Any tips on improving my cardio routine?

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kathar

New member
I've been sedentary for years. While exercise isn't my *favorite* thing in the world, it's something I should really start doing. I have a gym membership here and at home, so it's even easier. So for the past few weeks I've been going a couple times a week and using the treadmill. (I hate exercising outside. I can't stand heat and bugs, both of which are plentiful right now.)

Basically, I structure my workout around songs. This isn't very scientific, I know, and it's even less so now, because I'm still going by CD order. (Switching songs mid-walk is tedious and throws my concentration off.) Generally I walk/jog for most of it.

For instance, here was my cardio for today. "Walked" means 4.0 mph unless I say otherwise. Incline is 4.0 unless I say otherwise. I walk to the gym, often from quite a distance, so I start out at 4.0 mph. Sorry it's vague; I didn't think I'd be posting about it.

Song 1 (5:01): Walked until 3:15, ran at 5.5 mph for about a minute in the last chorus, returned to walking.
Song 2: (3:50): Walked, then jogged at 5.5 mph during the last chorus. Again, about a minute.
Song 3 (6:01): A lot of mixed walking/jogging depending on what happened in the song.) It's hard to describe this unless you know the song, which I'm betting you don't (it's "Rim Shak" by Letters to Cleo.)
Song 4: (4:17): Walked, periodically increasing incline to 5.0-7.0 and speed to 4.2.
Song 5: (3:38) Jogged the entire thing, speeds ranging from 5.0 to 5.5 mph.
Song 6: (3:26): Walked, periodically increasing incline to 5.0-7.0 and speed to 4.1. I think I threw in some running towards the end.
Song 7: (2:11) Walked, threw in some running.
Song 8: (2:33): Cooldown. Got rid of the incline, and gradually dropped speed from 4.0 to about 2.5 mph.
 
So you're basically doing interval training.. for about 30 minutes?

As long as you're continually progressing then it's fine.. and 2 months from now you'rechanged up your speeds...

Are you doing any typeof resistance training? I strongly suggest r eading the stickied t rheads in th e exercise forum...
 
I guess you could think of it as interval training.

Technically it's 25 minutes if you take out the cooldown, but sooner or later I'll increase the time to 35 minutes with cooldown. The speeds are going to increase sooner or later; when I used to exercise I could get up to 6.5 and 7 miles per hour. If I tried that now I'd probably quit within a day.

I'm doing resistance training in addition to this. (I've read the stickied threads.)
 
Just my 2 cents-
I'm very skeptical about how intervals work if they are done in a low-intensity environment. I almost feel like the intervals are just an excuse to not have to work out hard for the entire duration. We all have probably read the stickies about HIIT, but I strongly doubt those same benefits can be achieved at lower intensity.

To the original poster, if you want to improve your cardio, I would focus on keeping your heart rate at 65-75% of your maximum. You can find a calculator on google or probably somewhere on this site to determine your maximum heart rate. I would try to shoot for 20-25 minutes of 5mph and each week up the speed or duration by 1 or 2 notches. From my experience, consistent cardio workouts are the most effective. My logic is that doing intervals like that may not help you improve your overall stamina like consistent workouts do so you will be able to work out harder the next time around. I started with only being able to stay on a stationary bike for about 12 minutes and now 60 minutes is a breeze. I would leave intervals to the pros & stick with the basics.

Ah, one other thing- I don't know if you like electronica music or not, but this guy creates free high bpm hour-long seamless mixes for workouts This type of music keeps me going through each workout. P.S. Podrunner mixes are all free downloads
 
The reason I do this in short intervals is because I literally cannot run for any longer than a few minutes at a time. I haven't exercised in years. A few weeks ago even an entire song was impossible.
 
uyis11 said:
My logic is that doing intervals like that may not help you improve your overall stamina like consistent workouts do so you will be able to work out harder the next time around.
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It works for me. My jogging intervals are getting longer when I'm doing walking/jogging. Just walking isn't intense enough. Junning the entire time is out of the question. Doing both works beautifully.
 
