Better to do push-ups & pull-ups instead of weightlifting with kit not designed for it.
Push-ups I can do, but I don't see any way to do pulls ups.
Haha, I was about to suggest that you get one of those pull up bars that you can attach onto a doorway, but your height and weight wouldn't work well for that.
What I did was, I went to my old high school later in the day after school had let out, and there was a chain link fence with a door built in. If I opened the door, there was another iron bar attached to the fence that was the perfect size for doing pullups.
Brodo Faggins on
0
Options
Magus`The fun has been DOUBLED!Registered Userregular
Carbs are fine. Carbs are necessary. Carbs are good. Highly refined carbs that get absorbed and turned into fat before you have a chance to burn them are not good. That means sugar. That means flour. Avoid these things where you can, and try to cook as many of your own meals as possible, and when you're shopping, buy things at the most basic stage possible instead of pre-made sauces, pre-breaded chicken, pre-assembled pizzas, etc. When you take more control over what is actually in the food you eat, it's easier to eat better food.
Don't think of it as eating as little as possible, or cutting out bad things. Start from scratch, and think of it as putting as much good stuff into your diet as possible.
If you do a lot of emotional eating, or bored eating, or snacking throughout the day, start off by doing a food journal for a few weeks. Odds are you don't even know what you're eating or how much you're eating or when you're eating. Record what, how much, and when. Once you know what your habits are, break them. Plan your diet out in detail.
Write down what you will eat a day in advance or more, and stick to that and only that. Focus on incorporating as many healthy foods as you can, and natural sources of vitamins are always better than supplements.
After a while it'll become habit to just eat healthy regularly, and you won't need to focus so much on planning things and so forth. And after a long enough while the thought of actually eating at McDonald's will seem a little gross, and most of their food won't taste nearly as good as it used to.
So flour is bad.. that cuts out some bread. What about pasta? I like pasta a lot.
So flour is bad.. that cuts out some bread. What about pasta? I like pasta a lot.
In general, not so good. It's mostly starches (i.e. flour). If you like whole wheat pasta, that's the good stuff.
Whole wheat bread is also good, however, if you don't like that, you may want to try making wraps with whole wheat tortillas.
I hate whole wheat bread, but the tortillas have neither the taste nor the consistency of the bread, so they're much, much better. Not to mention 14 grams of dietary fiber, which is hella good for you.
So flour is bad.. that cuts out some bread. What about pasta? I like pasta a lot.
In general, not so good. It's mostly starches (i.e. flour). If you like whole wheat pasta, that's the good stuff.
Whole wheat bread is also good, however, if you don't like that, you may want to try making wraps with whole wheat tortillas.
I hate whole wheat bread, but the tortillas have neither the taste nor the consistency of the bread, so they're much, much better. Not to mention 14 grams of dietary fiber, which is hella good for you.
There's a pretty wide variety of whole wheat bread though, and a lot of people can find one sort or another they like. Whole wheat tortillas or pitas are also good though. (Whole wheat pita + baba ganouj/hummus = a great lunch.)
You're also getting good carbs in you when you eat veggies and fruit. :^:
DiscGrace on
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
0
Options
Magus`The fun has been DOUBLED!Registered Userregular
edited January 2007
I do love my veggies and fruit. Fruit is kind of expensive though.
So, whole wheat bread and/or pasta. Lean meat (chicken is probably the best).. decent level of carbs.
Also, I'm not sure if I'm exercising right. Like.. I can sort of feel a burn, but it goes away really quickly and I could (in theory) do the exercises all day.
Also, what's the best (and most proper) way to do a pushup? I know just doing any push-up is simple, but I want to make sure I'm really pushing myself.
Also, what's the best (and most proper) way to do a pushup? I know just doing any push-up is simple, but I want to make sure I'm really pushing myself.
-Hands shoulder-width apart and placed under your shoulders, feet fairly close together
-Try to keep your back/legs in a fairly straight line with your abs firm for support
-Lower yourself as low as you can go without falling onto the floor; make sure you're using your arm muscles for this direction too, and not just on the way up
Other fun (i.e., hard) variations:
-"Diamond push-ups" - your hands are closer together and touching at the tips of your index fingers and thumbs (so the space between is diamond-shaped); try to lower your chest all the way onto your diamond,without falling, and raise again. THIS ONE IS HARD. I cannot get all the way down still. Just go as far as you can.
