Cardio frequency question

Carmen829

Carmen829

Cathlete
If I were to do 1 hr of cardio on my cardio day and 30 min of cardio on my strength day is that too much cardio? I am trying to blast away some fat so I can see the muscle I've been working so hard to achieve. I usually work 5 to 6 days per week. I lift as heavy as I can with good form. I eat pretty clean but I know there is much I can do to improve there. :confused:

Thanks for the information.
Carmen.
 
So much new information has come out about this in the last few years & I am utterly confused. I plan on asking Cathe about this at the RT--I tried a few times in Ask Cathe but didn't get a response.
 
Well, it is a lot of cardio. I think if you don't do it long term, it would be ok. At what intensity are you doing the cardio? You just don't want to burn out your hard earned muscle so be careful to eat right. On weight days, do your cardio after weights so that your form doesn't suffer.
 
mileage varies on this. some ppl do well with lots of cardio while others get burnt out or not like the results. me i vary my cardio's intensity and length so i can handle nearly 5-6 days with cardio and feel fine.

i just move to move and cardio seems to fit in more activity for me.

kassia
 
I'm doing cardio 6x a week and loving it. I stay moderate on weight days and do the longer, heavier exertion on non weight days.

It's all about the endorphins! :D
 
The answer to this will depend on how your body and mind react to 5-6 days cardio.

Personally, I cannot do it. When I do cardio, 3 times per week, I go all out, a combo of steady state that is increasingly demanding during the session with intervals thrown in. When I am done on those days, that is it. I am completely done. As a result, I am not interested in doing cardio 5 days per week, my mind does not care for it, the idea bores me and I cannot motivate myself to do it. So, I have rest days from cardio. As a result of this, when it is cardio day again, I am raring to go and have my full quotient of energy and mental toughness at the ready.

As the previous poster said, keep the cardio you do on your weight days to a much lower intensity and do only 20 minutes, so that it functions more as a warm up for the weight training than anything else. Otherwise, I fear you may burn out before you reach the level of fitness you desire. The short cardios on Cathe's CTX are perfect for this.

Clare
 
I'm a 6x a week cardio person too. I think it all depends on the intensity and listening to your body. Everyone is different. If I'm doing weights, I try to keep the intensity level a bit lower and only do 30-40 mins of cardio. I like to vary my cardio too.

Heather
 
This is a hard one. I love my weights - but if I only do 3 days of cardio between weight workouts it is not enough. I did this with the STS rotation. I found I lost inches at first and then pudged up by the end of Meso 3. I had been doing the same as Janis - I have returned to this schedule and it has leaned me out again. I am more of an endomorph so my body needs the cardio to maintain leaness. I do find that I tire out if I don't watch the intensity and overdo it. If I could get away with less cardio I probably would for the time factor.
 
maddiesmum said:
The answer to this will depend on how your body and mind react to 5-6 days cardio.

Personally, I cannot do it. When I do cardio, 3 times per week, I go all out, a combo of steady state that is increasingly demanding during the session with intervals thrown in. When I am done on those days, that is it. I am completely done. As a result, I am not interested in doing cardio 5 days per week, my mind does not care for it, the idea bores me and I cannot motivate myself to do it. So, I have rest days from cardio. As a result of this, when it is cardio day again, I am raring to go and have my full quotient of energy and mental toughness at the ready.

As the previous poster said, keep the cardio you do on your weight days to a much lower intensity and do only 20 minutes, so that it functions more as a warm up for the weight training than anything else. Otherwise, I fear you may burn out before you reach the level of fitness you desire. The short cardios on Cathe's CTX are perfect for this.

Clare
Click to expand...

Right there with you, Clare on the cardio. After experimenting with many different rotations, my best results come from 3 days of weights, 3 days of cardio, full effort given to each type, and if I feel I need a longer warm up before my weight workout, I'll usually pop in one of the Leslie Sansone one mile DVD's as a longer warmup.

There is simply, in my opinion, no hard and fast answer to this. I think good old fashioned trial and error works best.
 
Try it and see what happens. I suggest focusing on cleaning up the eats as much as possible. That usually is the most effective solution.
 
Recently I've read A LOT! that to lose fat you need cardio 60-90 minutes a day, 6x a week. It's an insane amount, but I've been doing it and after a 10 month plateau, the scale is moving ... in the right direction! I do agree though, that you have to find what works for you personally. But, my short answer to your question is NO, that isn't too much!
Becky
 
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