How much cardio ... ?

[transcend2007]

In another thread I recently posted about becoming metabolically flexible ... we covered the importance of Zone 2 cardio increasing mitochondria numbers by 40% to 50% ... and importance of cardio in overall fat burning ..

My question today is how often do you perform cardio (how many days per week) ... for how long (time duration of each cardio session)... and what do you actually do ... ?

I have just started doing more Zone 2 cardio - I will be doing a minimum of 4 - 45 minute sessions per week ... which is a large increase for me ... I like the elliptical machine at my gym ... so that my preferred option ...

I also will be adding 1 or 2 daily walks at work daily (to get my chair sitting sedentary ass more active) plus walk my dog each evening (which i already am doing)... with the intention of getting 8,000 to 10,000 (including cardio session) steps daily ... my average over last 2 months has been 5,000 to 6,000 ... my thinking is more motion = more fat loss ... better overall health ...

 

[Santa]

I do cardio 6-7 days a week. What it is depends on the season. In the Texas summers I tend to cycle/spin. When the weather cools I’ll run/spin.

I average about 30-45 minutes per session. I almost always jump on the bike at the end of my gym workouts.

Every so often I’ll run 10-13 miles around the lake or ride 40-50 miles.

And recently I’ve added CrossFit which has improved my cardio/conditioning as well.

I have no idea what zone I’m in, I just run/cycle until I’m done.

 

[CJ]

I do zero dedicated cardio sessions.

But I'm always moving in my day to day.

 

[DF]

Unless I'm trying to drop over 10lbs. I don't do any type of cardio. 20 minutes of that seems like a life time to me. My workouts tend to be relatively fast pace with little rest between sets. Longer rests if doing squats because ... well squats .

 

[Test_subject]

None at all. I just take the dog for long walks.

 

[Ralph01]

I do cardio at least 2 times a week. Keep my HR around 130-140 and for 45 mins to 1 hr. I used to do a lot more when I was doing Muay Thai.

 

[CJ]

. my thinking is more motion = more fat loss ... better overall health ...

More calories burned, yes, but not necessarily more fat loss.

Again, you can 100% get fatter doing this. It comes down to diet.

But I agree, it's great for health, to a point.

 

[transcend2007]

I do cardio 6-7 days a week. What it is depends on the season. In the Texas summers I tend to cycle/spin. When the weather cools I’ll run/spin.

I average about 30-45 minutes per session. I almost always jump on the bike at the end of my gym workouts.

Every so often I’ll run 10-13 miles around the lake or ride 40-50 miles.

And recently I’ve added CrossFit which has improved my cardio/conditioning as well.

I have no idea what zone I’m in, I just run/cycle until I’m done.

Dang ... making me look bad out of the gate ... joking ... great job ... I actually want to work up to something like this ... I believe that is why metabolically flexible and healthy people appear to keep lean with less focus on what they eat but everyone just seems to assume they are naturally able to eat whatever ever they want when I reality you are doing 7 cardio sessions per week .. I bet you have some healthy mitochondria and maximizing out your number ...
Do you know how many watts you generate per KG by any chance ... this is how Zone 2 level and overall fitness can be easily be rated ... anything over 3 watts per KG per hour is considered very fit ...
... less means get to work (which is what I am doing) ...

I do zero dedicated cardio sessions.

But I'm always moving in my day to day.

I appear very fit in pics ... do you have interest in knowing or imporving your cardio fitness ... ?

Unless I'm trying to drop over 10lbs. I don't do any type of cardio. 20 minutes of that seems like a life time to me. My workouts tend to be relatively fast pace with little rest between sets. Longer rests if doing squats because ... well squats .

DF - I know you are no spring chicken (like me - I'm no spring chicken either) - please consider reading or listening to Outlived by Petter Attia ... I want to be having these same conversations 30 years from now and NOT from the old folks home because we increated our cardio fitness ...

None at all. I just take the dog for long walks.

I believe walking is FAR underated ... I remember reading that you are like 240 lbs ... so no doubt have so much lean mass cardio is not necessary for fat los ... but not doubt still a good idea ...

 

[transcend2007]

More calories burned, yes, but not necessarily more fat loss.

Again, you can 100% get fatter doing this. It comes down to diet.

But I agree, it's great for health, to a point.

As usual CJ you are on point and correct ... fat loss ONLY occurs when in a calorie deficit ...

Which begs the question are there fat people who are very cardio fit ... no doubt that it is possible .. but probably if you are going through the effort to do all that cardio to be fit (heart cardio healthly) you are probablly also making the effort counting calories and measuring bodyfat % ...

 

[CJ]

Dang ... making me look bad out of the gate ... joking ... great job ... I actually want to work up to something like this ... I believe that is why metabolically flexible and healthy people appear to keep lean with less focus on what they eat but everyone just seems to assume they are naturally able to eat whatever ever they want when I reality you are doing 7 cardio sessions per week .. I bet you have some healthy mitochondria and maximizing out your number ...
Do you know how many watts you generate per KG by any chance ... this is how Zone 2 level and overall fitness can be easily be rated ... anything over 3 watts per KG per hour is considered very fit ...
... less means get to work (which is what I am doing) ...


I appear very fit in pics ... do you have interest in knowing or imporving your cardio fitness ... ?

DF - I know you are no spring chicken (like me - I'm no spring chicken either) - please consider reading or listening to Outlived by Petter Attia ... I want to be having these same conversations 30 years from now and NOT from the old folks home because we increated our cardio fitness ...

I believe walking is FAR underated ... I remember reading that you are like 240 lbs ... so no doubt have so much lean mass cardio is not necessary for fat los ... but not doubt still a good idea ...

