cardio stuff

Former Member · May 2004

2 questions here... first, whats a good time to do cardio exercising? I've heard all 15, 20 and 30 minutes. Any ideas from you people?

And secondly, I usually do 25-30 minutes about 5-6 times a week plus other stuff for quite a while now and I havn't increased anything I do because instead of getting easier I get tired and worn out quicker. I get worn out a lot quicker when I run and it gets horrid to finish up my time as well as with the toning things I do. I would have assumed that things would have gotten easier by now, as I would have built up the stuff to do it and I've also cut down on smoking alot. But why do I get worn out quicker than before?

Former Member · May 2004

I thought it was 30 mins 3 times a week?

Former Member · May 2004

I heard somewhere that after 20 minutes the body starts using body fat as a fuel source, but don't hold me to that. Also, I guess that's only relevant if you wanna lose weight.

The tiredness thing might just be because (I assume) you've gone from not doing much exercise to the really intense regime you said you were doing. It might just be a case of getting used to it. Did you start off at that intensity?

When I started jogging, I cut down smoking as well but I found that I had to give it up entirely to make any progress with the exercise.

Former Member · May 2004

thanks. I started off at what I'm doing now because it wasn't a difficult thing to do and I knew I was just starting, but I've been doing it all for about 3 months now, wouldn't I be used to it enough by now to increase, not become more tired?

Former Member · May 2004

i think idealy you want to keep your heart rate above normal for over 20 minutes, so if you choose to do 20 minutes or 30, youre still burning fat. 20 minutes is the amount of time it takes for the body to begin using fat in metabolism instead of carbohydrates. but i think this can differ because, if you eat say a chocolate bar, youre going to have lots of sugar in your blood, this sugar will be used in metabolism before fat, so youd have to exercise for longer before you burn fat. however, if you dont consume this sugar, the fat will go straight to being metabolised, so you will therefore burn more. this is why you burn more fat when exercising on an empty stomach. though this can be quite dangerous. best to wait a while after youve eaten, or eat something with a low glycemic index, which means your blood sugar levels dont raise so much.
http://www.glycemicindex.com/

Former Member · May 2004

Originally posted by my_name
thanks. I started off at what I'm doing now because it wasn't a difficult thing to do and I knew I was just starting, but I've been doing it all for about 3 months now, wouldn't I be used to it enough by now to increase, not become more tired?

perhaps youre exercising to frequently? you siad you do around 25 minutes 5-6 times per week? why dont you try giving yourself recovery days, since if you over work your muscles, theyre not going to be as efficient. and then vary the type of excercise you do from running to cycling maybe?

Former Member · May 2004

That's a good point actually, it takes the body at least 24 hours to fully recover between exercise sessions for you to get the full benefits.

Former Member · May 2004

ok thanks alot both of you

so say every other day maybe then?

Former Member · May 2004

Yeh that's a good time interval. I do 35 minutes every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday nights, so every 2/3 days.

Former Member · May 2004

I usually find when i'm training that doing 30 mins mon, weds and fri is enough to make my fitness improve. Maybe you should try varying the types of exercise you do. Maybe an aerobics class, swimming session or something at the weekend.
Definitely have some rest days though. Your body needs time off to recooperate ready for the next session.

Former Member · May 2004

Righto, first up, if you want to excercise to improve CV Fitness, then it's not how long you excercise for, it's the intensity at which you exercise at.

Ideally you should stretch and warm up first make sure your muscles are ready for exercise, then do around 10 minutes warm up gentle exercise such as walking or a slow cycle, this gets your blood flowing and and gets the heart and lungs ready for more vigerous exercise.

Then your main CV excercise should be around 30-40 mins and you should be aiming to get your heart rate to about 70-85% of it's maximum (you can roughly work this out by doing 220(men) 200(women) minus your age, this gives your a rough max BP for your age)

Ideally you should be doing this training around 3-5 times a week, really no more than 5 otherwise your not allowing your body anytime for recovery.

Also alongside your CV work make sure your doing some kind of resistence training, even if it's just light toning work, this will improve the strength and stamina of your muscles, making exercise easier and reduce the risk of injury.

As for why your gettign tired, this could be because of you stopping smoking, if you've gone cold turkey you've hit your body hard and not only is it having to deal with the increased exercise but also the lack of nicotine. If you've weened yourself of the cigarettes then maybe your diet needs looking at, it's possible your just not gettign enough fuel into your body to train with.

Like Clara say's, Don't exercise on an empty stomach it's not good for your body.
Also if your trying to loose weight don't diet and exercise, just be sensible with what you eat, everything is good - in moderation

I'll probly remember some more handy stuff later lol, damm my Gym training

cardio stuff

Comments