-"Chinese push-ups" - same back position as before, except spread your feet as far apart as you can, and put your hands farther out in front of you. Pull yourself down/forward so that your nose is almost touching the ground as you pass between your hands (or, again, as low as you can go) then raise up so that your hands are underneath you; then return to the starting position by doing the same thing backwards.
DiscGrace on
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
0
Options
Magus`The fun has been DOUBLED!Registered Userregular
edited January 2007
So my arms would be basically parallel with my legs?
| |
||
Like that?
I usually do them with my arms at something of a 90 degree angle to my legs.
More like that. Your elbows may be at more of an angle with respect to your torso until you have more control before you develop more muscle and control, and that's fine.
Another permutation I just thought of is to do them exactly the same, except with making your hands into fists instead of flat palms. The fists should have the thumb knuckle pointed forward (away from your body) and most of your weight should be on your index finger and middle finger's knuckles.
DiscGrace on
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
0
Options
Magus`The fun has been DOUBLED!Registered Userregular
Each one works slightly different muscle groups. The knucle push-up additionally helps condition your knuckles if you do martial arts (which I do), which probably doesn't matter as much to you.
DiscGrace on
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
0
Options
Magus`The fun has been DOUBLED!Registered Userregular
edited January 2007
I like to think my fingers are the most toned muscles in my body (thank YOU video games).
I do love my veggies and fruit. Fruit is kind of expensive though.
So, whole wheat bread and/or pasta. Lean meat (chicken is probably the best).. decent level of carbs.
Also, I'm not sure if I'm exercising right. Like.. I can sort of feel a burn, but it goes away really quickly and I could (in theory) do the exercises all day.
Veggies are much better than fruit and don't contain as much sugar, which is important if you're focusing on building muscle but not doing cardio. Regarding meat, don't forget about fish. Salmon is a great break from chicken. If you can find them, buffalo meat and ostrich are great lean red meats. Trader Joe's has frozen buffalo, Whole Food's does frozen ostrich.
As for the burn, if you're building the muscle you want you're fine. If you aren't, add weight till it hurts and sets get damned near exhausting.
I do love my veggies and fruit. Fruit is kind of expensive though.
So, whole wheat bread and/or pasta. Lean meat (chicken is probably the best).. decent level of carbs.
Also, I'm not sure if I'm exercising right. Like.. I can sort of feel a burn, but it goes away really quickly and I could (in theory) do the exercises all day.
As for the burn, if you're building the muscle you want you're fine. If you aren't, add weight till it hurts and sets get damned near exhausting.
Yeah, be sure that you have a spotter with you when doing free weights like a bench press. That way, you can do as much as you possibly can. Yes, you read right... as much as you possibly can. It'll burn a LOT and you'll be really sore the next day, but it's really effective.
Buddy Lee on
Join Penny-Arcaders in EPL Fantasy Futbol! Click to see details.
I do love my veggies and fruit. Fruit is kind of expensive though.
Yep. I love me some Asparagus, but damn is it expensive. It's so fun to eat now that I have a new steamer. Beforehand I was just using a small frying pan with a little water in it, but it would still manage to boil out a lot of the nutrients. The steamer works a lot better.
But man, one pound of asparagus is running for around $6 here.
Heir on
0
Options
Magus`The fun has been DOUBLED!Registered Userregular
Well, they're complex carbs (toast, cereal, bagels, bananas), so they digest slowly and give you long term energy. Right before or right after a workout is when they're best. But my track and cross country coaches always said bananas were best. I guess because they were the fastest thing before we went to school. Foods high in sugar you should avoid because they'll give you a quick energy boost but once it wears off, you'll rebound and end up with less energy than you had before you ate anything.
Munacra on
0
Options
Blake TDo you have enemies then?Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.Registered Userregular
edited January 2007
The 'nanas have potasium in them which is neat for all kinds of reasons.
