Cardio workouts

Anyone here a big cardio person? I am doing the eliptical at the gym for 20 miuntes on the cardio setting. It puts my heart rate goal at 148. It adjusts to keep you near that goal as you work out but I tend to settle around 140-145 the majority of the workout. How long do you need to work at your goal heartrate to get optimal benefit?

 

30 minutes seems to be the "industry standard." you seem to be in an adequate HR range too. the main thing is to do it regularly, even when you dont feel like it. i always hit the cardio prior to my weight training and finish up with core strength. those will give you additional cardio/fat burning if you limit your rest to a minute or two between sets.

 

The 'Spinning' class I used to go to a couple of times per week was awesome. Other than that I did 20 - 30 min. on eliptical or lifecycle in between spinning sessions.

 

I too was working out on the eliptical trainer for 30 minutes, six times a week. I'm using the passed tense, as I had a break and now I'm building back up to it. Anyway, I was getting my heart rate over that and was told if I pushed it too far, it didn't become fat burning, but went to a cardio range instead. Oddly, this really put me off. I can't explain it really - it was like a psychological shift and I lost interest . I'd be interested in this too as I assumed that even if you work out at a harder rate and work over `fat burning' range, you'd not only give yourself a cardio work out - but a fat burning one as well?

 

Part of my reason for doing this is to lose weight but another part of it is to improve my cardiovascular capacity. I would like to be able to hike and stuff without running out of breath too quickly. I tried the fat burn setting but it did not feel like it was "enough".

I have read that you should do the weights first and then do cardio since it will pre-fatigue you so that your cardio work is effective sooner in your workout.

I am only able to get to the gym about two or three times per week so it may be slow progress but it is probably a lot better than doing nothing.

 

all the literature talks about cycling intensity lebels during your cario workouts. it shocks the metabolism.