cardio training to rest ratio

[wazzabi]

today i had 2 kickboxing sessions. the first one was just light padwork, and the second one consisted of skipping, shadow-boxing, bodyweight exercises, and ended with full out bagwork to exhaustion. i feel like going for a run tomorrow, and i did eat a post-workout meal of 3-4 servings to bread, with yogurt, a corn & some watermelon. i'll also eat dinner a little bit later tonight (not within 2 hours of bedtime of course :rolleyes: ). the question is, do i need to give my body a rest day before hitting it with another hard cardio session like a run?

i know the heart is a muscle, and it too needs rest, just like the other muscles in our body. that's why we have rest days between lifting days. i want to know if we need rest days between cardio training as well.

[Lily]

I feel that if you rest well and have a good nutritional plan, you can do cardio 6 days a week.

At one point I was doing 2 cardio sessions 5 days a week and training MA 5 nights a week. 1 cardio session for me would consist of something like a 40-50 minute run or a 20-25 minute HIIT circuit.

However, I realised a little while ago that its one thing to be able to do so much cardio and another to train effectively without being such a crazy gym bunny.

I've reduced my cardio training sessions by half (but increased the intensity) but seen better results in terms of my MA and physical goals.

The other part of what you said 'needing to give the heart a rest'? :D I think our day to day lives are so sedentary as it is that your heart will appreciate it if you actually give it a workout everyday.

[tetsu ryu]

However, I realised a little while ago that its one thing to be able to do so much cardio and another to train effectively without being such a crazy gym bunny. .


This is arousing in ways I don't think I'm allowed to speak of on MAP. Fitness chicks rule. :love:

Oh and uhh.. There is nothing wrong with a bit of rest. I used to run monday through friday and I saw a lot of improvement over the months. But when you reach a plateau you should try the rest days between run days and run extra hard on the days that you do run. Good luck.

[Colucci]

today i had 2 kickboxing sessions. the first one was just light padwork, and the second one consisted of skipping, shadow-boxing, bodyweight exercises, and ended with full out bagwork to exhaustion. i feel like going for a run tomorrow...the question is, do i need to give my body a rest day before hitting it with another hard cardio session like a run?

i know the heart is a muscle, and it too needs rest, just like the other muscles in our body. that's why we have rest days between lifting days. i want to know if we need rest days between cardio training as well.
If you're deadset on training on back-to-back days, I'd make the workouts as diverse as possible. If the first day was HIIT, make the second day slightly longer duration. If the first day was sparring/pad work, make the second day a run (wait a tick...you got that already. ;) )

Ideally, like Lily suggested, a day of rest is a good thing in the long run (hehe, no pun intended) and cardio training is about quality more than quantity. But if you're in the mood for it, then run, Forrest, run.

[john yates]

yes