Running burns more calories than any other cardio exercise and can help you get and stay in shape. But doing only one form of exercise can increase your chances of injury and burnout, as well as leave some of your muscles neglected. Cross training can help you stay in shape for running while giving your body a break and working different muscles. How long you should cross train depends on your conditioning and fitness goals.
Your Goals
Before you can determine how long you should cross train, consider your fitness and health goals. If you are injured and want to stay in good cardiovascular shape, you will want to do a cross-training cardio activity to substitute the time you usually spend running. If you normally run five times a week for a total of 150 minutes, for instance, plan on doing the same amount of cardio in a low-impact sport such as swimming or cycling. If you want to do cross training on your rest days for a break from running, you will not need to cross train as often. If you want to strengthen different muscle groups, try cross training twice a week.
Cross-Training Options
The type of cross training you do will also influence how long you need to exercise. If you are cycling, for instance, and your goal is to burn the same amount of calories as you would running, you will need to bike longer than you would normally run. A 150-pound person who cycles at a speed of 12 to 14 miles per hour for 30 minutes, for instance, will burn about 297 calories, whereas if the same person runs for 30 minutes at a speed of 8 miles per hour, she will burn 458 calories, according to HealthStatus.com's calories-burned estimator. In general, if you want to burn calories, swimming burns almost as many calories as running. You will have to work out longer for all other cardio exercises.
Recommendations
The American College of Sports Medicine advises doing moderate-intensity cardio exercise five times a week for 30-minute sessions or vigorously intense cardio for 20 minutes a day, three days a week. Exercise intensity is your level of exertion. High-intensity cardio exercises are performed at a high speed -- such as sprinting, fast cycling or fast swimming -- or high resistance level -- on a difficult setting on an elliptical or stair stepper machine, for instance. Combine cross training with your running workouts to meet the ACSM guidelines for cardio exercise.
Considerations
If you are a healthy runner, cross train one or two times a week to give your body a break from running and work other muscle groups. Running targets the hamstrings, calf muscles and other leg muscles, but it does not strengthen your arms or upper body. A cross-training workout such as swimming, gymnastics, skiing or rowing can help build your upper body strength to balance out your lower body. If you are injured, be sure you get a doctor's approval before beginning a cross-training program and stop exercising if you experience continued pain.
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