[Closed] How many minutes of cardio?

My commute is not far off the same and I sometimes wonder if its a problem. I get to work feeling like I've only just started to get warmed up and in many ways fewer longer rides feels way easier that lots of short rides.

Run instead of cycling

Edit, more helpfully, cycle in in normal clothes but take running gear, run home, run in in morning, cycle home repeat......

If you go slower you can make your commute a 20 min ride 🙂

Op had some neuro done I think? I had some neuro years back and running is a big no, no as it impacts the spine.

May be different for the op though.

Beyond telling me to “just add a bit onto my commute”, can someone say to what degree my commute riding is doing me any good in cardio terms?

Infinitely more than doing nothing!

I bet it’s not actually 20 mins, just like the do x number of steps per day, it’s just a guide

I commuted about by bike 15-20 mins each way every day for about 15 years. It was awful. I resented riding a bike. I wasn’t warm by the time I got to work and I had constantly tired legs. One of the Best things I did was stopping. It allowed me to concentrate on proper training with proper rest.

Definitely doing you good. Any physical exercise is beneficial vs. being inactive...even walking. Just stop thinking about your commute as training. Maybe if you can choose a couple of days where you might be able to extend your return journey and stretch it out to 45 mins or so. I find a good routine is one long but low intensity ride a week supplemented by a couple of high intensity 30 - 45 minute sessions. I don't cycle to work every day, but when I do tend to give it full gas. I have a choice of an 11 mile road route or 14 mile route taking in 8 miles of gravel track (downside being it takes me through some pretty horrendous road junctions) and takes me about 40 mins. But I give it full gas just for fun.

It is easy to get caught up in the science of it all and that is important if you're trying to squeeze out maximum benefit from every second you are on the bike, but that is not to say that any amount of cycling at whatever intensity is still beneficial and making you fitter and healthier.

I've never known that 20mins of moderate exercise per day as anything more than a general guide.

For a few weeks, Strava has introduced "Relative Effort" perception scales that you can manually add or even override heart rate monitor data, for each activity uploaded.

For yesterday, using low/moderate (2/3 on scale), Strava gave me...
16 for cycle commute both ways (~9 miles, 400 feet climbing, 42mins moving time on hybrid fatbike... On a very good day I might manage ~38mins if the traffic lights were with me)
49 for delivery (~6.25 miles walking, 60 feet, 3 hours first to last letter posted)

By comparison, I did a 2 lap Sand & Sequoias race on Zwift last Friday, ~29 miles; 1200 feet in 1hr22mins including cool down. Easy first lap, final 20mins of race was best power average I've done since March. Strava said 102 score using HRM data.

Is the race score comparable with yesterday's commutes and work? That depends on if I used a reasonable point on the RE perception scale. More often than not these days, I come home from being a postie in no state to contemplate racing or training hard, simply a gentle spin for 20mins or so is a challenge.

I used to regularly chase my PBs for getting to and from work, often extending my ride home doing some hill reps. These days I'd more often than not prefer to save my big efforts for rides on the road bike instead, getting power data from the 4iiii outdoors or from the turbo indoors.

I commute 40 minutes by car, your 15 minutes will be doing you a lot more good than my commute.

My cycle to/from work is only 10 -15mins. It's one less car on the road and I don't have to pay for parking. can you do your fitness exercise at another time?

My commute is around the same time. I get to work pretty tired and sweaty most days. Inappropriate bike plus riding as fast as I can seems to help. Never heard the 20 minute thing before. Honestly thought intensity played a bigger role.

Even two minutes gentle exercise a day has more of a positive effect on the heart than no exercise a day ... but to keep yourself fit, and fast, I would say its all about intensity than actual time.

A year or so ago a person who used to ride with the club made a big deal about doing 10,000 miles a year on his bike. He plodded about on his bike back and for work, and plodded a load of junk miles on the weekend. I guess it made him healthier and fitter than he would have been if he hadnt have done it ... but he was still one of the first to lose the wheel when he went out with guys from the club who only probably averaged 5k miles a year.

No such thing as junk miles. All exercise is much better for you than sitting in a car burning cash and putting on fat.

Yes it’s true higher intensity training makes you better at high intensity racing or group rides but a low intensity 20 minute commute doesn’t mean you can’t do high intensity training on top. I burn 164 calories on a 20 minute bike commute. Do that ten times a week that’s 1640 calories or a pint a day. Got to be good win win no bus fares or fuel the money saved can be used on booze😜

I would say its all about intensity than actual time.

I agree. I'm a big fan of HIIT. 20 mins 3x a week of HIIT is better for cardio than plodding along for hours at an easy pace. So maybe you could turn your return commute into sprint intervals? 8x 30 sec flat out sprints wih 90 sec active recovery between each sprint. That should fit nicely into your 15 min commute.

If you are worried about the guidelines, they’ve just been updated to include 10 minute durations or less as beneficial. And even better, cycle commuting has a much more positive effect on health than you would think... If you are interested in the research, there are two excellent studies in the July issue of the British Journal of Sports Medicine, even low dose cycle commuting (which you easily meet) has positive effects on your cardiovascular health 🙂

As it turns out 30 mins a day is pretty much the ideal amount

Ps it doesn't matter if it's in two lumps

I meant to add this in my previous post, but didn’t have the link to hand. A nice look at years of life added for different exercise volumes:

https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1001335

There are obviously lots of nuances and caveats with any research study, but we have mountains of research on the positive health benefits of exercise, that any amount of exercise is better than none and will have tangible benefits on your health. Cycling especially, seems to punch above its weight in terms of duration / intensity / volume and health benefits 🙂