Will running on a treadmill for 10-30 minutes a day help with my goals?

[WhatAmIDoing]

I am 30% bodyfat, very little muscle, poor cardiovascular health (fatigue easy, out of breath, dizziness, high heart rate, etc). I am doing the All-Pro program, cutting on 2000 calories. Is doing cardio on off-days right for me? Will it be harder for muscle to grow? What are the pros and cons?

[Bandah07]

Yup, I don't know the ins and out of the All-Pro programme, but I'm doing the couch to 5k programme at the moment.
I'm on week three and the cardio is really good for building up your stamina, improving your cardiovascular health, generally.
Its much easier to follow a cardio programme than do something different each weeks.

You won't really make much muscle gains on a cut, but as long as you lift heavy you'll maintain your muscle.

Can't really make much judgement without your stats though, but hopefully you should have a fair of lean body mass.

[jubjubrsx]

i'd say do the cardio but i enjoy running...i was over 30% BF originally down to about 9-10%.....just take it slow and easy

[JMotiv8]

I am 30% bodyfat, very little muscle, poor cardiovascular health (fatigue easy, out of breath, dizziness, high heart rate, etc). I am doing the All-Pro program, cutting on 2000 calories. Is doing cardio on off-days right for me? Will it be harder for muscle to grow? What are the pros and cons?

My friend, 10-30 minutes on the treadmill every day is something that could save your life. It's better than sitting on your ass doing nothing. Your body will adapt. In 6 weeks, your body will have adapted and your heart and lungs will be stronger and healthier. As you progress you will be able to do more. Even though you may not see instant results, if you stick at it you will be rewarded.

People will support you. Never back down, and never ever quit.

[ama828]

Running is hard on your body, especially if your heavy. I'd stick to walking, incline walking, and cycling. And weight training. And slowly integrate jogging.

Any form of regular physical activity will help a lot.

[myjohnson]

I am 30% bodyfat, very little muscle, poor cardiovascular health (fatigue easy, out of breath, dizziness, high heart rate, etc). I am doing the All-Pro program, cutting on 2000 calories. Is doing cardio on off-days right for me? Will it be harder for muscle to grow? What are the pros and cons?

You hitting weights?

[Voxmusculus]

I am 30% bodyfat, very little muscle, poor cardiovascular health (fatigue easy, out of breath, dizziness, high heart rate, etc). I am doing the All-Pro program, cutting on 2000 calories. Is doing cardio on off-days right for me? Will it be harder for muscle to grow? What are the pros and cons?

What's your goal? If it's fat loss, sure, knock yourself out. You may need to make sure you get enough rest and protein to help recovery, but some cardio never hurt anyone.

[hookemhorns0tx]

It will, but so will eating in a deficit. I would suggest incline walking instead of running, especially since you said fatigue easily. Start at a reasonable speed and slowly work your way up.

[Riffo]

Incline walking for sure, you'll be burning more calories than running 30 seconds then resting for 15 minutes because you can't take it anymore. No risk of injuries too. Once you can incline walk, move on to running.

[WhatAmIDoing]

Will incline walking get my heartrate up and provide decent health benefit compared to flat walking? When do I start jogging instead?

I'm still unsure when the right time is to invoke cardio. I guess I have so little muscle mass that it doesn't matter either way and that at 30% bodyfat I can afford to run, right?

[grootkanonne]

It's always a good idea to put a slight incline on the treadmill whether you walking or running, reduces impact on your knees.

[WhatAmIDoing]

How much cardio is worth doing? 10 minutes? 20? 30? LISS? HIIT?

[AnderJaspo]

How much cardio is worth doing? 10 minutes? 20? 30? LISS? HIIT?

I'd say something like HIIT is only worth it, for you specifically, if you are hard pressed for time. I would also say that cardio is fine up until the point it prevents you from resting/recovering from your lifting program, which means no one on here can tell you exactly how much cardio is worth doing.

Like others have suggested, start out small and work your way up. Don't let anything interfere with your lifting program (Cardio or otherwise.) I'd say 20 mins incline walking would be a good place as any to start from if you are adamant on receiving a specific suggestion for amount of cardio you should be doing.

[Voxmusculus]

How much cardio is worth doing? 10 minutes? 20? 30? LISS? HIIT?

15 minutes of HIIT will be good. It builds endurance and it's a great way to get burn a decent amount of calories quickly.

Besides, if you can do more than 15-20 minutes of HIIT, you're probably not doing it right.

[cunfewzed]

I am 30% bodyfat, very little muscle, poor cardiovascular health (fatigue easy, out of breath, dizziness, high heart rate, etc). I am doing the All-Pro program, cutting on 2000 calories. Is doing cardio on off-days right for me? Will it be harder for muscle to grow? What are the pros and cons?

It won't hurt you to do some cardio, but go light on it. Cutting to 2000 cals and your lifting regiment are what will help you the most. Cardio is completely optional. It sounds like it'll help you get into better shape, but I would limit to 2 times per week and focus on your diet.

[comptorn]

My friend, 10-30 minutes on the treadmill every day is something that could save your life.

That is a damn inspiring comment.

Folks in the thread have it right. Most of your effort should be restricting calorie intake and hitting weights (to preserve muscle mass), but if you can teach yourself to safely enjoy running, you will feel better and feel better about yourself. Just take it slow, and to make it more enjoyable, get outside!

[TheEquivalent]

I am in a similar situation to OP, great thread so far!

I have not been to the gym or done ANY physical training whatsoever for over 9 months now (aside from walking a couple of miles x2 per week). As a result I have a high rest HR, and little muscle mass. I weight 190lbs at around 20%bf.

