How many hours of cardio...

[b_priest9mm]

...does your average high school/ college athlete (say basketball, track or volleyball for example) do in a given week?

I'm trying to cut down and I notice that the athletes in the above sports are generally pretty lean, so I figured that would be a good starting point for how much cardio I need to do. In the past, I didn't do nearly enough and now I'm buckling down.

Spoiler

And I kinda bought into that misc/fit mindset about "cardio killing gains"

Assuming they practice five days a week that's about 10 hrs a week of cardio, at least.

Combined with my weight training regimen, I think that's a pretty good starting point, what do you all think?

 

[MJ Truth]

I don't have an answer to your question but also take into account that you're talking about teenagers as well (not sure how old you are).

 

[b_priest9mm]

I don't have an answer to your question but also take into account that you're talking about teenagers as well (not sure how old you are).

Mid 20s. I should have specified the ones I point to as inspiration are in their early 20s. The juniors and seniors in college basically. Shouldn't have even mentioned high school.

Mid 20s (25-26) isn't too much of a jump from 21-22 physically.

 

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

It really depends on the kind of cardio

I would not look to non lifters for how to model cardio. When I was playing basketball in HS I was running like 1-2 hours a day. But I weighed like 130lbs and did not lift at all. Now I am about 200lbs in a bulk and am doing about 2 hours a week of cardio to keep shyt in check. Good gawd I would be a fat ass right now without cardio.

The kind of cardio is important too. Running is no good... . too high impact. I would stick to cycling, ellipticals, swimming, rowing, etc. shyt like that.

 

[MJ Truth]

Mid 20s. I should have specified the ones I point to as inspiration are in their early 20s. The juniors and seniors in college basically. Shouldn't have even mentioned high school.

Mid 20s (25-26) isn't too much of a jump from 21-22 physically.

It is depending on what you've been doing the last few years. If you're physically active then there isn't a jump at all. On the other hand if you haven't been doing shyt the last few years you'd be amazed how quickly one can become

 

[b_priest9mm]

It is depending on what you've been doing the last few years. If you're physically active then there isn't a jump at all. On the other hand if you haven't been doing shyt the last few years you'd be amazed how quickly one can become

I've been following a powerlifting based routine with minor tweaks as I gained experience for the past five-six years.

Let's say I've comfortably hit the 3/4/5 marks while bulking up. So definitely not flabbynsick because I've been training consistently since I was 20. I do cardio to make sure I don't become a complete fatty, but now I need to figure out how much to do in order to get lean.

For example, I used to do 30 minutes about four times a week...I don't think that's enough, which is why I point to the examples I mentioned before. Maybe I need to take it that level, whatever that is.

 

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

I've been following a powerlifting based routine with minor tweaks as I gained experience for the past five-six years.

Let's say I've comfortably hit the 3/4/5 marks while bulking up. So definitely not flabbynsick because I've been training consistently since I was 20. I do cardio to make sure I don't become a complete fatty, but now I need to figure out how much to do in order to get lean.

For example, I used to do 30 minutes about four times a week...I don't think that's enough, which is why I point to the examples I mentioned before. Maybe I need to take it that level, whatever that is.

More cardio isn't the answer, less calories are. U wont get leaner if u do more cardio and just eat more, and with less calories your recovery will tank. So u may wind up doing less cardio and eating less. U really have to experiment and see what works best for you.

 

[International Playa]

Cardio and diet go hand in hand. People do cardio and still eat like shyt, but get confused on why they aint seeing results.

 

[Slaimon Khan Shah]

I recommend walking.

 

[tripleaamin]

You should just use enough cardio that you need.

For example right now it's the holidays and I know I will be going out to eat very frequently so I'm gonna go do 2 cardio sessions per week during winter break to limit the damage.

However once the semester starts and I have 0 social life, I only have to run once a week, if at all. Cause I know my diet will be held in check. At the end of the day if your diet is spot on cardio isnt needed like everybody has said.

 

[puppetmaster]

The stair master has been a life saver while I'm training powerlifting. Little to no impact on the knees/ back. Hits the glutes and quads a lil bit even.

30-45 mins on there a few times a week is what I've been doing, I don't doing mind it because it's a good time to slow down and check in with myself.

 

[DonKnock]

I ran track in college I can safely say I was getting over 24 hours of elevated heart rate in during an average week of training.


We did 2 a days Monday through Friday of about an hour to an 90 minutes per session. Sunday would be long run plus core exercises lasting about 2 - 2 1/2 hours in total. Saturday would usually be a long workout, which between the warm up, reps, cool down, and any post workout core or lifting would easily go 2-3 hours.





Plus, we would do other shyt for fun like play football, hoop, swimming, run home from the club etc.

Plus we walked to class half a mile to a mile each way