Hey Rip, what do you recommend for a good cardio workout just for general cardio health, not fat loss.
Type, duration, frequency.
My resting heart rate is 56, but I just don't have the "wind" I used to.
There are A LOT of schools of thought about cardio, alot of opinions on how to do it, when to do it, how long to do it for, and how hard to go. I haven't found the absolute answer, but here's my take on your question.
For
general cardio health, I would recommend 3-4 times a week, up to 30 mins or so (somewhere between 20-40 mins), at a moderate intensity. If you are not focusing on fat loss, then I don't think it matters as much when you do the cardio, so long as you do it. I think that anything less than 20 minutes is not worthwhile.
You wouldn't want to do cardio right before weight training simply because it would deplete you and you could compromise some of the benefits of weight training. But otherwise, I would just do it whenever you can. This is not true for fat loss, in which case I would recommend first thing in the morning on an empty stomach - which I still think is ideal.
Moderate intensity would be somewhere around 60-75% of your max heart rate.
If you are looking to improve your "wind," you may want to consider intervals for cardio. I usually do intervals of light/moderate (about 65 or 70%) and heavy (about 80-85%). This can greatly improve your cardio endurance. You should also feel yourself getting stronger in the cardio area (i.e. improving your wind) after a couple of weeks of consistent cardio, so you are going to want to find ways to keep improving that by continuing to challenge yourself.
In terms of the type of cardio, it seems like I have tried them all LOL, and I really cannot tell much of a difference between any of them. I think that monitoring your heart rate is more important than what kind of cardio you are doing, and you can get your heart rate going with just about any type of cardio. I DO think that the stair climber focuses good on the glutes and hams and can actually help build muscle/tone that area....so that is my favorite.
I have an elliptical at home as well as a recumbant bike, so I use these alot, in addition to the stair climber.
The treadmill is great for incline walking and intervals. I would avoid long-distance running if you are trying to maintain muscle mass in your legs.
I have been meaning to get some information together and start a thread about CARDIO, so thanks for reminding me! Here it is LOL. I'll add more information as I have time.
