Yesterday I was debating with Mandi about whether doing the same cardio excercise every day is a good thing or not. Or if one should do different movements each day.
I found some information on the internets about this topic. The consensus was that those starting their training should at least have rest days to recover for a grueling workout. But once one is reasonably fit the body can handle 4, 5 or even 6 days a week of intense cardio. However doing the SAME workout every day may not be so beneficial.
It seems the Human body is pretty adaptable. One reference I read said that a lady walked every day for 30 minutes, 7 days a week. After a few years of this she started to gain weight. The author attributed this to both metabolism and her body adapting to the walking. He recommended she extend her walks to 45 minutes and the weight began to come off again.
I found another reference that talked about doing the same movement (walking or stair climbing etc) every day but changing what one does in the workout. Stair climbing for example. One could do a single level for 30 minutes one day, the next they could do intervals, and the next day they could do a ladder. Each day the duration could also be altered. The body may get used to the motion but not the workout.
However Mandi and I still agreed that maybe changing up the motion from time to time may be a good thing too.
I sort of put that to the test today and yesterday. Yesterday I did the stairs for 40 minutes. A 10 minute warm up then 30 minutes at level 11. I was sweaty and worked but my leg muscles weren't very sore or tired. I then did a pretty intense legs workout.
Then this morning I did 30 minutes on the stairs. A 5 minute warm up and then intervals. I did 90 seconds at level 13 then back to level 10 for 120 seconds. I think I got in about 5 or 6 intervals in 25 minutes. At the end of each fast part it was all I could do to hang on. I was counting the seconds to when I could lower the level. I was pretty worked but I also really felt the workout in my legs. I consistently got a good burn going and was sore afterwards. The result of the workout felt WAY different than yesterday's stable level workout.
So my non-empirical results indicate that you can do the same motion each day but changing up the routine can dramatically change the intensity and result.
You're welcome. :)
The face of pain
1 comment:
My 2c, because when people think about the fittest person they know, they think of me. :)
Multiple cardio programs are useful for cross training to get some variability in your workout. It is true (so I have heard and experienced) that doing the same exercise trains your body to do that exercise.
When I was training for my half-marathon in January, I was running exclusively. I thought it would be good to do some cross training. I noticed that if I went without running for more than 5 days, even if I was doing other cardio such as cycling or hiking, I had a harder time running the next time.
In the long run, did it help to do that cross training? I don't know, but I would suspect so, otherwise why would such a term exist and why would professional athletes do something other than what their end goal was?
I do know however that the week I spent in Austria 2 days before the half marathon snowboarding was not good for my training. It may have been the 12-18 drinks a night I was downing with the pack of pall malls.
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