What's Considered Excessive Cardio?

[TENNIS_IS_FUN]

If you were to run 2 miles everyday, and 4 miles about twice a week (2 miles after lunch, 2 miles after dinner), having about one day off per week, would this be considered excessive? The only weight training i do are inclined push ups. What should my schedule be? Switch between cardio/weight training/cardio/weight training? How many days a week should i take off for a break?

 

[ollinger]

This would not be excessive from the cardiovascular perspective. Whether running every day would be such a good thing for your knees and hips is another question.

 

[superman1]

Sprints are better than long distance, but if for some reason you can't do sprints, then this would be fine.

 

[WildVolley]

If you were to run 2 miles everyday, and 4 miles about twice a week (2 miles after lunch, 2 miles after dinner), having about one day off per week, would this be considered excessive? The only weight training i do are inclined push ups. What should my schedule be? Switch between cardio/weight training/cardio/weight training? How many days a week should i take off for a break?

As training for tennis, the running is excessive. You'd get more benefit by running only a few times a week and doing weight lifting and sprinting to maintain strength and quickness on the other days. And there's no harm in taking a full day off in which you do nothing but rest or play, rather than train.

Runners tend to get addicted to running and think there's some benefit (physical not psychological) from running everyday. There isn't. Not only can you save wear and tear on your joints by taking some rest, it will give you time to introduce your body to new stresses and different training. Weight lifting and sprinting, once you get serious, will require more recovery time, so you should schedule a rest day after a hard workout.

I'd advise you take a day when you would normally run and do dumbbell exercises and interval sprints. Mix it up, and give your body time to recover from new stresses.

 

[slice bh compliment]

Excessive cardio is when you run so much, your joints are chronically damaged. But that has less to do with the cardio and more to do with the road.

Excessive cardio (and I know this through a tennis buddy who used to be a marathoner, a triathlete and an elite cyclist) is when your heart actually enlarges. And not in a good way.

Anyway, dude, I think you're absolutely fine with the 11 miles per week. Me, I do about 5 to 6 miles each morning (2 to 5 times a week) on an elliptical...on an incline. Very easy on the joints, long-term. If I ever run outside, it's on a tennis court doing drills or on grass in a park.

 

[iradical18]

What you're doing is fine, just like slice bh I do my cardo on an elliptical as well as it's easier on my knees. As far as scheduling your cardio and weight training goes, if the only thing you are doing for weight training is incline pushups then you can probably do them everyday. Just have at least 1 day for rest just like your cardio, whether you want it to be the same day or not is up to you.

 

[chess9]

Start a serious weight training program two days per week if this is your off season. This is the time to get strong. See some of Ano's previous posts, or simply join one of the lifting sites online, like www.bodybuildingrevealed.com or www.charlespoliquin.com.

If you are playing tennis and doing all that running, you are running excessively for tennis. Two runs of 3-4 miles per week, plus one sprint session, is all most amateurs need to stay fit, running-wise.

I disagree with those who say running injures joints. But, there is no need to go into that issue now.

-Robert

 

[mary fierce]

Running certainly doesn't affect joints. That three men I know in their FIFTIES have already had hip replacement surgery and were all avid runners (of slender build) is probably some kind of freaky coincidence.

 

[blubber]

OP, You're starting to remind me of this guy:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=streakrun


Determine your fitness goals and then tailor your workouts to meet those goals.

 

[Japanese Maple]

Depending on how much you love tennis and how long you want to play I would never make running a part of my weekly cardio. Better to stick with lifecycle, eliptical, rope jumping, ect. that are less jarring on your joints. Also, weight lifting and plenty of stretching can really help your game. Although interval sprints are okay to do at times, for maximum time reward a far better workout for tennis and fitness is to do a combination speed/plyometrics workout 2-3/wk lasting about 30-50 minutes. I create my own workout using cones, jump rope, boxes, ladder, medicine ball, crazy ball, tennis racquet ect. in an aerobic studio with mirrors and music. Great variety,fun,tremendous calorie burner-my shirt is drenched, and gives you a huge competitive edge against your competition. The pros do this every week, but very few adult tennis players do. This workout is so good and fun, I would do this even if I wasn't a tennis player just for the cardio and calories burned.

