It use to be that I would workout for a certain amount of time, but lately that has switched. Instead of staring at the clock, I have started focusing more on distance. For me it has helped me to go longer in my workouts and increases my intensity when I am in a time crunch.

But really, what is more beneficial, exercising for distance or exercising for time?

“FITT” is a great acronym that can guide you in your cardio workout plan.

F.I.T.T. stands for Frequency, Intensity, Type, and Time.

Frequency

How often should you workout?

For those of you that are just starting to workout, start out slow and work your way up. Aim at about 3 days a week and gradually work your way up to 5 or 6 days a week. When it comes to weight loss, the more days the better. But don’t forget to allow your body a day or two of rest!

Intensity

How hard is your workout?

This can be a hard balance to find. You want your workouts to overload your body but at the same time you don’t want to create too much intensity in your workout that it creates injuries or burnouts. A heart rate monitor can determine intensity but another great way of measuring your intensity is from the ability to speak while working out. You know you are having a great workout when you become out of breath during it.

Type

What activities do you do that increases your heart rate?

Most of us have our one cardio activity that we enjoy doing. For me, it’s the elliptical. I can stay on that thing forever, but put me on a treadmill and I can’t stand more than 5 minutes without getting bored and miserable. Find activities that increase your heart rate and that you love. Switching it up too can throw off your body from adjusting to that one activity.

Time

How long is your workout?

The recommending time of a cardio workout is going to vary on it’s intensity but it’s around 20-60 minutes.

So, maybe I shouldn’t just focus on miles. According the “FITT” principle there are several things to take into consideration. Bring both miles and time into my workout would be more beneficial than focusing on one or the other.

Question

When you workout, do you focus more on time or distance?

What is your usual time or distance each day?

Are you noticing that your cardio workouts are getting harder than they normally are?
You could be doing too much cardio. Yep, I said it… too much!
   

Your body perceives exercise as a stressor, therefore too much exercise can have a negative effect on it. Your metabolism will shut down, holding into your fat and burning everything else. You are also opening up a door to injury with all the wear and tear you are doing on your body.     

If you start to feel general fatigue, irritability, physical soreness, insomnia, headaches, or you find that your workouts are much harder than they normally are you probably are overdoing it on the cardio.

Obviously everybody is going to be different when it comes to over doing it with cardio, but it is recommended that you do no more than 60-90 minutes of cardio a day. This depends on a variety of things such as intensity, activity, and the amount of food you are in taking that day.

 

It is also recommended that you give your body at least one to two rest days throughout the week. This gives your body time to heal itself and your cells can regenerate. If you are like me, you find it hard to not exercise on your days off… I sometimes feel a little guilty. So instead of heading to the gym I find activities throughout my day that keeps me active, but gives my body a rest, such as going shopping at the mall, working in the garden, or playing in the pool.

So allow your body the rest it needs… you will probably burn more calories the rest of the week because you will have more energy!

Whether it’s walking, jogging, bicycling, elliptical, or playing tennis with a friend, the best cardio workout is the one that you will enjoy the most. But if you are looking for a calorie-blasting workout, you want to find one that will give a full body workout. Bicycling is great, but it mainly works the legs, whereas swimming not only works the legs but it works the arms, shoulders, and back. From my research I have found that the elliptical is rated as the #1 calorie torching cardio machine. It will burn more calories in a shorter amount of time with the added benefits of less stress on your joints and a toner body. For those of you that enjoy running or walking, there are ways to get a full body workout and increase the amount of calories burned. One can walk/jog on an incline such as a hill and pump the arms while using small hand weights.

Here is a run down of the calories you will burn in 30 minutes (based on a 150lb female)

1.) Elliptical Trainer 400 calories in 30 minutes.
2.) Swimming approx. 400 calories in 30 minutes.
3.) Running approx 250-300 calories in 30 minutes.
4.) Bicycling 250 to 500 calories in 30 minutes.
5.) Walking 180 calories in 30 minutes. Sprinting, adding hills or an incline can increase amount of calories burned.

If you want to get more bang for your exercise buck, the best way to approach any cardio workout is through interval training. Interval training involves both high and low intensity settings throughout one’s workout. This type of cardio is better because it torches calories in a shorter amount of time, makes the time go by ten times faster, and your metabolism will stay at a “high” throughout the day in comparison to a steady workout that decreases soon after, leading to a lose of more fat. Design your own interval training by doing 2 minutes of high intensity such as sprinting and 1 minute of jogging. For an elliptical or bicycle you can increase and decrease the intensity.

Good Luck and remember… keep it fun and exciting!