No, because I worry about the important things, not the minutae that doesn't move the needle. (in regards to body comp)

 

[Test_subject]

I believe walking is FAR underated ... I remember reading that you are like 240 lbs ... so no doubt have so much lean mass cardio is not necessary for fat los ... but not doubt still a good idea ...

Absolutely. I used to do quite a bit of trail running, but as my weight has gone up it started getting hard on my knees. Walking is just as good for your heart without the impact.

I walk a solid 40km a week. It seems to do the trick. My BP is good and my body fat isn’t out of control.

 

[CJ]

As usual CJ you are on point and correct ... fat loss ONLY occurs when in a calorie deficit ...

Which begs the question are there fat people who are very cardio fit ... no doubt that it is possible .. but probably if you are going through the effort to do all that cardio to be fit (heart cardio healthly) you are probablly also making the effort counting calories and measuring bodyfat % ...

Go back 100 years...

Almost nobody was fat. But they ate real food, and they moved around a lot, didn't sit at a desk or in a car.

They didn't go to the gym, they didn't count calories either.

Why do people overcomplicate this stuff???

 

[CJ]

Absolutely. I used to do quite a bit of trail running, but as my weight has gone up it started getting hard on my knees. Walking is just as good for your heart without the impact.

I walk a solid 40km a week. It seems to do the trick. My BP is good and my body fat isn’t out of control.

EXACTLY, just move.

 

[Send0]

I do at least 60 minutes of steady state cardio everyday. So 7 days a week. In terms of steps, I average 16k steps a day.

However keep in mind that I am absolutely sedentary all day long, I just don't move around much, so this cardio probably just puts me around at the same point as people who are active in their day to day.

 

[CJ]

I do at least 60 minutes of steady state cardio everyday. So 7 days a week. In terms of steps, I average 16k steps a day.

However keep in mind that I am absolutely sedentary all day long, I just don't move around much, so this cardio probably just puts me around at the same point as people who are active in their day to day.

Nahhh, 16k steps is probably 3-4x what most get in per day.

 

[Santa]

Dang ... making me look bad out of the gate ... joking ... great job ... I actually want to work up to something like this ... I believe that is why metabolically flexible and healthy people appear to keep lean with less focus on what they eat but everyone just seems to assume they are naturally able to eat whatever ever they want when I reality you are doing 7 cardio sessions per week .. I bet you have some healthy mitochondria and maximizing out your number ...
Do you know how many watts you generate per KG by any chance ... this is how Zone 2 level and overall fitness can be easily be rated ... anything over 3 watts per KG per hour is considered very fit ...
... less means get to work (which is what I am doing) ...

I have no idea what you just asked me.

Seriously tho I never look at training zones. When I run less than 5 miles I go all out. Between 7-10 I increase tempo. Above 10 miles I hold conversation pace.

When I cycle, it’s usually pretty relaxed. Outdoor cycling is more challenging/fun, indoors is usually just recovery/easy.

CrossFit tends to kick my ass right now.

 

[transcend2007]

Go back 100 years...

Almost nobody was fat. But they ate real food, and they moved around a lot, didn't sit at a desk or in a car.

They didn't go to the gym, they didn't count calories either.

Why do people overcomplicate this stuff???

But lifespans were considerably shorter especially if you go back 150 years ... so today is a great time to live ...

Now for the 1st time in human history we live in food abundant environment ... we've got to be aware of this fact and adapt ... which to me means counting calories ... and some fair amount of cardio ...

 

[BigBaldBeardGuy]

Do you know how many watts you generate per KG by any chance ... this is how Zone 2 level and overall fitness can be easily be rated ... anything over 3 watts per KG per hour is considered very fit ...

This is a little misleading or at least confusing.

Zone 2 isn’t determined by the amount of work you can do at your body mass. Zone 2 is any exercise that you can perform at a steady state that’s between 61% and 70% of your maximum heart rate. For most people this is easy aerobic training. You aren’t breathing very hard.

I’d be shocked if anyone has calculated there work output per body mass. But to do it, you first need to know your max heart rate. You can do that one of a few ways:
1) equation 220 - age
2) equation 207 - 70% of age
3) equation 211 - 64% of age
4) get an exact number by going to a lab and doing a stress test (VO2 max test)
5) your own VO2 max test by doing four all out 2-minute sprints with a very short one minute rest between. Your heart rate will be high after the 2nd or 3rd sprint.

Once you have your max heart rate, pick a cardio exercise (treadmill, bike or other machine that tracks the number of watts generated) and while monitoring your heart rate and adjusting the speed accordingly you maintain your heart rate within 61% and 70% and you perform that activity for an hour. At the end of the hour you divide the number of watts generated by your body mass.

You can “cheat” and ignore your heart rate while huffing and puffing your way to a high total wattage but then you’re skewing your comparison to the Zone 2 chart and the data is totally meaningless.

 

[Test_subject]

But lifespans were considerably shorter especially if you go back 150 years ... so today is a great time to live ...

Now for the 1st time in human history we live in food abundant environment ... we've got to be aware of this fact and adapt ... which to me means counting calories ... and some fair amount of cardio ...

Yes, but that has more to do with modern medicine than anything.

Not dying of polio or smallpox skews the averages a bit.

 

[CJ]

But lifespans were considerably shorter especially if you go back 150 years ... so today is a great time to live ...

Due to sanitation, medicinal advances, and less infant mortality.

Now for the 1st time in human history we live in food abundant environment ... we've got to be aware of this fact and adapt ... which to me means counting calories ... and some fair amount of cardio ...

If you eat only real food and move, it's very hard to get fat.