How often to do cardio?
 

I do jogging and sometimes some sprinting on my treadmill when I wake up in the morning. I try to do this on a daily basis, but some of my friends insist I shouldn't be doing this more than like 3 times a week. Whenever I try to research something about excersize on the net, I get a thousand different answers. Someone please help!

I do most of my cardio ( very little to be truthfull) in sports like soccer or riding my bike to the store. I do almost no cardio in the gym.

I'm pretty sure cardio is okay every day. The thing you shouldn't be doing every day is weight lifting. For weights, you do need to skip days to rest your muscles...but I think cardio is fine. Just make sure you stretch before/after running and rest up if you pull something :)

What are your goals?

Cardio every day isn't a problem. Think back to when we were hunter gatherers and it's likely they'd have done cardio every day. Lifting weights on the other hand, as you’re probably already aware should be done every second or third day. If it works for you and you're not feeling run down, stick with it. :)

yeah ... unless you're trying to gain muscle mass you can do cardio every day I should think ... I think the minimum recommended amount of cardio is 30mins 3 times a week, or thereabouts ... i'm just starting to run every day so i'll let you know if it fucks me up ;)

I hope the poster doesn't mind if I append a question to this.
How about twice daily on alternating days? One time just after wakeup, and then later on combined with weights after you've had some food? The second time would probably be a shorter session, maybe more intense.

exactly...what are you goals?

Thanks for the replies guys. I don't have any goals really except to keep my heart ticking and to burn off a little stomach fat (I don't have fat anywhere else but there... it's like a depository).

If you are trying to keep your heart ticking and burn off fat..then cardio everday is something you should keep doing. Don't listen to your friends, cardio is really good for you, and will help you accomplish your goals.

Everything said here is true. You'll basically know when you're doing too much cardio because you'll be a little tired and a little fatigued but as you rest and your body gets conditioned, these symptons will subside.
When you get really serious, and to answer the question above about doing cardio twice a day, this really helps to burn calories. Doing cardio in the morning really stokes the internal fire to help burn calories throughtout the day. Doing cardio a second time later on in the day will bring your work rate back up and burn the calories that you consumed during the day. If you're doing cardio everyday try not to omit carbs too much during the day. This will give your body fuel it will need and keep it from touching any protein or muscle reserves.

Agreed, most definitely.

There are a glut of "Fitness Trainers" out there these days just praying on people. Beware of anyone who tells you that such and such is the only way to go. You need to define your goals, educate yourself on what exercises produce what results, and then after doing them decide what works for you personally.

It totally depends on what you are doing. Are you really kicking some ass? Are you tired from the workout the next day? If so, then yeah, take a day off to recover. If your taking it easy, then yeah, you can do it every day.

When I am biking, if I hammer it and/or ride a very long time, I definitely need the next day off, sometimes more. If Im just out spinning it around for a while, I can keep on going.