I tried to do the 20 minutes at 5 miles per hour today, but I only made it to 3 and a half minutes before I had to walk again. I think there must be something wrong with me.
 
kathar said:
I tried to do the 20 minutes at 5 miles per hour today, but I only made it to 3 and a half minutes before I had to walk again. I think there must be something wrong with me.
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Why do you think that? A person can't just start out exercising and expect to run for long periods. It takes your body time to build up strength and endurance for that kind of activity. It DOES NOT mean there is anything wrong with you. It seems like maybe you are comparing yourself to other people and what they do. Stop. Do what you can do, push yourself and achieve your own goals. You are doing great. Don't beat yourself up because you can't do what someone else is doing.
 
uyis11 said:
To the original poster, if you want to improve your cardio, I would focus on keeping your heart rate at 65-75% of your maximum. I would try to shoot for 20-25 minutes of 5mph and each week up the speed or duration by 1 or 2 notches.
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The OP stated that she's been sedentary for years. It can be quite difficult to go into an exercise routine with that type of gusto for more than a few minutes at a time if you haven't been doing much for years. She's building up her endurance and that is good! We can't give her a target speed and expect her to go out and do that. There is no way on earth I could go out and jog at 5mph for 20 minutes. Perhaps she can't either. Its okay. We start out with what we can do and progress from there. There isn't a one size fits on for the mph that should be done on the tredmill.

(this post is pretty much for kathar, not a rude rant directed toward you, uyis)
 
We can't give her a target speed and expect her to go out and do that.
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That's really true. The only "one size fits all" cardio measure is heart rate and that will be different for each person just using the same formula. I took a guess (a bad guess) at 5mph based on the description of the intervals she was doing. This is why I don't like treadmills for cardio (especially for beginners) because many people cannot jog at a consistent pace for any period of time when beginning working out. This is why I'm a fan of ellipticals and bikes. You can create a consistent pace on those machines without killing yourself. Cheers!
 
Kathar, what is your goal with running? Are you training for distance or are you just doing it to lose fat and weight? I think knowing the answer to this will also change the responses that you receive.

If you are running for distance and to increase speed for distance running, I totally suggest looking up the Couch to 5K club in the Club sections. If you are doing it for the latter, your heart rate should be at the fat burn rate whatever that happens to be for you.

I started out doing intervals exactly like you are with brisk walking and some running between 5.5-7mph and now I'm able to run for 1.5-2.5 miles at a time close to 6mph, but I'm also training for a 5K so that may be different in our routines. =)

I hope you are finding all the info you need!
 
I'm with Tasha in recommending the C25K program. It caters to beginners and I feel it helps you make great progress with your running, if you follow it and try to challenge yourself a little bit ;)

I started with the C25K to mostly increase my running speeds and eventually increase my distances. I run with my Ipod and usually count the songs to help the time go by, and it works for me.

You have to start out slow and gradually increase the intensity of your workouts, otherwise you will easily get burnt out and give up. Losing weight and increasing your fitness level is a process, it definitely doesn't happen overnight. Once you reach one goal fitness wise, it should be time to make another one. Even the most fit and healthy people on this forum still have goals that they are trying to reach, their goals are just relative to them.

Keep going at it and keep doing what your doing. Always try to challenge yourself a little bit though. Everytime I go to the gym I want to maximize my time there and make the most out of it, otherwise what is the point?

Your doing great and I repeat that you should definitely look into the C25K program. It's been very beneficial and helped so many on here :)

Good Luck,
Sam
 
For what it's worth, I hit 5 and a half minutes at 5.0 miles an hour today. That was my longest stretch; I still did several other shorter one-to-two-minute patches of running.
 
Your workouts look great---I like the fact that you gauge it by the songs. The one thing I would do is to vary your workout types a bit more. Instead of always doing the treadmill, once or twice a week, do the elliptical or stationary bike. Or do one song on the treadmill, one on the elliptical, one on the bike (or something similar). By adding variety to your workouts a few things will happen:

1) You will avoid exercise plateaus. That is when our bodies adapt to the workouts and the workouts become less effective.

2) By adding variety, we reduce "exercise burn-out."

3) Adding variety means we are working the muscles in a variety of motions and speeds and it will help to limit over-use injuries.
 
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