Rate at which to increase cardio sessions?

[a2stud2]

Hey everyone,

So, I'm getting back on board the wagon and exercising again. I plan on doing the elliptical for 30 minutes 4x/week (maybe more, but we'll see when we get to that point).

Right now I'm starting off doing it for 20 minutes 4x/week to build up my endurance. However, I'm concerned about how fast to increase from 20 minutes to 30 minutes. Last time I did attempted weight loss, I went from 20-30 in a week or so. This time, I want to take a more gradual approach.

I just wanted to get input on what everyone else did to build endurance, like, in Week 1-20 minutes, Week 2-X minutes, or really how long you took to increase your cardio to your desired level.

I was thinking increase by 1 minute every other session, but that means it would take 5 weeks. Would increasing by 1 minute each session be ideal? Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[sophie_paine]

I think increasing 5 minutes per week is good enough. You start with 20, the next week 25 and the next week 30

After that, change intensity every other week to keep yourself in the desired BMR. It is best to do this than increase the number of days you workout.