I run 3-5 times a week for about 40 minutes. Should my cardiofitness improve within a month, or is this a really slow process?
I run 3-5 times a week for about 40 minutes. Should my cardiofitness improve within a month, or is this a really slow process?
Exercise Physiologist here. It can take 6 months to see meaningful changes but If you are running steady state for 40 minutes I would suggest mixing up 1 of those sessions for a short, higher intensity run.
Maybe only do 20-30 minutes but at a lot higher pace and alternate between the speeds for short durations (200-400m).
This is good advice. Here is how mine progressed when I made an effort to raise it with a mix of high and low intensity cardio (ie: normal long distance running on some days, and sprint intervals on others). As you can see, it can progress quite fast with dedication and discipline.
https://preview.redd.it/hhxg0jwoucwb1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7df965bf9f0eab9a52874fbd4b01338aeaa874d3