Also massively increase your water thoughout the day, I used to think I was hungry, in actuality I was thirsty and confusing the two brain signals, if I start getting hungry around an hour before a meal I'll down a pint of water and feel fine.
Yeah, be sure that you have a spotter with you when doing free weights like a bench press. That way, you can do as much as you possibly can. Yes, you read right... as much as you possibly can. It'll burn a LOT and you'll be really sore the next day, but it's really effective.
When benching, after I hit the point where I cannot lift the bar up from my chest without the spotter helping, I usually do two more. After that I rest and cool down with and bench 95 until I can't lift it anymore, and then my spotter helps me do two more.
Is this over doing it? I'm just trying to hit fatigue every time so I can get stronger faster. (Currently only benching 155 - my body weight).
Also - this protein chocolate powder I bought a long tastes like shit and doesn't disolve. I need a new shake.
I'm thinking something with banannas, a plain protein powder from Trader Joes, nuts of some kind (walnuts/peacons/etc), and milk for extra protein and tasty goodness (as opposed to water). Anything else I should put in?
Also massively increase your water thoughout the day, I used to think I was hungry, in actuality I was thirsty and confusing the two brain signals, if I start getting hungry around an hour before a meal I'll down a pint of water and feel fine.
Very, very true. I've been doing that myself lately - it's pretty amazing how just drinking some water will help curb your "appetite".
Also, asparagus is hella good. I think it's only $3 or $4 for a pound, here.
Broccoli rabe is also really good, and very very high in iron. Some people don't like the bitter taste, but I like it quite a lot...I mean, you can boil it, which makes it substantially less bitter, but as has been mentioned, that can cut out many of the nutrients you'd otherwise recieve.
Barilla makes some delicious whole wheat pasta. It's actually cheaper, and sometimes better for you, than the "name brand whole wheat" pastas. It comes in a yellow box and is called PLUS penne (or whatever pasta type you're buying), and it's rather scrumptious.
NightDragon on
0
Options
Blake TDo you have enemies then?Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.Registered Userregular
Yeah, be sure that you have a spotter with you when doing free weights like a bench press. That way, you can do as much as you possibly can. Yes, you read right... as much as you possibly can. It'll burn a LOT and you'll be really sore the next day, but it's really effective.
When benching, after I hit the point where I cannot lift the bar up from my chest without the spotter helping, I usually do two more. After that I rest and cool down with and bench 95 until I can't lift it anymore, and then my spotter helps me do two more.
Is this over doing it? I'm just trying to hit fatigue every time so I can get stronger faster. (Currently only benching 155 - my body weight).
Also - this protein chocolate powder I bought a long tastes like shit and doesn't disolve. I need a new shake.
I'm thinking something with banannas, a plain protein powder from Trader Joes, nuts of some kind (walnuts/peacons/etc), and milk for extra protein and tasty goodness (as opposed to water). Anything else I should put in?
Not really, some guy in america had done research and found that in rats (it's hard to scientifically measure this in humans so as a guide only) optimun muscle growth happened at around 90 seconds of tension, but it's hard to test for humans as it meant bassically strapping rats in little machines forcing them to excersise. Some other people recomend 20 minutes per muscle set to really "break it down".
Really protein powder is always hit and miss, my chocolate one tastes good (for protein) but the same company makes horrible vanilla flavoured one.
I recomend buying a little plastic shaker, it's bassically a longish measuring cup with a plastic thing that looks like a flower and has an arched cap, you whack it together and shake it and the flower helps mix everything up.
Alternativly you can buy a blender and chuck some peanut butter in with it and mix it up.
When benching, after I hit the point where I cannot lift the bar up from my chest without the spotter helping, I usually do two more. After that I rest and cool down with and bench 95 until I can't lift it anymore, and then my spotter helps me do two more.
The 95s afterwards won't help because the weight isn't significant enough to promote muscle growth or strength improvement -- if anything, it'll contribute to overtraining. The last two reps at your max weight are arguable, but probably not that helpful. If your spotter's helping, the weight is lighter, and if the weight is lighter, it's going to do a lot less for you. Try instead to make the last rep of your last set close to or at failure, and stop then. You should, however, try mixing up your rep/set numbers every few weeks. 5x5 and 3x8 are both good ranges.
