Daily cardio
Around half an hour of aerobic work most days, at any pace you can sustain
Thirty minutes or so of aerobic exercise most days, on a bike, treadmill, rower or on foot, with no particular target beyond getting it done. People who keep it up tend to pair it with a lifting session and treat the cardio as the warm-up or the finisher. Thirty minutes is a common figure because it fits before work, and the payoff most people describe is not race fitness but feeling more alert through the day. Anything that raises the heart rate and can be repeated tomorrow counts.
Who backs it
Sorted by strength of stance
- Jeff BezosDoes it
Amazon and Blue Origin founder · Six-page memos and eight hours of sleep
Around half an hour of cardio most days, done alongside the weights. Some mornings he does not want to be in the gym at all, and says the motivation that works is knowing he will feel better about four hours later.
Source: Lex Fridman Podcast #405 transcript: Jeff Bezos: Amazon and Blue Origin - Oprah WinfreyDoes it
Talk show host and producer · The Oprah Winfrey Show
Exercising aerobically for at least an hour a day is one of the four things she listed in O in 2016 as having changed her health, alongside eating more mindfully, stretching and yoga.
Source: Oprah.com: What Oprah Knows for Sure About Healthy Living - Sam SulekDoes it
Bodybuilder and YouTuber · Spring Bulk gym vlogs
Thirty minutes a day is the line he repeats to viewers, and he tells them the machine matters less than turning up. His definition is deliberately loose: half an hour with the heart rate up somewhere in the 140s or 150s counts, ball games included.
Source: Fitness Volt: Sam Sulek Discusses Bulking, His Favorite Form of Cardio, and Getting Jacked“30 minutes of cardio a day, seated bike, but it doesn’t have to be the seated bike you can do whatever you want. … On the seated bike, you know, I can do 300 calories in 30 minutes, and that’s usually what I go for.”
Fitness Volt: Sam Sulek Discusses Bulking, His Favorite Form of Cardio, and Getting Jacked (opens in a new tab) · 2 Dec 2023 - Zac EfronDoes it
Actor · the Baywatch body and what it cost him
Morning cardio comes first, to get the blood flowing, and only then does he break the fast around 11 a.m. That is Men's Health describing his two-meal day.
Source: Men's Health: Zac Efron's Body Told Him To Give Up Veganism
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under fitness, energy or longevity.
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Resistance training
Lifting weights 2-4 times a week to build and hold muscle
Backed by 37 of 44 stacks: 32 do it, 3 recommend it, 2 have discussed it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
Zone 2 cardio
Easy aerobic work you can hold a conversation through, 3+ hours a week
Backed by 12 of 44 stacks: 5 do it, 5 recommend it, 2 have discussed it - Protocol$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Cycling
Steady riding, outdoors or on a stationary bike, as daily low-intensity cardio
Backed by 7 of 44 stacks: 7 do it, 0 recommend it, 0 have discussed it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
High-intensity interval training
Short all-out efforts with full recovery in between, a few times a week
Backed by 6 of 44 stacks: 5 do it, 0 recommend it, 1 have discussed it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
Polarized training
Most sessions easy, a few genuinely hard, almost nothing in the middle
Backed by 1 of 44 stacks: 0 do it, 1 recommend it, 0 have discussed it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
Time-restricted eating
Confining food to a set window, often 8-10 hours a day
Backed by 21 of 44 stacks: 13 do it, 0 recommend it, 8 have discussed it
Protocol entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.