Breaking up your workout

hardymommy123

Ok, this is probably a silly question.... Is breaking up your workout less effective in the weight loss department? Some days my 2 year old will not let me get my time in. Like today, got 30 min in at the gym before I was called out. Then got 20 min in on our treadmill before she started screaming. Other days its 15 min, 20 min, 10 min....etc......

If my goal is 60 minutes of cardio, does it matter if I do it all at once?

hardymommy123

bump

joel3736

Breaking up your workout will not disrupt your gain really. It is harder to do with say resistance training because it is hard to hit the same muscles multiple times in a day, of course some programs promote this kind of training. As far as cardio goes it should be fine, just depends on how your knees and shoes feel. I have even seen programs that advocate breaking up the cardio in a similar fashion.

hardymommy123

Thanks!! Anyone else???

ItsCasey

It depends on why you're doing 60 minutes of cardio a day.

If you were trying to improve your cardiovascular endurance, then it would be better to do it all at once, as 60 consecutive minutes is more of a challenge than 30 minutes here and 30 minutes there.

But you indicated your goal is weight-loss. If you're just trying to burn calories, it doesn't really matter. You may burn a few more by doing it all at once, just by virture of keeping your heart rate elevated for a longer period of time. But it won't be significant enough to make it worth rearranging your schedule.

I might suggest, though, that if you frequently find yourself having to break up 1 hour into 3 or 4 increments because of other obligations, you should try doing higher intensity cardio for a shorter duration. I think focus and consistency are critical, and it's hard to imagine you being really zoned in if you are being interrupted every 20 minutes by a screaming child. So just do 20 to 30 minutes of really intense work, and you're done.

hardymommy123

Eventually I will want to work on endurance as I am going to be doing some 5Ks and hopefully eventually 10Ks, but for right now I am just trying to get some weight off and tone up. Its hard getting my heartrate nice and high and then having to stop. I feel like I am just not burning as much as I could.