How intense does cardio have to be?

Hello ladies!

I have started doing cardio a week ago. I am walking 5-6 days a week on a treadmill at 5 km/h (3.1 miles/hour) for 60 min. In the beginning my heartbeat went up to 130 bpm, but now already it stays under 120 bpm and I think it will continue to drop as I'm getting fitter. Is that still a good way to do cardio with regards to my sway? Are there any criteria like heartbeat has to be above xy? I know that there are no real studies about this ;-) but just a recommendation would help me to get a feeling what I should be aiming at. And would it make a difference if I only walked 50 min? Sometimes my motivation isn't that high and an hour feels like forever ;-)

Some days I only have 30 min. Should I skip those days (as long as I still get in 5 days a week) or is 30 min better than nothing?

Thank you in advance for answering :-)

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Good question! Following!

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Please don't obsess over heart rate. It doesn't need to be any particular number, just do cardio that gets your heart rate up a little. Even just walking will do that. I can't say if doing 50 minutes is still as good. We just know that 60+ minutes has gotten good results for pink.

I haven't conceived yet and so obviously don't know if my sway will work but I can share how I've done it over the past 8 months (yea... I've been swaying for that long now!). Basically I always aim to keep my heart rate during exercise between 60-70% - which for my age is around 115-130. From everything, I've read this is an ideal a "fat burning" range, but also not so high that you can't sustain it for an hour. And yea after all these months, I have found that over time I've had to intensify the workouts to stay in that range as I've gotten fitter (which is just an awesome thing in general though!). I do a combo of brisk walking & exercise bike. As far as length, in the first several months I pretty much never went below 60 min. I felt guilty if on a rare occasion I did 55!!! I only did 5 days a week though. But yea - after 8 months, I've loosened up on this. I do 50-60 min, 5 times a week (occasionally 4). On a rare occasion I'll do 30-45 but most of the time if I can't get 50 in I'll just skip it. It's a pain to have to get an hour in at a time but atomic thinks that amount is pretty important. I have PCO tendencies/ possible insulin issues so the exercise for me is something that I really feel (or at least hope!) has improved my blood sugar levels. I really think for blood sugar control the exercise part is really important. But do the best you can & don't beat yourself up if it's not perfect!!

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That's really a good idea to try to stay in the fat burning range! I really hope I don't have to increase the speed auf the treadmill too much because then I would have to run instead of walking and it would be more boring because I don't think I can type on my phone while I'm running ;-)

I know exactly what you mean when you say you felt guilty if you only did 55 min! Each time I start walking, I tell myself that today I only will do 50 min (because an hour feels like forever). But then, when the clock shows 50 min, I just can't stop. But well, if betraying myself works that fine, I will continue to do it that way ;-)

I wish you all the best for this cycle! I sometimes have a look at the 2ww thread but we have not started trying to conceive yet. So I will join the thread later, but keeping my fingers crossed that you will only be a visitor and not a member of the thread anymore at that time :-)

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Thanks Verena! I feel like I will be on the tww board forever :( Hopefully not.

For increasing intensity on the treadmill you can also add an incline - that's what I've done when I don't want to increase the speed more :)

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Originally Posted by Verena

That's really a good idea to try to stay in the fat burning range! I really hope I don't have to increase the speed auf the treadmill too much because then I would have to run instead of walking and it would be more boring because I don't think I can type on my phone while I'm running ;-)

I know exactly what you mean when you say you felt guilty if you only did 55 min! Each time I start walking, I tell myself that today I only will do 50 min (because an hour feels like forever). But then, when the clock shows 50 min, I just can't stop. But well, if betraying myself works that fine, I will continue to do it that way ;-)

I wish you all the best for this cycle! I sometimes have a look at the 2ww thread but we have not started trying to conceive yet. So I will join the thread later, but keeping my fingers crossed that you will only be a visitor and not a member of the thread anymore at that time :-)

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The reason why I said to not worry so much about heart rate is that by obsessing over little details like that, it can actually sway blue. Trying to get small things "perfect" in a pink sway can produce disastrous results. I'm just letting you know that. I've been part of this website for long enough to see it ruin good sways and after having swayed for about a year myself, I can tell you how important it is to not worry yourself over things like keeping your heart rate in the "fat burning range." Like I said, even just walking for an hour is great for a pink sway. It doesn't need to be some insane cardio session.

I don't obsess over it I just hold the hand sensors on the treadmill a couple times during my workout and if I want my heart rate higher, I up the speed or incline. Outside of checking it a few times during the workout, I don't worry about it. I was much more obsessive initially about getting a full 60 minutes in every single time and realized that was not worth beating myself up over :)

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I understand. I was directing my comment more at Verena (and at others that may stumble upon this thread). I just didn't want her to think that she needs to worry about a target heart rate but should just instead focus on doing some type of cardio for the full hour. My worry is there will be pink swayers that will suddenly panic thinking their cardio isn't good enough and start checking their heart rate all the time, worrying themselves over it for nothing. Just wanted to clarify that. :)

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Originally Posted by ABC.2606

For increasing intensity on the treadmill you can also add an incline - that's what I've done when I don't want to increase the speed more :)

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That's such a great idea! Thank you. I feel stupid for not finding this solution on my own. I guess this shows that I would never step on a treadmill if it wasn't for swaying ;-)

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