When benching, after I hit the point where I cannot lift the bar up from my chest without the spotter helping, I usually do two more. After that I rest and cool down with and bench 95 until I can't lift it anymore, and then my spotter helps me do two more.
The 95s afterwards won't help because the weight isn't significant enough to promote muscle growth or strength improvement -- if anything, it'll contribute to overtraining. The last two reps at your max weight are arguable, but probably not that helpful. If your spotter's helping, the weight is lighter, and if the weight is lighter, it's going to do a lot less for you. Try instead to make the last rep of your last set close to or at failure, and stop then. You should, however, try mixing up your rep/set numbers every few weeks. 5x5 and 3x8 are both good ranges.
The two last ones are good if you do them negatively, as in, get help to lift them but lower the bar really, really slow to your chest and then get some help up again. Rinse, repeat.
Some claim that it's the negative ones that are the best ones, since you can use heavier weights on the negative motion.
Many heavy lifters do "weight adaption", which is loading the bar fucking heavy and just do negative ones or maybe just step out of the power rack.
They do this so that the body will learn to handle heavier weights than normal.
Static holds and rest pausing are other methods of increasing the over load on your muscles spurring further growth.
What about wrist/ankle weights? I figure I can get some 5-15lb ones and just wear them most of the time. That should help, no?
I'd say no, using weights on your ankles/wrists while jogging or even doing trivial things like walking around will create more strain on the knees and elbows than you think. I wouldn't advise to do this at all.
varland on
0
Options
Magus`The fun has been DOUBLED!Registered Userregular
Ok, I already do Pushups and Reverse Crunches, in order to exercise my upper body. Before I started doing this, I stopped eating snacks, and my weight dropped. Now, it seems as if I'm at my "base weight", because I'm not losing any from my diet, and I've got a half inch layer of fat or so around my belly that I haven't lost.
I know the pushups and reverse crunches are just building my muscle, and that I won't be able to see the results very well unless I lose that fat, so I wanted to ask:
If I start doing Cardio, WILL I lose that layer of fat, if the diet where I'm getting less than the recommended calories didn't get rid of it?
If you consume less calories than you burn, you'll lose weight. Cardio will burn more calories, and generally make you fitter and healthier. So yeah, it'll help you lose weight. It's really hard to lose fat around your gut though, that's where the last tiny bits of fat dissappear from.
Tube on
0
Options
Magus`The fun has been DOUBLED!Registered Userregular
edited January 2007
About the burning more calories than you intake. Even if I was doing 2,500 calories, that would be an insane amount of exercise to burn all that off.
If you consume less calories than you burn, you'll lose weight. Cardio will burn more calories, and generally make you fitter and healthier. So yeah, it'll help you lose weight. It's really hard to lose fat around your gut though, that's where the last tiny bits of fat dissappear from.
Any kind of Cardio is good, right? Like riding an exercise bike? What length of time should I be looking to do Cardio, a day?
About the burning more calories than you intake. Even if I was doing 2,500 calories, that would be an insane amount of exercise to burn all that off.
Unless I'm missing something.
I think if you ate 1,000 calories, you're body would burn it all off just naturally doing it's functions. So it's the excess over the limit that puts on weight. The rest is burned through normal everyday stuff.
About the burning more calories than you intake. Even if I was doing 2,500 calories, that would be an insane amount of exercise to burn all that off.
Unless I'm missing something.
You're burning calories just by functioning. Your heart beating, moving around, everything you do burns calories.
Any kind of Cardio is good, right? Like riding an exercise bike? What length of time should I be looking to do Cardio, a day?
I'm not necessarily mr cardio, so others will give you different advice, but my cousin is a personal trainer and he recommends twenty minutes to half an hour. It's a good idea to be pushing yourself a bit though, pootling along on an exercise bike won't do much. www.bodyforlife.com goes through a good intervals program, it's a good resource in general.
Posts
Haha, I was about to suggest that you get one of those pull up bars that you can attach onto a doorway, but your height and weight wouldn't work well for that.
What I did was, I went to my old high school later in the day after school had let out, and there was a chain link fence with a door built in. If I opened the door, there was another iron bar attached to the fence that was the perfect size for doing pullups.
