Liz, what should i do for cardio?
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There a couple different options for you. First let me reiterate that you SHOULD BE LIFTING WEIGHTS. Any questions about what is the best exercise for fat loss should see earlier post "Cardio or Weight Training???" but just I will save you some reading and say WEIGHT TRAINING. But yes cardiovascular training otherwise known as moving, cardioooooo, or taking the stairs is important for cardiovascular health, endurance, and maintaining stamina as you age (hint, hint).
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| He needs to work on those chicken legs! |
There are three main points I want to make about cardio, an emphasis on intensity, duration, and frequency. Mode of exercise is much, much less important than many so called "fitness gurus" make it out to be. You should perform the type of exercise that you enjoy doing, otherwise the odds of you doing it are pretty slim. If you enjoy walking, you should walk not run. If you enjoy a spin bike, you should spin not run. Not that have anything against running, just that most people absolutely destroy their body by overtraining. If you are interested in a more specific running program, message me directly. That's all the time I will spend on that.
There are two paths you can take. You can go low intensity or high. If you choose low, that is fine but it will impact your duration. I define low intensity as exercise during which you break a sweat but you are still able to have a conversation. For most people, this will be about 50-65% of your heart rate max (220-age). My low intensity exercise consists of walking on the treadmill at full incline and speed 2.5-3 mph for 45-60 minutes. I do the incline to emphasize the glutes but for many beginners this incline might kick you into a moderate intensity so find a good baseline and work your way up.
My favorite image that describes why moderate training is NOT a good way to exercise:
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| Moderate intensity vs. HIIT |
If you choose high intensity, you best bet will be high intensity interval training (otherwise known as HIIT). HIIT consists of short, high intensity bursts of activity followed by rest periods. You can achieve this in a number of modes of exercise. Often people get caught up in thinking sprints are the only way you can achieve HIIT, but this is not the case. You can perform interval training while swimming, cycling, or even performing short circuit exercises such as burpees (AKA updowns or get in push up position then stand up and jump). For beginners, start out with a 20 second interval followed by a 1 minute rest. You should aim for 20 minutes of interval training when you first start out and you may build up to 30 minutes. The best part about interval training? You can do it in your living room. If you need a burpee tutorial call me and we will set that up!
For duration, you should perform low intensity for a minimum of 30 minutes. The reason is that you want to get into fat-burning mode and it takes longer. Your best bet is to build up to 45-60 minutes of low intensity cardio. For HIIT, you can get great workouts in only 20 minutes. HIIT should be performed no more than twice per week unless you are an athlete training for a specific event. I know the Olympics are coming up, but don't get any crazy ideas and get hurt because that will only kill your fitness goals.
One more point I want to make about timing. If it is possible, perform your low intensity cardio in the morning upon waking BEFORE BREAKFAST. The reason is this: get your body burning fat and activate the metabolism right when you wake up. Do NOT do HIIT before breakfast. Your body cannot handle high intensity exercise without being properly fueled but you should be able to handle low intensity on the stores you have. If you don't have time to go to the gym then power walk the dog for 30 minutes. You both will benefit. And if you don't want to wake up 30 minutes earlier than normal you should analyze how important your goals are. Try to wait 30 minutes after you exercise to eat breakfast. Walk the dog, get ready for work/school, then eat your healthy breakfast and you will be ready to tackle the day and be well on your way to hitting your goal.
In summary, your weekly cardio might look something like this:
Monday: Incline Treadmill 30 minutes AM
Tuesday: HIIT on the bike 20 minutes PM
Wednesday: Walking outside 30 minutes AM
Thursday: HIIT (burpees, jumping jacks, squats) PM - in the your living room
Friday: Walking stairs 30 minutes PM
Saturday: staying active
Sunday: staying active
It may not seem like a lot of cardio to some of you that have been told you need to kill it every day for hours upon hours. If you follow a clean, healthy diet and lift weights you will not need to do obscene amounts of cardio to lose weight.
One simple YES could change your life forever..
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