How soon did you notice an increase in cardio fitness?

rachaelgifford
rachaelgifford Posts: 320 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am just wondering how soon you guys started to feel results on improved cardio fitness. Are we talking days? Weeks? Months?

Thanks.

Replies

  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    It's different for everybody as we're all starting from different points and respond differently to exercise.

    Personally I found it was a slow process but I also started running in my early fifties, had been sedentary for way too many years and was carrying a lot of extra weight.

    Depending on where you're starting from as long as you are consistent you will probably start to feel improvements in a matter of weeks. I know there are people, for example, that use the C25K program and go from zero to running a 5K in 9 or 10 weeks and others who can't progress that quickly.

    All I can suggest is that patience and consistency are your friends.
  • rachaelgifford
    rachaelgifford Posts: 320 Member
    It is more just a curiosity. I like how I feel after too much to quit now.

    Thanks for the response :-)
  • KateK8LoseW8
    KateK8LoseW8 Posts: 824 Member
    Within about a month for me.
  • MsEndomorph
    MsEndomorph Posts: 604 Member
    I'd say I was surprising myself about 3 weeks in.
  • Booksandbeaches
    Booksandbeaches Posts: 1,791 Member
    Probably within 3-4 weeks.
  • ayalowich
    ayalowich Posts: 242 Member
    It is more just a curiosity. I like how I feel after too much to quit now.

    Thanks for the response :-)


    That is 75% of the battle. If you enjoy the activity you are much more likely to stick with it long term.

    I've run for 30 years, but after an injury or a period when I've dropped well below normal it always takes me 2 months before I see a training effect.
  • MellyMel340
    MellyMel340 Posts: 20 Member
    I saw a huge increase in my fitness level in about a month of daily cardio doing no less than an hour per session.
  • ArtemisRuns
    ArtemisRuns Posts: 251 Member
    I gradually felt better and better, but 2 months into running I am now really starting to have major changes in the way I feel and do things.
  • ferocityturbine
    ferocityturbine Posts: 110 Member
    When I got my elliptical, I had to increase the resistance around every four weeks :smile:
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,962 Member
    I got seriously ill in 2011 (6 months in hospital including 7 weeks on life support in intensive care), and one of the after effects was elevated resting heart rate. My resting heart rate was a whopping 100 BPM when I got out of hospital. It took a couple of months of 1 hour sessions the elliptical five times a week to get it back to the high 60s. Given the amount of cardio I do, my resting heart rate should be lower, but it is not.
  • kimosabe1
    kimosabe1 Posts: 2,467 Member
    I did 1 year of just full cardio. On year 2, I cut cardio in half & added weights.:flowerforyou:

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