How much cardio is "too much"?

kadybug97
kadybug97 Posts: 33 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
So I follow a lot of fitness girls on social media, and most (if not all) are saying you should not do more than 30-45 minutes of cardio per day. I personally LOVE cardio! I usually lift 4-5 days per week than end with 30 minutes on a cardio machine. But on Saturdays, I love just being on the cardio machines for an hour, sometimes more than an hour and take a break from lifting. It makes me feel really good. I also took my dog on a 45 minute walk on top of this.

What are your thoughts on cardio? My personal thought is if you enjoy it and like doing a lot of it, go for it! To the people that say you should not do 60-90 minutes of cardio at a time, why is that? What are the drawbacks of it? I am sincerely curious, as I love cardio.

Replies

  • sunnybeaches105
    sunnybeaches105 Posts: 2,831 Member
    edited July 2016
    If it makes you feel good then keep at it. If you're following "fitness girls" then they may be competing in asthetic competitions and their programs may or may not be appropriate for you. There are numerous paths to fitness and numerous specific goals. Choose your own goals and create your program around them. And, if cardio is something you truly enjoy then embrace it and build your strength training program to complement it.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    The question is, what are you goals? Cardio is good for heart health and can help create a deficit. You are fine with the level you are doing. And could do more if it supported your goals (think marathon runner or cyclist)..

    I would also ask if you are doing any resistance or weight training?

  • TheSourBrit
    TheSourBrit Posts: 2 Member
    Hi Kadybug. I'm no expert but it really depends on your goals. Lose fat or gain muscle? This is a great article to have a read through if you have 5 minutes. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/betteru23.htm
  • kadybug97
    kadybug97 Posts: 33 Member
    Thank you guys!! And I weight train for roughly 45-60 minutes 4-5 days per week and end each lifting session with moderate cardio, such as walking 100% incline on the treadmill for half an hour. The fitness girls I follow are almost all bikini competitors, so I suppose it makes sense why they would be against a lot of cardio. I would say my fitness plan is balanced equally between weights and cardio:) I enjoy them both equally! Well maybe cardio a liiiiiiittle more.
  • sunnybeaches105
    sunnybeaches105 Posts: 2,831 Member
    Start following additional people like James Fell (Body for Wife), Brett Contreras, and Alan Aragon. You'll see plenty of fitness professionals commenting to their pages and their advice will help you dial in a program that really fits you. I'd also do the same with SideSteel here on MFP.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    kadybug97 wrote: »
    Thank you guys!! And I weight train for roughly 45-60 minutes 4-5 days per week and end each lifting session with moderate cardio, such as walking 100% incline on the treadmill for half an hour. The fitness girls I follow are almost all bikini competitors, so I suppose it makes sense why they would be against a lot of cardio. I would say my fitness plan is balanced equally between weights and cardio:) I enjoy them both equally! Well maybe cardio a liiiiiiittle more.

    Unfortunately many competitors still follow old school tactics. And while some is effective, the techniques aren't required. Limiting cardio will limit the amount of calories they need to consume.

    But you should be fine. If you want the most out of your weight training program, then follow a structured lifting program like strong curves or NROL4W.
  • scoii
    scoii Posts: 160 Member
    If it doesn't injure you or stop you doing what you want the next day or so then go for it. I love a 20 mile mountain bike jaunt on a weekend. It means that by the time I'm home and eating dinner I'm on zero calories.

    Nothing tastes better than pizza and beer and still being within your daily calorie limit.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    There is an extremely high chance that people in the fitness industry do not speak honestly about their training, diet, "supplements" etc. After all the whole industry is there to make money!
  • yesimpson
    yesimpson Posts: 1,372 Member
    Sounds like you have a good balance of resistance training and cardio, if your goal is to be generally pretty fit and healthy. As long as you're eating enough to fuel all this cardio and taking a rest when you need it, it doesn't sound harmful.

    Different people train differently for different goals, aesthetics, etc. Just for perspective, I would never have been able to finish a half marathon if I limited my cardio to 45 mins max in one day. However somebody wanting to build muscle mass may not want to do that as it means consuming even more calories to get their intended results. It totally depends what you're going for.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    It's about what I do now, having just stepped up my low impact daily cardio for endurance and more food. Because food.

    As others have said, as long as you're not overtraining, taking rest days and cross training to prevent injury, which you are, then all good. Do what you enjoy!

    We should absolutely train to our fitness and aesthetic goals but we should also have a healthy dose of doing what we enjoy, whether those two things are the same or different, so that it's sustainable in the long term.
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    edited July 2016
    sijomial wrote: »
    Four hours today was just about right, really enjoyed it (cycling in beautiful countryside).
    A few weeks ago I did nine hours in a day - that was a bit too much. Ouch.

    I hate arbitrary statements (in social media or elsewhere) being applied to everyone such as limiting to 60/90 minutes - depends on the person, depends on their goals. Humans really are very good at cardio activities if they are trained for it.

    I have strength goals but I don't train like a powerlifter, I have cycling goals but don't train like a pro cyclist.....

    ^^this

    Most of my activity is cardio, just because I love dancing, cycling, kickboxing...and I do those things for an hour or two sometimes a day, because I enjoy them. If I couldn't do them, I wouldn't work out much. I absolutely hate lifting. I find it boring and I've never really had the proper training for it.
    I think it's really up to the individual to decide what's "too much". Do what you love, and what fits your fitness goals.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    edited July 2016
    sunnybeaches105 wrote: »
    Start following additional people like James Fell (Body for Wife), Brett Contreras, and Alan Aragon. You'll see plenty of fitness professionals commenting to their pages and their advice will help you dial in a program that really fits you. I'd also do the same with SideSteel here on MFP.

    Thanks for the mention, I appreciate it.

    I'm sort of repeating what's already been said, but honestly this is so goal dependent and preferential that it's tough to generalize a recommendation.

    If someone is concerned with winning a figure competition, the training volume recommendations for both resistance training and cardio will likely be quite different from someone with a goal of "general fitness" or "preparing for a marathon" or "I want to build muscle" or "I want to maximize my strength to compete in powerlifting".

    Basically, the goal (and individual preferences) play a big part in program design, and it's good to acknowledge that when evaluating information online. Because sometimes people make statements about programming or nutrition without clarifying the relevant context and you can end up with people making sub-optimal decisions because they take information intended for population A and apply it to themselves when they are in population Z.

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,732 Member
    I'm a long distance cyclist ... cardio is my thing. Just the other month I did a 300 km randonnee in 17 hours ... 17 hours of cycling, with a few brief breaks to refuel.

    Obviously I don't do that every day, but I do try to be cycling, walking, climbing stairs, running, rowing, or something for a decent amount of time every day.
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