Hey Kelly,
You rock. I have a question about cardio. More specifically, (in a whiny, annoying, litle kid voice for best effect), do I have to?? I truly despise traditional cardio (running, elliptical, stairs, etc.), BUT I do exercise daily, and many of my activities do have some sort of cardio-ish component, just nothing that gets my heart rate up for a sustained amount of time to the degree to which a run will get it. Did that make sense? My heart rate will be elevated, but I’m not breathlessly dying or anything. I do 90 minutes of ballet 3x a week (int/adv level), weight lift 2x a week for an hour, pilates 1-2 x a week for ~45 minutes to an hour, abs daily, yoga 1 x a week, and then usually some random active thing once a week like tennis or hiking. I really enjoy all these things and would hate to have to carve out time for more strict cardio, when that extra time might take away from the other things. Thanks very much.
For the longest time I was really resistant to cardio. I think it was because I would always try and just go all out, go above my level and so i would always quit and feel like i couldnt do it. I slowly built up my endurance, so now I am good, but I owuldnt exactly say i enjoy it.
The thing is, a lot of things count as cardio. The definition of cardiovascular endurance is, ” the ability to perform large muscle movements over a sustained period of time. therefore, cardio is preforming large muscle movements for a sustained period of time. Seems to me that ballet, tennis and hiking would all fit into those categories. As long as you are constantly moving, and your heart rate gets up, these count towards your cardio needs.
Obviously, the higher your heart rate, the more intense the cardio will be, but theres no need to run till you puke or elliptical forever. Thats just not some people’s style.
The recommendation is 30 minutes of cardio, most days of the week (5-6) for health benefits. I would say all the things you listed fill this requirement, if you are not trying to lose weight. If you are, I would say that you do need to up the intensity, but you can up the intensity of these activities, without adding anything extra.
Example: when you are weightlifting, move quickly from move to move (or machine to machine). This will elevate your heart rate, and as long as you are still working hard, it will stay up. You can also do circuit training with weights, adding little bouts of quick heart-rate elevating moves, like tuck jumps, jumping jacks, squat thrusts, etc. Circuit training will be more intense but will probably actually cut down on your workout time.
Your routine is great, and very varied (I write good.) Good for you. Unless you are trying to drop weight, “traditional cardio” isnt necessary. Do whats fun to you and can keep with. Thats what will help you most in the long run.