If I join the gym within the next few days should I just stick to lifting weights or stick to cardio. If weights, how should I begin? I do not think a split would be appropriate for me as I am so detrained. If cardio, again, how do I begin? Incline walking, jogging? I doubt I can do jogging and I want to be in good condition but I don't want to join the gym and have a heart attack...

[dikspiel]

I would try doing spinning instead of running if you are at 30% body fat. You can burn a bunch of calories on a spin bike in an hour (try taking a class) without risking injury.

[jeremyisfat]

How much cardio is worth doing? 10 minutes? 20? 30? LISS? HIIT?

Don't over-think the situation. Adding any cardio to a weight training program will make you healthier. Do what you're comfortable with, then adjust as you go. The important part in the beginning is just doing it. Consistently.

[leroyS]

there are 3 ways you could improve your body:-

1. reduce what you are eating. You will be surprised at how much calories olive oil, mayonnaise, pop tarts, peanut butter, chips, crisps etc actually have in them...cut out soft drinks for a water, where you see yourself wanting to eat sweets and sugary stuff, eat some almonds instead, have some seed mix, grill some chicken and have it with a salad and some hot sauce, eat in moderation. It will surprise you how little your body actually needs relative to what we eat, we live in a day and age where 6 packets of space raiders cost £1, wheras a punnet of red grapes costs £3.50!

2. increase cardio. Get on a treadmill, put the ipod in, watch TV whatever and walk...at your weight and the fact you will be new to it, doing this for a half hour every day will lose the pounds no problem.

3. combine both of them. You could combine both of them to have an even bigger winning combination. The two sort of go hand in hand, that is, if you have been on a treadmill for half an hour, it wouldnt make sense to go and eat 5 packets of haribo starmix. It's all about balance and energy expenditure.

remember for every inch you lose off your waist, you are prolonging your life expectancy. Good luck and take a look around some of the progress threads for inspiration

[bigollie2006]

OP as far as cardio goes, find something enjoyable to do that is physical and do it alot. Treadmill work is boring work and its benefits are minimal. I started playing basketball for my cardio. I do shooting drills and then shoot around for 20-30 minutes every time I hit the gym. I work on running into the shot so its more intense than just shooting around. Get creative with something you like to do and you will see far better results and save yourself hours of boredom on a treadmill.

[TheEquivalent]

there are 3 ways you could improve your body:-

1. reduce what you are eating. You will be surprised at how much calories olive oil, mayonnaise, pop tarts, peanut butter, chips, crisps etc actually have in them...cut out soft drinks for a water, where you see yourself wanting to eat sweets and sugary stuff, eat some almonds instead, have some seed mix, grill some chicken and have it with a salad and some hot sauce, eat in moderation. It will surprise you how little your body actually needs relative to what we eat, we live in a day and age where 6 packets of space raiders cost £1, wheras a punnet of red grapes costs £3.50!

2. increase cardio. Get on a treadmill, put the ipod in, watch TV whatever and walk...at your weight and the fact you will be new to it, doing this for a half hour every day will lose the pounds no problem.

3. combine both of them. You could combine both of them to have an even bigger winning combination. The two sort of go hand in hand, that is, if you have been on a treadmill for half an hour, it wouldnt make sense to go and eat 5 packets of haribo starmix. It's all about balance and energy expenditure.

remember for every inch you lose off your waist, you are prolonging your life expectancy. Good luck and take a look around some of the progress threads for inspiration

Thanks for this post. So would just walking for 30minutes a day be a good place to start? Also when should I pick up the weights?

OP as far as cardio goes, find something enjoyable to do that is physical and do it alot. Treadmill work is boring work and its benefits are minimal. I started playing basketball for my cardio. I do shooting drills and then shoot around for 20-30 minutes every time I hit the gym. I work on running into the shot so its more intense than just shooting around. Get creative with something you like to do and you will see far better results and save yourself hours of boredom on a treadmill.

Do you play basketball by yourself? What type of shooting drills do you perform? I might rather do this than a long walk on the treadmill

[iNiRGi]

Walking 30 is a good start, if you want, you could add a slow jog, or fast sprint for like 30 seconds inbetween it. Pick up weights early is a good time. If you have low strength, dont knock yourself our trying to lift 20lb dumbs for the next 45 minutes, start low, and slow, then work your way up when you know you can. (my 02)

[MatthewNYC80]

Based on how out of shape you are, I would try and do at least 30 min of cardio 5 days a week, along with whatever lifting you are doing.

[TheEquivalent]

Does one start off with 30minutes of cardio or like 5 minutes a day for a few weeks....to avoid overstressing the heart?

[SteveFromNY]

Does one start off with 30minutes of cardio or like 5 minutes a day for a few weeks....to avoid overstressing the heart?

if you are truly so concerned with overstressing your heart, you should consult a doctor. nobody here can know your health conditions well enough to give you worthy advice.

[TheEquivalent]

if you are truly so concerned with overstressing your heart, you should consult a doctor. nobody here can know your health conditions well enough to give you worthy advice.

well its only because I have done no exercise for 9 months.....that's the only reason I am asking.......I doubt its good to go from zero to hero in the space of a few workouts..

[joeturner]

no,

no-one who ever ran lost weight!












not serious...




look at it this way? Do you think they run in teh army? what was the last "fat" boot camp guy you saw?

run! take it slow to start, but YES of course running will help you lose weight

I prefer walking, but walking is just running but takes longer (for fat loss)

if you have the time, walk for 40-60min
if you are in a hurry, run a mile - mile.5 in like 20min
either way, burns calories. Just move!