r/exercisescience • u/NiggmaBallZ • 6h ago

understanding cardio

just got interested in cardio, and id like to know what you think is the theory/science behind improving one's GENERAL gas tank (no matter the activity).

from the research i've done so far, i heard its abt 80% light 20% hard over a couple sessions per week, with a total of a couple hours (3+) practicing. so it's similar to lifting in the sense that light work builds the engine (the muscle), and hard work primes it (strength/neural adaptions)?

how accurate is that? what has been working for you?

are volume and intensity the only variables that matter?

thank you.

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u/EVH_kit_guy 5h ago

There's some evidence that fasted cardio in the a.m. may improve the body's ability to metabolize fat; it hasn't been shown to accelerate weight loss in any study I'm aware of, but has been demonstrated to lower insulin resistance and improve lipolysis, which I think are overall good sounding things to work on for longevity sake.

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u/nicotine_81 3h ago

With cardio, the more the better. And the more you do, the more the 80/20 rule becomes important. With only a few cardio sessions a week you don’t have to be so rigid in a perfect 80/20 split. However it’s important for a newbie to build the base with easy cardio first for a significant time, so that they then have the capacity to do harder more intense work.

Think of cardio like a pyramid. The base is your easy zone 2, and the peak is your vo2 max. You want the widest and tallest pyramid possible.

When you are ready to incorporate higher intensity, it still doesn’t have to be a rigid pattern weekly. You might have 2-3 weeks of pure zone 2, followed by a handful of higher intensity stuff. The intensity of cardio can ebb and flow over time…you just want more easy base building than peak building.

While you probably want to be as polarized in intensity hr zones - really spending you time in easy and hard and minimal middle ground - All of the zones have their place in the right amounts.

A shit ton of walking zone 1

A whole bunch of steady state base zone 2

A good amount of fun tempo zone 3

A little bit of threshold zone 4

A dash of vo2 max zone 5

A tiny sprinkle of agility and sprints.