Through the years there has been loads of controversy over how much cardio to do, how often and what the best time to do it is.
The following are my recommendations for those wanting to lose weight in a healthy manner as well as any other individual that is not an endurance athlete:
Frequency: Cardio should be performed on a regular basis of no more than three times per week. (On average)
Intensity: Your intensity should be measured by your heart rate and should maintain a level between 40-60% of you Maximum Heart Rate.
Duration: To maximize any type of results the time should be from 15-30 minutes in length excluding a warm up and cool down period.
Speed: Doing interval training is a great way to break up the routine, altering the intensity of the workload between high, moderate and low intensities.
Variation: Variation is key; do vary your workouts to keep your body guessing to some degree.
(i.e. Change in walking route, using different machines, etc.)
I want to elaborate why these Guidelines are so important. If you think of our body’s in Nature and can create a scenario of when we would ever have to run 26.2 miles in one day I would love to hear it. This leads me to my first and foremost point our bodies are simply not designed to withstand massive amounts of cardiovascular work in a highly repetitive nature. Sure we are designed to walk upright for long distances at some point, this is more of something we have developed as a culture of over stressed beings in the search for a slim waist line. I will tell you this the women and men I see at the gym camped out on the cardio machines for hours at a time multiple days per week do not look so great to me!
If you perform cardiovascular exercises in an excess of 30 minutes it will most definitely lead to elevated levels of glycocorticoids (stress hormones), which can last for several hours. These elevated levels of glycocorticoids for prolonged periods of time can lead to a suppressed immune system, tissue breakdown (muscle), insulin resistance, decreased sex hormones do I need to go on. In a world full of stressors from bad food choices lack of sleep a stressful job, you want to go to the gym and create more stress so you can leave the planet early?
On of the main things overdoing cardiovascular training will most definitely do is reduce muscle mass, which in regards to your metabolism is the last thing on earth you want to do. So now you have a lower metabolic rate overall after your high intensity spin class!
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