How much cardio is to much ?

gregacollins's picture
Posted April 2nd, 2009 by gregacollins

I like many, have a slight dilemma. I can't seem to shake that extra little fat from my abs. My diet is spot on, so that is not an issue. I have been doing cardio 5 days a week. 3 days of HIIT (usually a spin class) after weights, and 2 days low intensity on a stairmaster. If I was to add a couple of low intensity sessions in the evening do you think it would help? Or am I just going to be overdoing it, and possibly increase my caloric needs?

Change is good

Jonah_Maddox's picture
On April 2nd, 2009 Jonah_Maddox says:

First off, what's your desired goal and motivating factor to get there? Next, if you add more cardio to your current regime you might be over doing it and not allowing your body to recover the way it needs to. Stick with the lower intensity cardio if you are trying to burn fat, 60-65% of your max target heart rate (220- your age= Max heart rate) for 30-45 minutes. This will force your body to burn fat as a fuel source instead of the usual carbs it likes to run off of. Also maybe reverse your order of cardio, doing 3 sessions of lower intensity and 2 sessions of high intensity a week. If you still aren't seeing the results you want, I would challenge you to explore other types of cardio. Trick your body by changing it up.
-Jonah Maddox