With a large percentage of Americans overweight, it's clear that many of us are not following the latest exercise guidelines that prescribe an hour of exercise a day. In fact, there was no doubt a collective groan when people realized they would now have to find an hour each day to do something they can't seem to find 5 minutes for. How important are these guidelines and what can you do to make them fit into your life?
The Simple Facts About Cardio
Before we talk about how much cardio you should do, you should at least know why it's so important. Cardiovascular exercise simply means that you're involved in an activity that raises your heart rate to a level where you're working, but can still talk (aka, in your Target Heart Rate Zone). Here's why cardio is so important:
It's one way to burn calories and help you lose weight
It makes your heart strong so that it doesn't have to work as hard to pump blood
It increases your lung capacity
It helps reduce risk of heart attack, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes
It makes you feel good
It helps you sleep better
It helps reduce stress
I could go on all day, but you get the point
Bottom line: you need cardio if you want to get your weight under control and get your stress to a tolerable level.
The first thing you need to do is decide what kind of activities you'd like to do. These days, there are so many choices, there's no reason you can't find something you enjoy. If you like to go outdoors, running, cycling, hiking or walking are all good choices. If you like the gym, you'll have access to stationary bikes, elliptical trainers, treadmills, rowing machines, stairmasters and more.
After you choose what to do, the most important element of your workout will now be how long you do it. You should work on duration before you work on anything else--it's more important than how fast you're going. If you're a beginner, be cautious and start with a few minutes, adding more time to each workout until you're up to 30 minutes.
The 'official' guidelines say to workout for an hour. Once you've stopped laughing over the idea of finding an hour for exercise, listen up: if you don't have that kind of time, use whatever time you DO have, even if you have to:
Do mini-workouts throughout the day
Take a few minutes here and there for some stair-climbing or speed walking
Do all those things you know you should be doing: take the stairs, walk more, stop driving around looking for that primo parking space, etc.
Make the time. People who workout don't have more time than people who don't. They're just better than you. Kidding! No, regular exercisers have learned how to prioritize their time and make exercise number one on their to-do list. Plus, they know it makes life better (something you'll find out for yourself, little grasshopper).
Pay someone to make you exercise. Finding a good personal trainer can make a difference when it comes to motivation, goal-reaching, etc. You can even hire someone online.
Do something...anything. If you think 5 minutes isn't enough time to workout, you couldn't be more wrong. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 40 minutes--every single minute counts so don't flake out on me with the I've-only-go-a-few-minutes excuse because I'm not buying it and you shouldn't either.
Note: doing too much cardio is a no-no as well. You don't need to kill yourself with hours of cardio--there is a point of diminishing returns, so keep it reasonable and don't forget to take some rest days.
The frequency of your workouts will depend on your fitness level and your schedule. Beginners should start with about 3 non-consecutive days of cardio and work their way up to more frequent sessions. The general guidelines are:
To maintain current fitness level: 2-4 days a week (at least 20 minutes)
To lose weight: 4 or more days a week (at least 30 minutes)
To train for a triathlon: You don't want to know.
But, what if you can't follow the guidelines? Then do it for however many days you DO have. If you only have two days to workout (and you'd have to work really really REALLY hard to convince me you can't find another day to exercise, but whatever), then that's what you do. It's certainly better than nothing.
Keep in mind that if you can't follow the guidelines, you may have trouble reaching your goals. If you can't do the work required to reach your goals, you have two choices:
Change your schedule/lifestyle/whatever to accommodate your goal, or
Change your goal
It's totally up to you. There's no super glue binding you to your goals and if you know you can't (or won't) do what it takes, then why lie to yourself? Because, you enjoy living in denial, don't you? Admit what you'll really do and move forward instead of setting yourself up for failure with goals you know you aren't going to work for. And don't end your sentences with prepositions! End of lecture.
Once you've gotten used to exercise (and are up to 30 minutes of continuous movement) you can start tweaking your intensity. How hard you work is a crucial factor in your workout because:
How hard you work is directly related to how many calories you burn
Raising intensity is the best way to burn more calories when you're short on time.
It's an easy part of your workout to change--all you do is work harder
So how hard should you work? That depends on how long you have to exercise. You want to work at an intensity you can maintain for the length of your workout.
In an hour-long workout, keep intensity low so you won't wear yourself out.
In shorter workouts, raise the intensity since you're working out for a shorter period of time.
You can vary the intensity of some workouts with interval training to burn more calories
Make sure you can carry on a conversation. If you can't talk, you're working too hard.
NOTE: The target heart rate calculation is just a GUIDELINE--not gospel. If the calculator says your max heart rate is 120 beats per minute and you're not even sweating, please feel free to go faster. Really, I can't believe I have to explain these things but I always, always do. You know your body way better than an internet calculator, right? Right.
