Hello everyone! There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding, “Do I do high intensity cardio for 20 min. or less?” or “Do I do long duration cardio for 30 min. to an hour?”

The best way for me to answer this is to DO WHAT YOU ENJOY! If you enjoy doing cardio for an hour and find that the high intensity is just not for you, then don’t fret…just keep doing what you love! I think you should only question what you are doing if you are not getting the results that you want. However, if you are happy with your program and your lifestyle allows you to find the time for an hour of cardio, than there is nothing WRONG with this! The idea is to MOVE, get ACTIVE in a way that you TRULY ENJOY and will stick with.

I think the health and fitness community is doing a disservice to so many people by giving answers that are so blank and white. Some people enjoy the high intensity cardio because it requires less of your time to get a great pump and keeps your metabolism up for hours afterward. However, it is intense and may not be for everyone.

Remember to always incorporate weight lifting into your cardio program. This is vital to keep your bones strong. You will also gain lean muscle mass, which in turn increases your metabolism- even at rest! My weight training consists of 20 min. sessions 4x/week. It is quick and intense and can be done within your home! I love it and get all the results that I need. I follow The Fit Chic Year of Workouts program. It is easy to follow and apply.

I hope this has helped! Sometimes too much information can cause people to not do anything at all because they are scared to do the wrong thing! We don’t want this to happen…remember it’s the little things that you do each day towards health, that will become a habit. Start out small, then keep ADDING to your healthy lifestyle.

For example, you may start out by choosing healthier foods. Once you start to get familiar with what to buy and start to find some recipes that you love, then you can take the next step. This may be to begin an exercise program…the wonderful thing is that as you begin this journey and start to implement the changes…you will be so focused on the action steps that you may not even realize that you are losing the extra weight!

Cheers to health,

Angie

C.P.T.
B.ED.