Cardio: does it have to be all at once?

trekkiebeth

My only piece of cardio equipment is an exercise bike. I have never used it for more than 20 minutes at a time because I get too worn out and don't want to continue. I also have a huge attention span problem even though I'm careful to pick TV shows or movies that will be the most distracting to watch while I exercise.

The thing I've found that helps me get to the 30 minute mark is to only do 15 minutes at a time. I bike for 15 minutes, stretch for 5 minutes or so or do crunches or squats or whatever, then get back on and do another 15 minutes. I want to do more than 30 minutes, so I thought I could start adding one or two additional 10 minute intervals after I've fully rested from the first 30 minutes. (I won't feel like doing more unless I've recovered.)

Is breaking it up like that an ok way to do it, or is it only effective if I do the whole thing straight through without stopping? This seems to be the only way I can make myself do it for more than 15 or 20 minutes for the whole day. I'd like to work up to doing the 30 minutes straight through, but I feel like I'm still a long way away from that.

lutzsher

Yes! you can break up your exercise minutes into a few different sessions to get in that 30 minutes per day you are shooting for.

Mindful_Trent

You're going to burn calories no matter how you break it up, but if you're interested in improving your cardiorespiratory endurance/fitness, you're going to want to try to push yourself to stay on the bike longer.

MTLumps

I'm no expert, but I think what matters most is that you are doing it. If breaking it up is what works for you and keeps you doing more then I say go for it. We have a wind trainer at home - put your bike on it and you can ride indoors during the winter - and I have the same issue you do with boredom. We have a couple of biking workouts that I can watch that help me with that...

audjrey

What you are doing is excellent! Especially adding in the intervals. Breaking cardio up into two or three sections over the course of the day is awesome for the body. Way to go!!

Kirstie_C26

u can work it whichever way works best for u hon, ul do fine

best wishes
Kirstie x

koosdel

I don't see a problem with that. I have the attention span of a gold fish, and pretty much find myself doing the same thing sometimes.

In fact, just last night I got on my bike, then got off to look for a movie cuz tv sucked. I kept getting off the thing to do laundry and play with the dog, and refill my drink, and go potty, and play with the dog, and check the kitchen because I though I smelled hot dogs, find another movie because I really wasn't in the mood for star trek, and refill my drink again, and eat an Apple, and play with dog some more........

Laceylala

I break up my cardio at the gym too because it is So. Darn. BORING!

20 min cardio
10-15 strength training/weights
15 cardio
10-15 strength/weights
15-20 cardio

The point is to do it, doesn't matter how it gets done. Also, and I don't know if this is right or not, but I've had TWO personal trainers tell me that doing cardio after strength/weight training helps burn more fat.

nukehiker

personally on my cardio days i will do the elliptical for 30 min, then go do some ab exercises like 3 sets of 15 for each ab exercise. then I will get back on the elliptical for another 15-20 min. but i do track my calories burned from both sessions so i know how much calories I used for the whole session. I also go to the local YMCA, hope this help you out.

hroush

I am going to say that you are not going to get as much out of it as you should rewarm up each time you get on the bike. Your heart rate slows down and your leg muscles start to relax. Be careful just jumping back on as you could injure yourself going too hard too fast. The other day I was showing a person how I run my intervals, so I ran a lap with him and my right calf almost cramped because I had stopped running for too long.

Mindful_Trent

You're going to burn calories no matter how you break it up, but if you're interested in improving your cardiorespiratory endurance/fitness, you're going to want to try to push yourself to stay on the bike longer.

As a quick followup:

I found the following website that discusses cardiorespiratory fitness. Again, I'm not saying you can't burn calories by breaking your exercise up, but unless you push yourself, your fitness won't improve (which I'm assuming improved fitness is one of your goals...)

"if you want to improve your cardiorespiratory fitness level you will need to apply the overload principle. This principle simply states that, in order for your cardiorespiratory system (or any other exercise system, for that matter) to improve, you must subject it to demands that are greater than it is accustomed to. If you just go through the motions and your cardiorespiratory system is not subjected to overload you will experience very limited beneficial training adaptations."
http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/articles/cardiorespiratory-fitness.aspx

trekkiebeth

I found the following website that discusses cardiorespiratory fitness. Again, I'm not saying you can't burn calories by breaking your exercise up, but unless you push yourself, your fitness won't improve (which I'm assuming improved fitness is one of your goals...)

"if you want to improve your cardiorespiratory fitness level you will need to apply the overload principle. This principle simply states that, in order for your cardiorespiratory system (or any other exercise system, for that matter) to improve, you must subject it to demands that are greater than it is accustomed to. If you just go through the motions and your cardiorespiratory system is not subjected to overload you will experience very limited beneficial training adaptations."
http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/articles/cardiorespiratory-fitness.aspx

I have increased the resistance since I started. I used to do level 8 the whole time, then I started adding 5 minutes of level 9 for every 15 minutes, and now I do 10 minutes of level 9 for every 15 minutes.