Today's Top Stories. Taraji P. Accessible Beauty Products For All. Hero Images Inc. See some of the craziest things women have done to lose weight. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. If that is your goal, be sure to exercise for at least 15 minutes.
That is the average time it takes for the body to use up your sugar reserves and start burning fat. Running burns about calories per mile, walking burns half that. There are roughly 3, calories in one pound of fat, so it is possible to tailor a cardio program around your specific weekly weight loss goals.
Some people are worried about losing muscle from exercising too much. According to Matricia Heaner, M. If you're able to do more, that's even better. The Physical Activity Guidelines specify that you can derive more health benefits by boosting your workout time from minutes a week to But the most important thing is that you do something. To learn more about the benefits of cardio exercise as well as many options for taking part in cardio, read Cardio Exercise from Harvard Medical School.
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Get helpful tips and guidance for everything from fighting inflammation to finding the best diets for weight loss You may not even know what you like yet. In this case, try several different activities to find the one or ones that you enjoy most.
This process can be hit or miss, so don't be afraid to try something and, if it doesn't work, move on to something else. If you are new to exercise, there are a few beginner workouts that can help get you started. These include:. Another option is to start with about 10 to 20 minutes of brisk walking at a moderate intensity. This means that you should be at a Level 5 or 6 on a perceived exertion scale of zero to 10, where sitting is zero and the highest level of effort possible is Health authorities recommend that most people get minutes of cardio exercise per week.
The great thing about cardio is that you don't have to work out for an hour to get benefits. Even sessions as short as 10 minutes count towards your weekly cardio exercise minutes.
So, figure out how much you need to do per week and split it up in a way that makes sense for you. If you are just starting out , it may feel less overwhelming to break your sessions into to minute chunks. Increase your time by 5 minutes as the exercise begins to feel easier.
Work your way up to to minute sessions. The answer to how often to do cardio workouts depends on a number of factors. Among them are your fitness level, schedule, and goals.
If you are new to exercise, want to be healthier, don't have a lot of free time, and aren't worried about losing weight, exercising a little bit every day can do you some good. If you have been exercising regularly for years, are used to hitting the gym 60 minutes at a time, and are more focused on building muscle than burning fat, cardio 3 to 4 times a week is probably enough. When thinking about frequency, it's important to consider intensity as well.
Light or moderate-intensity cardio workouts can usually be performed every day. But if you do high-intensity training , you'll need more rest days in between your workouts. Mixing the two helps you work different energy systems and also keeps you from burning out.
The frequency of your workouts will depend on your fitness level and your schedule. The basic guidelines are:. Doing too much cardio is a no-no and can actually backfire. There is a point of diminishing returns, so keep it reasonable 3 to 6 days per week, depending on your fitness level , vary your intensity, and don't forget to take rest days when needed. What happens if you can't follow the guidelines? If you're still working on building endurance and conditioning, it may take a few weeks to work your way up to more frequent exercise.
If it's a busy schedule that stands in your way or other obstacles, do your best to work out as many days as you can. Try shorter, more intense circuit training workouts to make the most out of the time you do have.
Try these quick workouts:. Keep in mind that if you can't follow the guidelines because of your busy schedule, you may have trouble reaching weight loss goals. If you can't do the work required to reach your goals, you may have to change your lifestyle.
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