Is 25 minutes of cardio enough?

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rhinomidget
rhinomidget Posts: 52 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey guys,

So, as well as starting college and having a job, I don't have a lot of time on my hands..some days I wake up at 4AM to work out and then i'll go to work (which is far, far away) and then my classes and then I come home to try and do homework and whatever and basically feel dead. (queue the small violin)

However, some days if I don't wake up early enough I won't have a lot of time to do a full hour/45 minute workout (which usually is a combination of strength/cardio), so usually 2 - 3 days a week I will only do around 25 - 30 minutes of cardio and I was wondering if that's enough? I'm not trying to lose weight or anything, I'm basically just trying to not gain the "freshman 20" and maintain my weight :P
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Replies

  • cmbauer99
    cmbauer99 Posts: 184 Member
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    That is certainly going to help. More so than doing Kegstands and eating pizza playing video games. I would say if you are doing moderate work in that 25-30 you are burning at least 250 calories. SO that is more than not doing anything
  • redfisher1974
    redfisher1974 Posts: 614 Member
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    Thats all I do 25 minutes 2x a week.
  • SWWIS
    SWWIS Posts: 94 Member
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    You don't need to do any cardio to maintain your weight, just don't eat more than you burn. Adjust your calorie intake on days you don't work out.
  • martinel2099
    martinel2099 Posts: 899 Member
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    Better question would be, would 2-3 days of cardio for minutes be enough to help me reach ______ goal in ____ amount of time? Be more clear about what your goals are and how long you want to achieve these goals.

    If you want to lose weight you can do 0 days of cardio for 0 minutes and still lose weight if you eat at a calorie deficit. Spending additional time at the gym is not required at all just to lose weight if you are eating less than you burn.

    Don't know if that's the answer you wanted but I hope it helps.

    My goal right now is to lose weight while eating at a calorie deficit. I typically go to the gym 3 days a week.
    -30 to 45 minutes of heavy lifting around lunch time
    -30 to 45 minutes of cardio in the evening (if i feel like it)

    I lift heavy weights to help me maintain muscle mass while eating at a calorie deficit. I also eat what ever I want as long as the calories add up and I try to hit as close as possible to my macro targets, specifically my protein goals.
  • martinel2099
    martinel2099 Posts: 899 Member
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    Forgot to add, the time frame of my goal is to lose .5 lbs per week for 6 months.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
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    Warm up and cool down/stretch before and after of about 10 minutes and you've got it.
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
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    Enough for what?
  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,661 Member
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    its always more about what you don't eat when it comes to losing or maintaining, so it could definitely work, even without the exercise really.

    try experimenting with HIIT to save even more time and potentially get a better work out, or just to switch things up.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    It will be enough/too much/too little depending on how much you're eating.

    If you're eating 2,000 calories and your body needs 2,000 to maintain your current weight, 25-30 minutes may burn you 200-250 calories, which would create a deficit of 200-250 calories every day that you work out. If you worked out 3X per week at that rate, you would lose 1 lb every 4.6 weeks, or 1 lb per monthish (250 cals X3 days a week = 750 cals a week deficit).

    If you eat 3,000 calories and you need 2,000 to maintain and you burn 250 cals 3X per week, you will be eating a surplus of 250 calories per week. You would gain 1 lb every 14 weeks (3.5 months).

    In order to determine if you are working out enough to compensate for your eating habits, you need to either monitor your weight and adjust as you gain/lose, or you need to track your intake and exercise.
  • splashtree5
    splashtree5 Posts: 210 Member
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    I do before and after training, 25 is little time to develop endurance and a fit heart, only cardio is good also if is your training your only training the results are nice.
  • SingingSingleTracker
    SingingSingleTracker Posts: 1,866 Member
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    lilylenz wrote: »
    Hey guys,

    So, as well as starting college and having a job, I don't have a lot of time on my hands..some days I wake up at 4AM to work out and then i'll go to work (which is far, far away) and then my classes and then I come home to try and do homework and whatever and basically feel dead. (queue the small violin)

