How long should i exercise for?

Start slowly if you are out of shape, but 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise 3 times per week should be your goal.

I do about an hour of cardio, 5 times a week. Then I do weight lifting for about 30 mins, three times a day. That’s just me. Everyone is different.

Just burn more callories than you take in and you’ll see a drop in body fat and weight pretty quick.

I agree with shilolo on starting slowly. I’ve been working out for three months now (about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes a day/5 days a week. I started out just doing a really lazy workout. That plus keeping it short generally gives me a good bit of motivation to come back the next day. I hate to plug a book, but Five Factor Fitness is very manageable and a good stepping stone to more intensity down the road.

I figure if I’m going to do it from now until the end of time, I might as well progress at my own pace and push as much or as little as I want. Either way, it’s better than what I was doing before.

the ideal length of an exercise session is dependent on several things. some of these include the intensity of the session, the fitness of the trainee, and the frequency of training (periodization). however, as a general rule, you should limit your exercise session to under 60 minutes. the longer you exercise hormones such as cortisol start to become elevated which can lead to a negative training effect.

cortisol is catabolic, meaning that it leads to the breakdown of stored substrates. during exercise, this can be useful since it’ll breakdown stored glycogen into glucose and stored fat into fatty acids to provide energy for the working muscles. however, post-training it’ll continue to breakdown glycogen which slows recovery. it also breaks down muscle tissue into amino acids, making it harder to add and preserve muscle.

I did not know that.

@sebrowns, nice avatar.

What are you trying to accomplish with your body/life? Are you wanting to be a fit person to live longer and feel better or are you going into a job that requires fitness?

If you are looking for fast results look into “CrossFit”

vectorul has provided some fantastic advice. for general “fitness” crossfit is hard to beat. resistance training coupled with lactic acid training will provide strength and cardiovascular gains.

Well, i want to get into better shape because i’m going to join the military. i just want to be prepared.

curiouscat, what branch are you trying to join? I would :

—Run a few miles each day

—Sit Ups

—Pull Ups

—Swim

I remember

2 Pulls ups and 44 crunches in 2 minutes.
Run 1.5 miles in 13 1/2 minutes.

Goodluck, i suggest you pace yourself and condition your mind. Mind over matter. If you dont mind it dont matter. Work strong but think stronger. Good luck

If you’re active… the first response is a great one. 30 min, three times per week. If you’re just starting out, just get yourself moving. A 10 minute walk around the neighborhood three times per week would be a start if you’re totally sedentary right now. Then increase until you’re jogging and walking in combo for about 20 min.

@FrancisRude——what branch? uhh.. naval reserves? lol. i hope that answered the question..

curiouscat, great! you can do it, my wife is USNR.