How Much Cardio Should I Do Per Week to Burn Fat and Lose Weight?

Engaging in cardiovascular or aerobic exercise on a regular basis helps to prevent chronic disease and is beneficial for your overall health, particularly a healthy heart and mind. Aerobic exercise helps reduce blood pressure and relieves stress. However, most Americans do not realize that the amount of exercise recommended for weight maintenance and general health is not nearly enough to burn fat and promote weight loss.

Fitness basics

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention's "2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans" recommend that you engage in two types of exercise each week to promote optimal health: aerobic exercise and resistance training. The minimum amount necessary for general health depends upon the intensity level of the activity. Remember, those who are "FIT" consider three important exercise variables: frequency, intensity level and time (spent).

"I" for Intensity

The CDC advises American adults to engage in 150 minutes or 2½ hours weekly of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking or bicycling on a light resistance level/flat surface. If the aerobic activity is of a vigorous intensity level, such as jogging or riding a bicycle at a high resistance level/with hills, you can spend less time weekly performing the activity, 75 minutes or 1¼ hour total. An equivalent mix of the two intensity levels is acceptable.

Cardio exercise and weight loss

To lose weight, you must expend more calories than your body requires for weight maintenance. Increasing time spent exercising and intensity while reducing your food intake helps create a ‘caloric deficit.' A caloric deficit of 500 calories daily or 3,500 weekly is needed to lose 1 lb. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) updated their position on exercise for weight loss. This position was published in the February 2009 issue of "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise". To encourage weight loss, you should strive to engage in at least 250 to 300 minutes or 4 & 1/3 to 5 hours of a moderately intense aerobic activity weekly. This is roughly double the exercise time recommended for general health. For vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, engage in 150 minutes or 2½ hours weekly. An equivalent mix of both intensity levels is acceptable and even beneficial as it offers variety.

Beyond cardio?

Aerobic exercise is effective for torching calories and losing fat. However, for optimal results, supplement it with resistance training exercises to build muscle mass. The more lean body mass you have, the more calories you'll expend per hour, even while at rest. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine recommend that you engage in no fewer than two resistance training exercise sessions weekly. Choose exercises that work all of the major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdominals, chest, shoulders and arms). Lifting weights, using resistance bands and/or using your own body weight for resistance are different techniques for gaining strength.

Cardio exercise: what is too much?

Unless you are training for an event, such as a marathon or are a competitive athlete, you do not need to engage in aerobic exercise in excess. While experts disagree on what is ‘too much' in terms of aerobic exercise, you may be doing too much if you suffer from frequent exercise-induced injuries, muscle soreness and are losing too much weight/too quickly. As a general rule of thumb, if you are engaging in cardio >1½ hours, five or more days weekly, consider cutting back.

References:

• Donnelly JE, Blair SN et al. Appropriate Physical Activity Intervention Strategies for Weight Loss and Prevention of Weight Gain. Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise. 2009 Feb.
• Centers for Disease Control & Prevention: How Much Physical Activity Do Adults Need?

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