I was just asked the question by one of my good friends, and I thought I’d answer it on the blog here.
It’s not a straight forward answer, unfortunately.
How often should you do cardio?
The answer is…. it depends.
Here’s what I recommend.
Start off with 3 times a week, for 20 mins, at a moderate intensity. A moderate intensity is such that you can carry on a conversation, but it’s not super easy. Or if you’re already doing 30 mins, 3 times a week start there. Start where you are now, and build off of that.
Now here comes the important part.
You have to change “something” on a regular basis, let’s say, every week, or once you stop seeing results. This is the only way to keep the results coming.
What does this all mean?
Well, the easiest way of doing this is picking one factor to change (or increase) each week. And the best way to remember it is through the FITT principle.
Frequency – The number of times you do cardio per week.
Intensity – Your heart rate. Essentially do the cardio at a faster pace.
Time – The duration of each cardio session.
Type – The type of cardio (running, biking, rowing, etc).
The factor that you should choose to increase first is up to you, and can depend on your lifestyle. For example, if you’re a busy person, the most time effective choice is to increase the intensity or change the type of cardio.
Or… if you really enjoy cardio, maybe you choose to add another day to the week.
You will continue to make these adjustments until you’ve reached your body composition goals. But remember, it is possible to overtrain yourself. Listen to your body, and if you feel down-and-out, give yourself some time off.
To see the signs of overtraining checkout my article on that subject below:
Overtraining… How it got me, and how you can avoid it.
If you have any questions drop a comment below.
