April 2005. I've been touching on the cardio issue for the last several articles and just came across some more interesting information for you.

If you are visiting this web site, you are most probably a 40- to 50-something female looking to lose 30-150 lbs, and you've decided to read through some of the information on my site because you want to know the secrets of a fitness professional -- one with a sculpted figure (without any surgery or weight-loss supplements I might add). Am I right? Is this you?

And if you are like most of my visitors, you've been told that two or three 30-minute exercise sessions a week is enough to get where you want to go. In fact, you may have also been told that you can do it in only 6 minutes a day, or that you can get there using the "super slow" principles of weight training, or any other multitudes of mis-truths and outright lies. And...you have been discouraged to find that these "secrets" don't work for you, right?

I always tell people to look to the obviously accomplished professionals in the field of their interest to find out how it is "really" done -- whether it's real estate sales or clinical medicine or gardening--whatever. And you are here because you believe me to be a body sculpting professional -- one who is obviously accomplished. You are right.

As the professional you are looking for, it would be wrong of me to point you in the wrong direction, wouldn't it? I know you want me to tell you that getting the body of your dreams is simple, that you can do it with very little time and effort, and that in no time at all you will be like the 20-something girl of your past, but I can't do that.

The dream can be had, make no mistake, but it takes work -- daily work, and diligence -- a lifetime commitment in order to be healthy and youthful and sleek with sexy muscle, and along with proper meals and strength training, it takes cardiovascular exercise -- a lot of cardiovascular exercise.

First let me point out that you can remain healthy and better than you currently are by doing anything, and by doing it for just a few moments a day, so fit in what you can when you can and you will be rewarded. But you aren't here to find out how to be a little bit better than you are, are you? You're here to find out how to be exceptional. You want to know what I know at 40 years of age to be thin and sculpted, right? Well, here it is, but not in my words. I've recently found an article which has input from many other fitness professionals -- women like me only moreso. These women are well known fitness models and divulge the secret to their lean and fit bodies.

Adela Garcia-Friedmansky says that she does cardiovascular exercise twice a day -- at 45 minutes each session, and that she will go as high as 2 hours a day, seven days a week prior to a contest to get really lean. "Running is one of the best cardio exercises."

Allison Ethier says, "I do cardio every day for at least 30 minutes...and I might do over an hour of cardio to prepare for a show."

Jenny Lynn says that she does anywhere from one to two hours of cardio daily and that she likes to run outside but believes in varying her cardio for maximum results, and that she maintains 30-45 minutes 6 days a week on her off-season.

Davana Medina, who has one of the most awesome bodies out there, says that she as well does 30-45 minutes of cardio a day on the off-season and one to three hours a day prior to competitions.

And Jen Hendershott says that she loves cardio when getting ready for a show because it helps her get into amazing shape. She does up to two hours a day precontest and 30-60 minutes a day on the off-season.

So, how much cardio is enough? Well, it just depends. It depends on your fitness level, how much time you can find for it and what your goals and objectives are. Ten minutes is time well spent if that's all you can find, but if you want to burn 30-50 pounds quickly, your best bet is 30-60 minutes, once to twice a day, most days of the week.