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Author Topic: Cardio Duration  (Read 1163 times)

Offline mystery

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Cardio Duration
« on: November 21, 2009, 11:27:59 PM »
Hello Everyone,

I am one of those people who feel quite inadequate if I don't do cardio both at a high intensity and for a longer period of time (i.e., an hour), although at the same time I can sometimes feel overwhelmed by long cardio sessions and then skip my workout all together (which is horrible). 

As far as cardio is concerned, how often, how long and what form of cardio exercise do most of you do and prefer (I am particularly interested in the female Paleo followers)?  I also have digestive problem and as weak as I sometimes feel doing cardio on an empty stomach, I find it so much more productive and a lot easier than when I eat *anything* either right before, half an hour before or two-three hours before. 

I am also a non-breakfast eater and before I get flamed for that, I just want to say that I eat a much cleaner diet and have a lot more control over my daily food intake when I don't eat anything in the morning (other than a cup of coffee or tea).  I have also always found weight loss more successful that way, especially if I can get myself to do cardio within a couple of hours of getting up.

I find running by far the hardest and can only bring myself to do it about a couple of times per month.  I usually do the elliptical trainer, treadclimber, stairmaster or stationary bike for an hour.  I have also found in the past that almost anything works when I'm keeping my diet clean and my calorie intake limited.  Then again, working out really helps give me the motivation to do that so it's like a loop. ;)

Curious to hear your thoughts and experiences.

Thanks!
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Offline Mellivora Capensis

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Re: Cardio Duration
« Reply #1 on: November 22, 2009, 02:15:16 AM »
Well I'm not female, and I'm not trying to lose weight but I do 15-20 minutes of sprint training, it does me good. I also work about an hour per day, but I don't consider it cardio, I do it for recreation and save some bucks by not taking bus :D

I don't know what your goal is, but you talked about limiting calories, so I guess you're trying to lose fat. Well there are two views about cardio for weight loss in general: One of them suggests that you should do cardio on empty stomach or after lifting weights so that you burn fat while doing cardio, the other one says your main goal should be to burn as many calories as you can, regardless of what you burn during the cardio, because at the end of the day it is calorie deficit which will determine if you lose weight or not. I agree with the second view and suggest doing cardio when you feel best, and during cardio, use largest muscles possible, to burn as many calories as you can. As for duration, I find short and intense cardio to be the most effective, HIIT is good, particularly running intervals. But since you said you find running is hard for you, I'd suggest trying jumping rope, but that's not easy either. Another good option is incline walking and climbing stairs. 3-4 days a week, 30-40 minutes per session would be good enough to lose weight as long as you keep your diet clean. It all comes down to your calorie intake and eating right, exercise will help but there is no precise rule for it, everybody's fitness level is different. Just eat enough to feel strong, do cardio as long as it doesn't get overwhelming, you can overtrain on cardio too. Your body will tell you what's enough, don't push it ;) Increase your stamina gradually, you'll need to eat less or do more activity as you lose weight, I'd recommend the latter.

Note: Keep in mind that it's not only cardio. We burn most calories when we rest, not during that 60 minutes of exercise. That's why I'd suggest doing strength training too (Not sure if you do that already), work your muscles and burn most calories when you rest ;)
« Last Edit: November 22, 2009, 02:25:23 AM by Mellivora Capensis »
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Offline Tarlach

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Re: Cardio Duration
« Reply #2 on: November 22, 2009, 03:39:48 AM »
My wife and I do zero cardio.

We are trying to walk a lot more, but that's jut to get around.  We also do strength training 2-3 times a week for 30-40 mins.

Cardio isn't great for you (depending on what you do) and I don't feel guilty not doing any.  We didnʼt evolve to handle that amount of glucose throughput.

I wouldn't do it myself...

You can get a lot more work done in a much shorter time frame by working smarter (Thanks Wlfdg  ;))


And I wouldn't dream of flaming you for not eating breakfast.  I usually only eat one meal a day and feel better for it  ;D
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The "Seven Deadly Sins"

• Grains (wheat/rice/oats etc) . . . . . • Dairy (milk/yogurt/butter/cheese etc)
• Refined foods (salt/sugars etc ) . . • Nightshades (peppers/tomato/eggplant)
• Tubers (potato/arrowroot etc) . . . . • Legumes (soy/beans/peas)
• Modernly palatable (cashews/olives etc)

Wlfdg

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Re: Cardio Duration
« Reply #3 on: November 22, 2009, 11:02:55 AM »
Google EPOC-Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption.

Steady state cardio only burns fat while you are doing it.
HIIT- High intensity interval training positions your body to burn fat long after you are done doing it. In fact during HIIT you burn glycogen. Complexes can set you up to burn fat for as 38hrs. after!

Weight training is superior to all forms of exercise for permanent weight loss.

This is my new favorite quote about fitness and weight loss.-
"Walking is not exercise. It's locomotion." - Charles Staley
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Offline samjohn

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Re: Cardio Duration
« Reply #4 on: November 23, 2009, 04:51:17 PM »
Whoa just tried one of those complex workouts, hard work!
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The answer to your question is 'eat more fat'.

Stop counting calories. If you are eating Paleo, there is usually no need.

If you are having weight loss issues, it'd be a good idea to start posting a detailed food journal, then everyone can help.

'Anecdotal Evidence' is an oxymoron.

CAVEMANforum - The most popular Paleo diet and caveman exercise discussion site

Re: Cardio Duration
« Reply #4 on: November 23, 2009, 04:51:17 PM »
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