Reducing cardio

[LauraMax]

This is the same as Afreet's reducing intensity, except the opposite.

As I'm sure you all know from my whining about it, I've had a weight gain over the last 2 years or so. The more I gained, the more cardio I did. For the last 6 mos to a year I've been doing about an hour a day, 6-7 days a week, with no results. Actually, the only result was I was exhausted, overtrained & frustrated.

I finally decided to take the advice of some wise forum members (thanks Debbie! ) and personal trainers at the gym, & do cardio every other day instead of every day, with an effort to NOT do cardio on my lifting days. Initially I was stressing over it, but recalling that at my leanest I only did cardio about 3-4 times a week for about 30-40 minutes a day helped me relax & roll with it (also b/c if I had bad results, I could always increase it again).

Well, I have to say, I feel SO much better! I'm not exhausted anymore. I feel much stronger with my lifting. I have more time for other things. And I have not gained any weight.

I don't know if I'll be able to get it down to twice a week, mentally I just don't think I'm capable. But I think other aspects of my life outside of exercise have improved quite a bit.

 

[SRP]

Good for you, Laura! I'm glad you gave it a try, and that it's working for you. I've always had to alternate days of weights and cardio, simply from a time standpoint.

I've heard that really, you don't get as much bang for your buck when you do cardio for longer than say, 40 or so minutes. I've thought about shortening my cardio sessions, but I just love the longer ones so much - it's as much for fun as it is for fitness. But I'd probably cut the time before I cut it down to two days a week.

Are you planning to shorten your sessions? If you do, let me know!

 

[Fitnessfreakk366]

Yay Laura!



I only do cardio about 2 to 2 1/2 hours a week. I feel that is enough and I personally feel that cardio is to condition the heart and that's it. Yes, it will help shed some unwanted weight, but it can't tone and define your body. Only weight lifting can do such things.

Good for you! I am proud of you!

 

[LauraMax]

Thanks Deb!

Shannon, I'm not making a conscious effort to shorten the cardio sessions, esp. b/c so many of the DVDs I love are an hour long, but now I'm not obsessing over making sure I get a full hour in, so I don't mind doing a w/o that's shorter. Now I can do Step Heat again without the guilts. I love that DVD!

 

[RapidBreath]

I think you are onto something here (even though I'm a cardio junkie) For 5-6 weeks I've been so sick I couldn't exercise (injuries, illness, injury and illness) and I lost 5-6 pounds. So, I wouldn't worry about cardio in terms of weight loss. I use it to keep my self sane because it is supposed to be more effective than anti-depressants. I also do it so that I can absorb carbohydrates, (pesky insulin resistance!) But, shoot if you are doing fine without it being everyday why not? I'm glad you are trying something different because it makes no sense to keep overtraining. I would hate to see you with a bunch of stress fractures.

 

[janie1234]

Thanks for posting this. I'd love to hear the results after a month. I'm planning on giving this a try too. Lifting heavier and running 3 days but only for 30 minutes, . .I usually run for 45 minutes or over an hour 4-5 days a week. I really think with my age my body responds more to the lifting than it does to the running but the jury is still out for me. I just love hearing/feeling my heart beat and getting into that running rythum. I don't think I've given it enough of a chance to really work. Please keep us posted on your strength gains too. I'd love to know.

 

[Alana_as]

Alright Laura! you go girl!

 

[syzygy314]

This is inspiring! I need to work with weights, but have been so nervous about sacrificing my cardio days! I think I'll be able to give it a solid go when/if I get STS. I can do my cardio on my non-STS days and see what happens!

With respect to cardio, specifically, my biggest fear is that once winter hits, I won't be able to run anymore and I'll end up right back where I was before I did the C5K training! I'm hoping to be able to join a gym so I can get a run in at least 2-3 times a week so I don't lose my endurance for it! I really don't want to have to go through the training all over again! I don't think I could handle it mentally or emotionally! That was tough! Worth it, but tough!

 

[kariev]

its so nice to see all of these "reducing" posts. It seems like the majority of us are just sick of killing ourselves and beating up our bodies and still not seeing the results we seek. Today i did SS tear it up and even though it was a bit long, it was nice to feel not so runned down afterwards. I actually noticed i had more energy When i do cardio for more than 3 days per week my appetitie gets raging and i just feel soooooo tired. I think you will do fine cutting back as long as your diet is in check. Please keep us posted on how your doing.