How Much Cardio to Lose Weight

Doing cardio exercises is an essential part of any weight loss plan. This is primarily because cardio exercises are what can make a person sweat and increase their heart rate. You can therefore say that no weight loss will ever be effective if you simply just cut down on your food intake or engage in all sorts of weight training routines. What you need more of are cardio exercises.
But the most common question that people ask in relation to this is how much cardio to lose weight is really necessary?
How many hours within the day should you engage in cardio exercises just to be able to experience effective and consistent weight loss?
Before anything else though, there are several different things you need to take into consideration. For instance, how much do you currently weigh and how much weight do you want to lose? This can help determine just how much cardio you should do on a daily or even on a weekly basis.
You should also take into consideration your body built and your height as these two are also very much crucial in figuring out your amount and level of exercises.

Cardio Once a Day

In order to lose weight, you should allot at least an hour or an hour and a half to do various types of cardio exercises. Sometime within the week, you can also just rest without doing any form of cardio exercise.
So for instance you started your cardio workout on a Monday, it would be best if your rest on Thursday. This can help give your body time to recover so that you can do your exercise for the coming days with the right amount of energy that you need.

Cardio Twice a Day

Depending on your weight loss goals, you might also want to consider engaging in cardio exercises at least twice a day. This technique has worked for thousands of people around the globe.
What is normally done is that people do an hour’s worth of cardio exercise in the morning or before going to work and then they do another cardio workout at night, a few hours before they go to bed.
The idea behind here is that exercising in the morning can boost your adrenaline and can prepare you for the day ahead. In the same way that exercising at night can help burn all the foods that you have eaten throughout the day so your body and your weight are also managed at the same time.

Is Two Hours of Daily Cardio a Good Idea?

Another common question that people ask in relation to how much cardio to lose weight is whether or not engaging in cardio exercises two hours every day, once in the morning and another round of two hours at night is a good idea.
This may really work for those who have at least a hundred pounds to lose and those who are not necessarily engaged in doing household chores. Those people who are used to just sitting in front of the TV eating will benefit greatly from this workout.
However, it is a must to know that if your lifestyle is pretty much active and if you engage in normal activities like walking around the block or climbing up and down the stairs, doing this much cardio may not necessarily be advisable.
This is because too much cardio is not beneficial to anyone. Yes, it may help you shed a lot of pounds but you will no longer be doing it the healthy way.

How Much is Too Much?

Cardio exercises need to be included as a part of overall lifestyle but it should not enslave you at all.
What this means is that yes, you can do as much cardio as you want but you also need to set realistic parameters.
Since the body is highly trainable it will most likely adjust to your cardio workouts without making you feel tired at all. As a result, you may already be doing too much cardio without your knowledge.
So in the end, instead of losing as much weight as possible, what are actually lost are the muscles in the body. Therefore, your body becomes lanky and can no longer metabolize to burn the foods that you will be eating.
As mentioned earlier, engaging in rigorous cardio exercises is a good idea but only up to a certain extent.

Cardio and Diet

It is also a must that all dieters out there realize the need for the body to have something to burn before doing any cardio exercise.
This means that you need to feed the body an hour or two hours before you exercise so that it will be able to burn the food and not the muscles.
It is therefore a must to know that some foods should not be eaten before working out because other than the fact that they not healthy, they can easily bloat the stomach too making it hard for anyone to move around. Thus, running on a treadmill for instance will just be too impossible.
Some foods that you want to avoid are high fat foods like foods sold at fast food joints or rice meals. You can substitute these dishes with healthier variants like a chicken wrap and a glass of juice for instance.
Also, after doing any form of cardio exercise, make sure that you provide the body with the nutrients it needs so it can boost your metabolism to double or even triple its efforts. A glass of milk after your workout or a cup of seasoned fruits are always a wonderful choice.
At the end of the day, knowing how much cardio to lose weight is really important because what you want to lose is the actual weight and not just your water weight or worse, your muscles. So, do it right and give your body time to rest every now and then no matter how determined you are to reach your goals.