    However, some days if I don't wake up early enough I won't have a lot of time to do a full hour/45 minute workout (which usually is a combination of strength/cardio), so usually 2 - 3 days a week I will only do around 25 - 30 minutes of cardio and I was wondering if that's enough? I'm not trying to lose weight or anything, I'm basically just trying to not gain the "freshman 20" and maintain my weight :P

    Yup. That will rev up your metabolism and is good maintenance amount of cardio. If done right, you should be able to burn 250-450+ calories in 30 minutes depending on the intensity. At your average of 2 - 3 times a week, I would suggest at least two of them being intense to get maximal burn and fire up the metabolism. It's not difficult to recover from such short sessions, but I would still allow a day of rest between higher intensity efforts.

    Combined with not eating above your maintenance calories - and you'll avoid the Freshman 15 or 20 or whatever the number is these days.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    It'll help...but your consumption is going to have a far more profound impact on whether or not you gain the freshman 15 or 20 or whatever.

    Getting regular exercise is really good for you though and will at least give you a couple hundred more calories to work with.
  • Ianultrarunner
    Ianultrarunner Posts: 184 Member
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    If you keep your Heart Rate in the Cardio Burning zone (typically 70-80% of Max Heart Rate) for 20 minutes then 25 minutes should be OK, giving you a few minutes of Warm up and Cool down.
    We are all busy and getting exercise in around our schedules can be challenging.
  • NoelFigart1
    NoelFigart1 Posts: 1,276 Member
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    Depends on your goal. For many sorts of health, YES!

    23 1/2 Hours

    For burning a lot of calories? Depends on what you're doing and your goals.

    And what do they say, "No matter how slow you're going, you're lapping anyone on the sofa!"
  • cruzmom123
    cruzmom123 Posts: 72 Member
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    I watched an interesting YouTube clip by Jill Coleman. She gave advice on weight loss. I found it interesting that research now suggests its more effective to do smaller high intensity workouts. Jill says running, aerobics, and swimming are good workouts but it's the 10 minute exercises that help shed more pounds. For example, if you choose a 10-minute workout, you might go hard and fast for a couple of minutes...then slow your pace..then ramp it back up.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    edited December 2014
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    Enough for what?

    If you are eating more calories than your daily activity + your cardio is burning, then no, it's not enough. If your food intake is equal to or less than your daily activity and exercise, then yes, it will be enough.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
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    lilylenz wrote: »
    However, some days if I don't wake up early enough I won't have a lot of time to do a full hour/45 minute workout (which usually is a combination of strength/cardio), so usually 2 - 3 days a week I will only do around 25 - 30 minutes of cardio and I was wondering if that's enough? I'm not trying to lose weight or anything, I'm basically just trying to not gain the "freshman 20" and maintain my weight :P

    Compared to zero? Yes.
  • Ehrmantraut
    Ehrmantraut Posts: 7 Member
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    I do high intensity interval training for only 15 mins/day 6x a week in the morning and that is some of the only exercise that I do...and eating well I'm losing 1-3 lbs a week. Lost 3 lbs last week. It's not exactly what you do, it's how you do it, your intensity, your consistency and your diet!
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
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    Seriously, some of ya'll just should refrain from answering questions that aren't complete.

    OP as others have stated...enough for what?
  • Jaywalker_7
    Jaywalker_7 Posts: 68 Member
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    I agree that it totally depends on your goals. But good job for making the effort those couple days a week! It's hard to find time for fitness sometimes. For most people nowadays life is just BUSY! When I started my weight loss journey, some days I could only do a 10 minute spurt of running up a hill near my house before hurrying to pick up my daughter. Then have a 10 minute "dance party" with my little one before bath time. Trying to squeeze it in and do what you can is way better than saying you don't have time to do "enough" and not doing anything at all. Nice job :-)

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