I last did cardio in June 2011 (see Cardio Logs - First Half of 2011). After that, my health deteriorated, and I had to stop. I also had to significantly reduce the intensity in my lifting workouts. But then near the end of 2013, things began to turn around, and I was able to gradually increase the intensity in my lifting workouts. For details, see Regaining Muscular Bodyweight and Strength and Full Workout Logs: 2014 - ?. Then in May of 2014, I began doing cardio again. When I restarted the cardio, I had to start over. To gradually get back into cardio shape, I followed the plan discussed in the chapter "Starting and Progressing in an Exercise Program" found in my book God-given Foods Eating Plan. But basically, the idea is to start very easy, and then to gradually increase the duration and intensity of the cardio workouts.

I do my cardio in the mornings and lift weights in the late afternoons. I have found this to be a very effective pattern. I usually do both the lifting and cardio four days a week, Su, M, W, Th. But I take an "extra" day off about once a month to aid recovery. I prefer to walk for my cardio as it is a safe yet effective method of cardio. It also gives me an "excuse" to get outside for a little while and enjoy the benefits of sunshine, as discussed in my book, and the other beauties of God's creation. But I also hit a heavy bag in my home gym for variety once a week and on days when it is raining, as I hate walking in the rain. Mixing things up like this helps prevent overtraining and boredom, and enables different muscle groups to be worked in each cardio workout.

I usually I walk out of my home and to the right, but sometimes to the left. The latter is more hilly, so those walks are yellowed. The duration and distance of the walking is measured using the exercise timer and pedometer on my Samsung Galaxy S5 smart phone. If you don't have a smart phone with such features, then an old-fashioned watch and a clip-on a pedometer will work.

There's no way to gauge my intensity when hitting the heavy bag, so only the time is given.

The first and last couple of minutes of both the walking and the heavy bag are being done at a slow pace for a warm-up and cool-down, respectively, at least after the first few weeks. Initially, the entire time was done at a low intensity to get used to doing cardio again, as discussed in my "Eating Plan" book.