and I don't get to the gym. And it seems like the last couple weekends, I have just been to busy that I've either not had time or have just been to tired to get to the gym. I really wish I had more time to every day! So, I guess I just needed to vent--congrats to all you who can get to the gym as much as you do. I am seriously jealous!!
*kistinbee*

TexasAngelBeth

Kristin,
I think your doing great...keep it up... I work 12 hour shifts, but I don't exactly have a life while I am here so I am able to get out of bed at 0220 make it to the gym by 0240 and be out by 0350, What I didn't mention is I go back to sleep until 0600 so I get an hour or so power nap in, and then its off to work at 07. Sorry if that was misleading before. When I am back home I work out after work and early in the mornings just not THAT early. I have a 13 year old who is my life so I try and make my time at the gym while she is in school or various practices/activities.

Jaffcamp

This is my take. I am sure doing 1.5 hours of cardio is OK but can you do it for the rest of your life? I prefer to think long term because what happens when you, down the road, stop doing 1.5 and just do 30 minutes? You will probably be used to eating a certain amount and that is when you start putting the weight back on. I suggest that you use a happy medium.

deanea

Great point "start how you intend to finish" sort of deal....if you have and always, and will do longer cardio bouts then do it, listen to your body, but for most, 30min- an hour is all you can fit in usually. As well remember the different levels of cardio, I can do 2-3 hours of recumbant bike....but it is only at 60-70% heart rate watching TV.....high impact step, running is different.

DrWhoFanatic47

I swim at least two hours a day for at least 6 days a week and I'm talking intense workouts. There's never too much as long as you are enjoying it.