Fitness
How Much Cardio Should You Do Each Day?
When it comes to figuring out how to split up your training, it can be a tad overwhelming. Should I be lifting? How many squats is enough? How do I work my back?
But one of the biggest questions: how much of that dreaded cardio should I be doing? We’ve enlisted the help of our panel of experts to answer this old-aged question.
Christie Bailey
This will depend on your maintenance level, how much you’re eating, and what you’re eating. I can’t give an exact number of minutes because it will vary from person to person, but as a general rule I’d suggest staying away from excessive steady state cardio as that has proven to cause muscle loss.
Taylor Chamberlain
It depends on how many calories you are taking in, but no longer than an hour. Some people may need more and some people may need less – it is very individualized.
Yami Mufdi
This is based on a person-by-person but to put it simply, the more cardio you do, the more stress you put on your body. If you’re looking to preserve your muscle gains, shorter cardio sessions should be your go-to. I would also go one step further and make them HIIT sessions to work on those fast-twitch muscle fibers.
-RELATED: How Many Squats Do I Need To Do A Day? –
Lacey Dunn
This varies based on caloric intake, years training, amount of muscle, and type of cardio. To prevent muscle loss, make sure to have adequate protein intake and not be in too large of an energy deficit. 45 min of cardio a day would be my tipping point to questioning if someone may be on edge for losing muscle.
Emily Duncan
I would say try to keep cardio at a minimum when you’re trying to build muscle as it tends to be catabolic. However, it’s great for your heart, and being a well-conditioned athlete is beneficial. I would say to stick to a 5-10 minute warm-up/cool-down on your lifting days.
– RELATED: 10 Cardio Exercises That Aren’t A Treadmill –
Sara Soloman
It’s not necessarily about how much each day, but how much each time and what type of cardio. I always recommend staying under 30 minutes regardless of the type of cardio that is being performed.
Noel Arevalo
I would cap it at 60 mins if you had to put a number on time. Anything past that in one day is just too excessive. Also, to make sure you weren’t to lose muscle I’d make sure that my protein intake and carb intake was adequate as well before cardio.
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