So flour is bad.. that cuts out some bread. What about pasta? I like pasta a lot.
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
Whole wheat bread is also good, however, if you don't like that, you may want to try making wraps with whole wheat tortillas.
I hate whole wheat bread, but the tortillas have neither the taste nor the consistency of the bread, so they're much, much better. Not to mention 14 grams of dietary fiber, which is hella good for you.
There's a pretty wide variety of whole wheat bread though, and a lot of people can find one sort or another they like. Whole wheat tortillas or pitas are also good though. (Whole wheat pita + baba ganouj/hummus = a great lunch.)
You're also getting good carbs in you when you eat veggies and fruit. :^:
So, whole wheat bread and/or pasta. Lean meat (chicken is probably the best).. decent level of carbs.
Also, I'm not sure if I'm exercising right. Like.. I can sort of feel a burn, but it goes away really quickly and I could (in theory) do the exercises all day.
Also, what's the best (and most proper) way to do a pushup? I know just doing any push-up is simple, but I want to make sure I'm really pushing myself.
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
-Hands shoulder-width apart and placed under your shoulders, feet fairly close together
-Try to keep your back/legs in a fairly straight line with your abs firm for support
-Lower yourself as low as you can go without falling onto the floor; make sure you're using your arm muscles for this direction too, and not just on the way up
Other fun (i.e., hard) variations:
-"Diamond push-ups" - your hands are closer together and touching at the tips of your index fingers and thumbs (so the space between is diamond-shaped); try to lower your chest all the way onto your diamond,without falling, and raise again. THIS ONE IS HARD. I cannot get all the way down still. Just go as far as you can.
-"Chinese push-ups" - same back position as before, except spread your feet as far apart as you can, and put your hands farther out in front of you. Pull yourself down/forward so that your nose is almost touching the ground as you pass between your hands (or, again, as low as you can go) then raise up so that your hands are underneath you; then return to the starting position by doing the same thing backwards.
| |
||
Like that?
I usually do them with my arms at something of a 90 degree angle to my legs.
-- --
||
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
More like that. Your elbows may be at more of an angle with respect to your torso until you have more control before you develop more muscle and control, and that's fine.
Another permutation I just thought of is to do them exactly the same, except with making your hands into fists instead of flat palms. The fists should have the thumb knuckle pointed forward (away from your body) and most of your weight should be on your index finger and middle finger's knuckles.
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
Each one works slightly different muscle groups. The knucle push-up additionally helps condition your knuckles if you do martial arts (which I do), which probably doesn't matter as much to you.
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
Veggies are much better than fruit and don't contain as much sugar, which is important if you're focusing on building muscle but not doing cardio. Regarding meat, don't forget about fish. Salmon is a great break from chicken. If you can find them, buffalo meat and ostrich are great lean red meats. Trader Joe's has frozen buffalo, Whole Food's does frozen ostrich.
As for the burn, if you're building the muscle you want you're fine. If you aren't, add weight till it hurts and sets get damned near exhausting.
Yeah, be sure that you have a spotter with you when doing free weights like a bench press. That way, you can do as much as you possibly can. Yes, you read right... as much as you possibly can. It'll burn a LOT and you'll be really sore the next day, but it's really effective.
http://fantasy.premierleague.com/my-leagues/
The join code for the CLASSIC league: 214755-65927
The join code for the HEAD-TO-HEAD league: 5294-3346
It's good for your muscles. 8) and delicious to boot.
Yep. I love me some Asparagus, but damn is it expensive. It's so fun to eat now that I have a new steamer. Beforehand I was just using a small frying pan with a little water in it, but it would still manage to boil out a lot of the nutrients. The steamer works a lot better.
But man, one pound of asparagus is running for around $6 here.
Bananas?
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
Also massively increase your water thoughout the day, I used to think I was hungry, in actuality I was thirsty and confusing the two brain signals, if I start getting hungry around an hour before a meal I'll down a pint of water and feel fine.
Try to aim for at least 2 litres but 3 is best.
Satans..... hints.....
Is this over doing it? I'm just trying to hit fatigue every time so I can get stronger faster. (Currently only benching 155 - my body weight).
