Is 30 minutes of cardio enough?

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yulia_star
yulia_star Posts: 28
in Fitness and Exercise
I do 30 minutes of intense cardio, 5 - 6 days a week. During my cardio workout, I'm moving the whole time, my heart rate is up the whole time, I'm huffing and puffing and my legs are sore. I play DDR (Dance Dance Revolution - a dancing video game...) for cardio, and please don't tell me a game isn't gonna do anything cause this is vigorous. I play on the hardest level, at 2x speed. I jump a lot, and in between songs I do some jump rope, to keep moving. I surely feel this more than I ever felt running in place or rope jumping alone.

My question is, if it's intense enough, is 30 - 40 minutes enough to burn a good amount of calories and fat? I've heard you should go over 45 minutes because it will burn lean muscle.

Thanks!

My goal is to lose about 5 pounds a month. I'm 138 - 140 and only 5'3". My goal is 115 - 120 pounds and to lose fat. And, I exercise 6 days a week, not only 3...

EDIT: I do about 20 minutes of strength training every other day. I am working my way into HIIT. Right now it's just cardio at a constant, intense pace. I'll start walking outside some, and maybe playing on my WII. It may not be "exercise" but it is more calories burned.

Replies

  • Homer3D
    Homer3D Posts: 318
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    Depends on your goal. I am doing 30 minutes of jogging 3 days a week. It is perfect for me since I am just in maintenance mode right now. If I go back to weight lost mode, I probably need to bump that up to 45/60 minutes 4-5 times a day.
  • mndamon
    mndamon Posts: 547 Member
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    I find 20-30 min of HIIT per session is more than enough.
  • gabrielled
    gabrielled Posts: 247 Member
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    Depends on your goal. I am doing 30 minutes of jogging 3 days a week. It is perfect for me since I am just in maintenance mode right now. If I go back to weight lost mode, I probably need to bump that up to 45/60 minutes 4-5 times a day.

    Agreed! Throw some resistance training in there too, though.
  • HeatherDee92
    HeatherDee92 Posts: 218 Member
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    I find 20-30 min of HIIT per session is more than enough.

    I agree! If I do alot more that 30 mins I have trouble keeping my net calories high enough.
  • derfregal
    derfregal Posts: 32 Member
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    i dis 30 minutes of elliptical trainer 3 days a week and was dropping half a pound a week then did a whole 7 days (30 minutes a day) just once to see if i would get improvement...boom 2.5 pounds that week lost...so for me it was enough (i walk alot also for my work out in the heat up and down stairs etc for 6-8 hrs a day on top of my cardio)
  • StoutGirl09
    StoutGirl09 Posts: 73 Member
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    There is a a difference between Exercise and Activity. 10000 steps a day, not including exercise, you'll see results quick
  • chunkydunk714
    chunkydunk714 Posts: 784 Member
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    Good post! I also wondered the same thing.
  • marc8686
    marc8686 Posts: 199 Member
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    Every person is different , some require short high intensity exercises other need more endurance steady pace exercises. to find these informations i did an easy genetic test that tells me exactly WHICH exercises work best for me, how often to do them, and how much total exercise i need to do them each week. also it advised me exactly what type of foods work best for me for weight loss. breaks down a protein/fat/carb ratio of what my diet should consist of. contact me for more info, id recommend this to ANYBODY.
  • Masterdo
    Masterdo Posts: 331 Member
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    Played that for a while, and it can definitely pump your heart rate, but maybe not as much as you think. Try it with with an HRM (or take your pulse after every song), note that down and use the average on a calorie calculator that takes that as the input. That will give you a good enough approximation of your burn (HRMs aren't using black magic, they use the same darn formula, it's just that they have beat by beat information, but still, this approximation will be interesting).

    You can easily lose 5 pounds per month with no exercise, the biggest part is the diet and the lifestyle (sleep, etc), doing them will just help and most of all, you will definitely feel better and better exercising so it's highly motivating.

    DDR rocks too :)
  • KeriW626
    KeriW626 Posts: 430
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    Im no specialist, but I dance, just dance no wii. for 20-30 mins 6 days a week. I enjoy it. I glisten while dancing. Then sweat like pig (even though they really dont sweat) for the next 30 mins. I cant sit on the sofa with out a towel or blanket, because I will soak the sofa I sit on. I dont know but I think that must be a great workout for me, walking 3-4 miles a day didnt produce even 1/4th of the amount of sweat just plain dancing does. lol
  • klewlis
    klewlis Posts: 79 Member
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    any activity is good. don't forget that weight loss is not just about activity, but about food consumption.

    regardless of how hard I think I'm working at various activities, the two activities that give me the best fitness and which work me the hardest are running and cycling. I've yet to find anything else that can compare.
  • JamCubeChi
    JamCubeChi Posts: 378 Member
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    Bumping for more replies later. thanks for posing the question.
  • Ocarina
    Ocarina Posts: 1,550 Member
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    I run 30 minutes a week right now. It will go up as I get further into Couch 2 10K. I think I'd be happiest with an hour three times a week at the minimum. I want to weight train as well for half an hour twice a week but not doing that until I can get back into the gym when the semester starts.

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