Cardio: how much is too much?

WendyLeigh1119 wrote: »

jpoehls9025 wrote: »

WendyLeigh1119 wrote: »

I also have a naturally high resting heart rate. Usually around 81 at best (and I mean truly "resting" not when sitting perfectly still type of "resting"). If I'm sitting totally relaxed and zoned out watching TV or reading, my heart rate stays around 98 to 100 BPM.

I'd hoped that while my heart rate is always high, that going from no exercise to hours of strength and cardio 5 days per week would help. After 4 months, my heart rate DID hit a "low" of 79 to 81 for a few days. But has crept back up to 85 and now 88. So daily moderate to intense cardio exercise has not decreased my resting heart rate even a tiny bit.

*I wear an Alta HR day and night and only take it off to shower and to charge it which is a total of a few hours per week that it's off*

yay I'm not alone lol.

Yeah Ill tell you what sometimes I feel like it benefits me in my Cardio routines tho somehow "bro science" Quicker oxygen deliver? maybe but when it comes to endurance (running for ever) I find it easier then most even when I'm coming back from a couple weeks off my legs fatigue before I get winded or feel like death.

Done tons of training in my life time sometimes longer then 8 hours at a time like when I did a Spur Ride (Calvary thing).

who knows, high resting heart rate for life club I suppose.

Right, exactly. I've definitely noticed improvement in my endurance during cardio activities....I've had no change in resting heart rate. And then I have to read about how people are super excited to have reduced their RHR by 8 beats per minute in the first 2 months of exercise. Ugh. And my Doc insists there is nothing wrong with my heart.

yeah same here them darn Doc's haha. Well at least we are in it together now got to start a new group for us high RHR people, Heart rate anonymous lol

leanitup123 wrote: »

Moreover, do you do cardio to compensate for overeating?

Compensating after the fact is rare, but I use cardio as part of my plan to eat more and I'm loving it. Sometimes when I have a high calorie day planned, like a family gathering or something, I move my plan around if possible to have my long run happen on that day. If it's short notice, I may or may not take an extra incline walk, depends on my mood and my personal perceived "too much cardio shouldn't do more" red line. It all happens organically as part of my plan with zero feeling of guilt or punishment. If I ever catch myself punishing myself for overeating I will take every measure to never feel that way again, but I doubt this will happen any time soon. I'm pretty laid back with my approach to food and calories and know that one day of overeating is a drop in the bucket. Not having ever had an eating disorder and not being particularly susceptible to it helps.

bbell1985 wrote: »

My question is how much is ENOUGH if you want to put a little dent in your deficit? Like...doing it once per week isn't going to make a difference for me. Maybe not even twice. I really don't think I could make it 3 x.

Sorry I should just make another thread and not derail

It depends for me. Once a week would not be enough for me either. I try to do some kind of activity on most days of the week, usually 6 days. I take at least one day of deliberate rest because I don't want my chances of re-injury to be high. With that said, half of my activity deficit comes from low intensity activities that I build into my day, like being the designated trash person, grocery shopping volunteer on foot, randomly walking around the house while waiting for the kettle to boil or microwave to beep...etc.