Also - this protein chocolate powder I bought a long tastes like shit and doesn't disolve. I need a new shake.
I'm thinking something with banannas, a plain protein powder from Trader Joes, nuts of some kind (walnuts/peacons/etc), and milk for extra protein and tasty goodness (as opposed to water). Anything else I should put in?
Very, very true. I've been doing that myself lately - it's pretty amazing how just drinking some water will help curb your "appetite".
Also, asparagus is hella good. I think it's only $3 or $4 for a pound, here.
Broccoli rabe is also really good, and very very high in iron. Some people don't like the bitter taste, but I like it quite a lot...I mean, you can boil it, which makes it substantially less bitter, but as has been mentioned, that can cut out many of the nutrients you'd otherwise recieve.
Barilla makes some delicious whole wheat pasta. It's actually cheaper, and sometimes better for you, than the "name brand whole wheat" pastas. It comes in a yellow box and is called PLUS penne (or whatever pasta type you're buying), and it's rather scrumptious.
Not really, some guy in america had done research and found that in rats (it's hard to scientifically measure this in humans so as a guide only) optimun muscle growth happened at around 90 seconds of tension, but it's hard to test for humans as it meant bassically strapping rats in little machines forcing them to excersise. Some other people recomend 20 minutes per muscle set to really "break it down".
Really protein powder is always hit and miss, my chocolate one tastes good (for protein) but the same company makes horrible vanilla flavoured one.
I recomend buying a little plastic shaker, it's bassically a longish measuring cup with a plastic thing that looks like a flower and has an arched cap, you whack it together and shake it and the flower helps mix everything up.
Alternativly you can buy a blender and chuck some peanut butter in with it and mix it up.
Satans..... hints.....
Kit? not designed for it? Like say, something heavy? You don't need anything fancy to weightlift, just dumbbells.
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
Some claim that it's the negative ones that are the best ones, since you can use heavier weights on the negative motion.
Many heavy lifters do "weight adaption", which is loading the bar fucking heavy and just do negative ones or maybe just step out of the power rack.
They do this so that the body will learn to handle heavier weights than normal.
Static holds and rest pausing are other methods of increasing the over load on your muscles spurring further growth.
I'd say no, using weights on your ankles/wrists while jogging or even doing trivial things like walking around will create more strain on the knees and elbows than you think. I wouldn't advise to do this at all.
Probably about zero. Can't balance that well.
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
You can do a dumbbell press, which is just a bench press with dumbbells, that's good for your chest.
That should be mostly all of the chest exercises you can do.
Well, in the sense that I'm building muscle there. I know you can't spot reduce, but I'd like to focus on some areas more than others.
Edit - Also, not living in a gym, I don't really have a bench. What's the next best thing? (I've been using the floor)
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
The floor works ok, or you can lie across a chair.
As far as I know, I'm doing everything to the letter, but this back shit is bugging me a lot.
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
Also, do the motion slowly and focus on tightening your abs. That should draw some of the pressure away from your back.
16 lbs (8 x 2). I can bump it down to 8, I guess though that would seem unbalanced.
I do do it slowly. I'm not sure if I'm bending far enough up, tho..
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
I know the pushups and reverse crunches are just building my muscle, and that I won't be able to see the results very well unless I lose that fat, so I wanted to ask:
If I start doing Cardio, WILL I lose that layer of fat, if the diet where I'm getting less than the recommended calories didn't get rid of it?
Unless I'm missing something.
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
Any kind of Cardio is good, right? Like riding an exercise bike? What length of time should I be looking to do Cardio, a day?
I think if you ate 1,000 calories, you're body would burn it all off just naturally doing it's functions. So it's the excess over the limit that puts on weight. The rest is burned through normal everyday stuff.
You're burning calories just by functioning. Your heart beating, moving around, everything you do burns calories.
I'm not necessarily mr cardio, so others will give you different advice, but my cousin is a personal trainer and he recommends twenty minutes to half an hour. It's a good idea to be pushing yourself a bit though, pootling along on an exercise bike won't do much. www.bodyforlife.com goes through a good intervals program, it's a good resource in general.