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How much cardio should I be doing a day?

Segrande
Segrande Posts: 75
edited October 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi! I've recently started working out again (started about 2 months ago) and I've been working out 5-6 times per week. My usual exercise routine is jumping rope for cardio, then some weight training exercises. I do different weight training exercises on different days to work out different muscles and give the other muscles a chance to rest, too. When I first started out, I did 1000 jumps a day (I count the number of jumps, yeah it's pretty tiring but it gives me motivation to finish my workout!), then started increasing it by 500 per workout. I've currently reached 10,000 jumps per workout which translates to about an hour and a half of cardio per workout, and I've decided to cap it at there or my workout session will be too long. I also pretty much keep the speed of jumping rope constant, but I try to speed up for awhile then go back to my normal speed to try to incorporate a bit of interval training into it. So my question is, how much cardio is too little and too much? Sorry for the longwindedness! Any tips and suggestions would be greatly appreciated, as would new friends. Thank you! :D

Replies

  • kdchick99
    kdchick99 Posts: 104 Member
    Bump!
  • FairyMiss
    FairyMiss Posts: 1,812 Member
    2 minutes is probably too little, as far as too much what you have time for................or dropping dead, yeah dropping dead would be too much.

    No really in my opinion, what every your body is comfortable with. and um you have time for.
    for me if i can spend an hour in gym or exercising at one time it excites me
  • Mguilmot
    Mguilmot Posts: 232 Member
    It depends what you want to accomplish. Do you want burn the fat, or do you want to get your endurance better? For fat loss you need to do 20-40 minutes daily at 60-70% of your maximum heart rate :) I do 30-35 minutes daily at 68-72% of my heartrate maximum. If you want to make your fitness and endurance better you can go higher than the 70%, but the % of fat burnt in the total calories burnt will go down. :) The harder you do it, the more calories you will burn, but the % of those calories that will be from fat will go down. :)
  • eeebee
    eeebee Posts: 471 Member
    It depends what you want to accomplish. Do you want burn the fat, or do you want to get your endurance better? For fat loss you need to do 20-40 minutes daily at 60-70% of your maximum heart rate :) I do 30-35 minutes daily at 68-72% of my heartrate maximum. If you want to make your fitness and endurance better you can go higher than the 70%, but the % of fat burnt in the total calories burnt will go down. :) The harder you do it, the more calories you will burn, but the % of those calories that will be from fat will go down. :)

    good advice but my problem is, all this counting of the heart rate and constant monitoring of the % etc.....it takes all the fun and simplicity out of daily exercise.....how to keep track? do you have a HRM or some device that tells you what your current heart rate is at the time? how does one work this all out in the first place? thanks!
  • missikay1970
    missikay1970 Posts: 588 Member
    It depends what you want to accomplish. Do you want burn the fat, or do you want to get your endurance better? For fat loss you need to do 20-40 minutes daily at 60-70% of your maximum heart rate :) I do 30-35 minutes daily at 68-72% of my heartrate maximum. If you want to make your fitness and endurance better you can go higher than the 70%, but the % of fat burnt in the total calories burnt will go down. :) The harder you do it, the more calories you will burn, but the % of those calories that will be from fat will go down. :)

    good advice but my problem is, all this counting of the heart rate and constant monitoring of the % etc.....it takes all the fun and simplicity out of daily exercise.....how to keep track? do you have a HRM or some device that tells you what your current heart rate is at the time? how does one work this all out in the first place? thanks!

    i agree, it's all too confusing for me, i'm a newbie. for now, i am doing 20-45 min per day, depending on the exercise. if i do ellipitical, i can only go 20 min, but treadmill or bicycle i can do 45 min. i don't worry about heart rate, i just go go go!!!! even all the calorie deficit stuff is hard for me to understand at this point.

    bottom line for me is this: right now, i am doing exercise, going to the gym and eating right for the first time in my LIFE! i was drinking 2-3 cokes per day, eating about 3,000 calories a day (fast food mostly) and now i eat about 1400. ANYTHING is better than what i was doing. when i get more advanced i will learn about heart rate and "eating back calories" but for now, i am doing what i can to not get overwhelmed. i don't want to quit! baby steps is my approach. :smile:
  • Segrande
    Segrande Posts: 75
    It depends what you want to accomplish. Do you want burn the fat, or do you want to get your endurance better? For fat loss you need to do 20-40 minutes daily at 60-70% of your maximum heart rate :) I do 30-35 minutes daily at 68-72% of my heartrate maximum. If you want to make your fitness and endurance better you can go higher than the 70%, but the % of fat burnt in the total calories burnt will go down. :) The harder you do it, the more calories you will burn, but the % of those calories that will be from fat will go down. :)

    good advice but my problem is, all this counting of the heart rate and constant monitoring of the % etc.....it takes all the fun and simplicity out of daily exercise.....how to keep track? do you have a HRM or some device that tells you what your current heart rate is at the time? how does one work this all out in the first place? thanks!

    i agree, it's all too confusing for me, i'm a newbie. for now, i am doing 20-45 min per day, depending on the exercise. if i do ellipitical, i can only go 20 min, but treadmill or bicycle i can do 45 min. i don't worry about heart rate, i just go go go!!!! even all the calorie deficit stuff is hard for me to understand at this point.

    bottom line for me is this: right now, i am doing exercise, going to the gym and eating right for the first time in my LIFE! i was drinking 2-3 cokes per day, eating about 3,000 calories a day (fast food mostly) and now i eat about 1400. ANYTHING is better than what i was doing. when i get more advanced i will learn about heart rate and "eating back calories" but for now, i am doing what i can to not get overwhelmed. i don't want to quit! baby steps is my approach. :smile:

    I agree! Keeping track of your heart rate is too confusing and too much work for me. Like you, I like to just zone out and work out. I'm thinking of investing in a HRM in the future, but for now I think as long as you're eating well and exercising regularly it should be ok! ^_^
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