 

[TENNIS_IS_FUN]

What you're doing is fine, just like slice bh I do my cardo on an elliptical as well as it's easier on my knees. As far as scheduling your cardio and weight training goes, if the only thing you are doing for weight training is incline pushups then you can probably do them everyday. Just have at least 1 day for rest just like your cardio, whether you want it to be the same day or not is up to you.

That's good to hear. I do indeed do inclined push ups everyday, as many as possible until my arms feel like they're about to rip off. Thanks for your input, as well as everyone elses.

 

[Cindysphinx]

If you were to run 2 miles everyday, and 4 miles about twice a week (2 miles after lunch, 2 miles after dinner), having about one day off per week, would this be considered excessive? The only weight training i do are inclined push ups. What should my schedule be? Switch between cardio/weight training/cardio/weight training? How many days a week should i take off for a break?

Honestly, I don't understand why you break your runs/cardio into such tiny but frequent chunks. I mean, are you just plodding along for 20 minutes or are you really moving? It does sound a bit excessive to me. Six days a week of running is a lot, and if you're plodding then I have to wonder what the benefit would be. You'd be getting neither an endurance benefit nor an aerobic benefit. And you'd be generating a lot of stinky laundry for nothing!

Also, you didn't mention anything about work on abs/core, which is hugely important stuff. I'd do a lot more with free weights if I were you, too.

One thing I've done in 2007 is a lot of leg strengthening (e.g. lunges). This has made a huge difference for tennis.

 

[TENNIS_IS_FUN]

Honestly, I don't understand why you break your runs/cardio into such tiny but frequent chunks. I mean, are you just plodding along for 20 minutes or are you really moving? It does sound a bit excessive to me. Six days a week of running is a lot, and if you're plodding then I have to wonder what the benefit would be. You'd be getting neither an endurance benefit nor an aerobic benefit. And you'd be generating a lot of stinky laundry for nothing!

Also, you didn't mention anything about work on abs/core, which is hugely important stuff. I'd do a lot more with free weights if I were you, too.

One thing I've done in 2007 is a lot of leg strengthening (e.g. lunges). This has made a huge difference for tennis.

Well, it all depends on the person. Is it possible to be 'plodding along for 20 minutes' when you run 2 miles? I mean, call me slow, but running 2 miles within 20 minutes is average imo (I worked my way down from 24 minutes to 18 in the past 2 weeks). I think i get both a good enduranc eowkrout and an aerobic benefeit. Along with mass push ups, i do mass situps as well. To sum it up, my work out consists of running + push ups + situps, which is all i think matters.

 

[Punisha]

Well, it all depends on the person. Is it possible to be 'plodding along for 20 minutes' when you run 2 miles? I mean, call me slow, but running 2 miles within 20 minutes is average imo (I worked my way down from 24 minutes to 18 in the past 2 weeks). I think i get both a good enduranc eowkrout and an aerobic benefeit. Along with mass push ups, i do mass situps as well. To sum it up, my work out consists of running + push ups + situps, which is all i think matters.

i would still do atleast 1 day of interval training for speed and to mix it up i spose. Again tennis combines both endurance aswell as short sprints and you would do well to train for both i think

 

[WildVolley]

i would still do atleast 1 day of interval training for speed and to mix it up i spose. Again tennis combines both endurance as well as short sprints and you would do well to train for both i think

Actually, tennis mostly involves sprint endurance. Points rarely ever last for more than a minute. Then you have a short time to rest and recover.

Doing lots and lots of short sprints would be better training for the endurance faced when playing tennis than jogging.

 

[OrangeOne]

Run or not, it's up to you, as long as you're taking a day off a week and not doing excessive distances, it's fine in my book.

You do need (as chess9 alluded) to learn more about weight training though. Only doing pushups is a recipe for unbalanced development and injury (not to mention ending up looking just a little like a monkey).