Cardio=fast paced?

I think it's more important that you enjoy what you are doing, that way you are more likely to stick to it. There's nothing wrong with pacing yourself and doing low impact exercise.

I like fast paced cardio because it seems to be a great stress reliever, but I do intervals so that I have the staying power. Sometimes I will just use the machines default for it, blocks of 4 minutes of high incline, high resistance and then it knocks it down to 1 incline and little resistance. It gives me a built in rest and by the time the minute is over I'm ready to go back and tackle some more.

If you are going high intensity the whole time, are you starting slow with a warm-up and ending slowly with a rest period? If not, you may want to work them in.

Also are you listening to music? I've found that having some songs that I can keep the pace with helps me from overdoing it and keeps me motivated to keep my pace up.

If you like those other forms of cardio you can always incorporate them into your routine, just skip the cardio machines on days you do classes or other cardio workouts. It would definitely help break up the monotony.

Sadi_Kalen wrote: »

You are right that you don't have to exercise to lose weight but it does help to allow you to eat more and still lose weight if you find it hard cutting calories.

Yeah, it's nice to be able to eat a little more.

forcheese wrote: »

Am I just quitting too early?

basically what I'm asking is can I pace myself during cardio? or am I wasting my time as its not going to give me the desired results?

The key point really is what objectives you're looking for.

There are broadly three modes of CV training that are complementary to one another, and to resistance training.

Your long steady session at moderate effort builds an aerobic base. For me, when running, that's a pace that I can hold conversation for an extended period; 1:30-3:00 hours or so

Shorter, faster paced sessions around the lactate threshold improve your ability to perform at higher intensity, by raising the threshold. So that that, a 10 minute warm up, then 40-60 minutes at fairly hard intensity followed by a 10 minute cool down. There are variants of the intervals that'll give different benefits.

High intensity intervals help improve the ability of the body to convert oxygen, improving your VO2Max. These are about a once a week session of 15 minute warm up followed by a series of 400 metre or 200 metre sprints, with slower paced running intervals.

Best effect comes from a combination of those. I usually do one of each per week, with a couple of shorter recovery paced runs as easy time; 10Km steady pace.

forcheese wrote: »

Hey,

So I try so hard to do a 30+ minutes of really intense cardio and on occasion I get it right my heart rate goes up and I'm pushing myself to finish.

Now, do I do this often no I don't since I dont like panting through my exercises. Now, I know working out is not about sticking to what is easy.

I was just wondering if cardio always have to be fast paced? I like barre workouts, yoga, bollywood dance etc it doesn't really get my heart rate up, but it makes me feel good since I can complete the workout consistently and I usually have fun doing it.

I wish I could be the girl who knocks out HIIT etc styled workouts, but I'm not or should I say not yet?

Am I just quitting too early?

basically what I'm asking is can I pace myself during cardio? or am I wasting my time as its not going to give me the desired results?

FYI: I do strength train as well, but I really would like to get better at cardio or at least know for sure I can do my alternative workouts and not feel like I'm wasting my time.

People utilize HIIT cardio because their training time available is very limited. So it provides bang for the buck so to speak in terms of time.

However, if you do have more time and can target lower heart rate zones in your cardio - you can burn a lot of calories. My favorite calorie burning cardio workout is what is known as Zone 2 heart rate. For me, that is a heart rate in the 69-83% of maximum range.

Zone 2 described:

"All day" pace, or classic long slow distance (LSD) training. Sensation of leg effort/fatigue generally low, but may rise periodically to higher levels (e.g., when climbing). Concentration generally required to maintain effort only at highest end of range and/or during longer training sessions. Breathing is more regular than at level 1, but continuous conversation still possible. Frequent (daily) training sessions of moderate duration (e.g., 2 h) at level 2 possible (provided dietary carbohydrate intake is adequate), but complete recovery from very long workouts may take more than 24 hours.

I typically burn about 1200 calories in this zone for 90 minutes of cardio.

If I slow things down to Zone 1 where heart rate is lower than 68% of maximum, it takes me 2 hours to burn 1100-1200 calories. However, I do use that training zone for active recovery to burn calories and will do efforts ranging from 20 minutes to 2 hours. This is the zone I end up averaging in when I ride my bike with my wife, so I get a lot of miles and time in this Zone as well. It's also the zone I target to warm up and cool down on the treadmill before and after my weight lifting.

Zone 1 described:

"Easy spinning" or "light pedal pressure", i.e., very low level exercise, too low in and of itself to induce significant physiological adaptations. Minimal sensation of leg effort/fatigue. Requires no concentration to maintain pace, and continuous conversation possible. Typically used for active recovery after strenuous training days (or races), between interval efforts, or for socializing.

So if you have the time, there is nothing wrong with getting a burn in the lower heart rate cardio zones. No need to push the HIIT all the time. You can build quite an endurance base in the Zone 2 cardio, burn calories in it, and bounce back 24 hours later to do it all again.