← All guidesCardio Weekly Plan: How Should You Structure the Week?
Omini’s Cardio priority starts with one HIIT session, adds Easy cardio before more intensity, and includes two full-body strength exposures from two active weekdays onward.
Updated August 13, 2026
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AI-researched
The short answer
The default uses one HIIT session. As active weekdays increase, it adds Easy cardio before adding more high intensity.
From two active weekdays onward, it suggests two separated full-body strength sessions so every major muscle group gets two weekly exposures.
On compact weeks, one day may hold both Easy cardio and strength. HIIT stays on its own day when the weekday budget permits.
Easy cardio and HIIT are schedule types; the builder does not rewrite a selected routine’s rounds, duration, or rests.
These are recovery-friendly starting points, not limits. Edit any weekday and that day stays pinned.
Three Cardio-priority weeks from the builder
These are the current defaults. Exact weekdays can rearrange around anything you pin, while the session mix follows the same logic.
A. Three active weekdays
Four sessions fit into three active weekdays: HIIT stands alone, the two full-body sessions stay separated, and one shares a day with Easy cardio.
B. Five active weekdays
Why strength stays in a Cardio plan
WHO recommends muscle-strengthening work for all major muscle groups on at least two days per week. The Cardio priority therefore keeps two full-body exposures instead of one upper-body and one lower-body day.
C. Seven active weekdays
The sixth and seventh active weekdays still add Easy cardio rather than a second HIIT. Training every day means every day has planned work, not that every day should be exhausting.
Seven days is not the target
Your active-day count should reflect the schedule you can sustain. The builder allows one to seven days; at one day it gently notes the authoritative two-day strength recommendation without blocking you.
Build it in three steps in the app
Step 1: Choose Cardio and your active weekdays
Active weekdays count weekdays with training, not sessions. Pick one to seven, then check whether the suggested mix of Easy cardio, HIIT, and full-body strength fits your schedule.
Step 2: Tap a weekday to edit it directly
Tap a session type to add, remove, or replace it. Edited days pin automatically. Changing priority or active weekdays preserves those pins and regenerates everything else.
Step 3: Save, then choose the routines
Stage two defaults to Cardio Punch Circuit and Full-Body HIIT. Replacing a suggestion changes only that session. Applying the plan adds routines without moving, replacing, or deleting anything already scheduled.
This page decides which day holds what. What happens inside the HIIT session — how long the efforts run, how long to rest, which energy system you are designing for — is a separate topic, covered in our HIIT guide.
Common myths
Cardio is a mileage game — more is better.
Intensity drives cardiorespiratory gains more than duration or frequency. Piling on mileage also only develops the aerobic system, which does little for power or repeated high-intensity efforts. Log intensity, not just distance.
If intervals are efficient, do them every day.
HIIT usually costs more recovery than Easy cardio, so the builder defaults to one and adds Easy cardio first as weekdays increase. You can still add more HIIT manually; adjacent HIIT stays where you put it and receives recovery guidance.
I need to nail the perfect intensity split, like 80/20.
Across 17 studies and 437 athletes, polarised distribution only edged ahead on VO₂peak, and only in short blocks with highly trained athletes — time-trial, time-to-exhaustion and threshold-power outcomes showed no difference. [1] More useful still: a network meta-analysis of individual data from 13 studies and 348 athletes found no overall difference between polarized and pyramidal distributions, and recreational athletes if anything favouring the pyramidal one, which contains more moderate work. [2] So the question is not whether to get the ratio exact — it is that copying an elite athlete’s ratio may not suit you.
Doing both cardio and lifting means failing at both.
Interference is asymmetric: aerobic adaptations are largely spared, and the cost lands on strength and power. So if conditioning is your goal, add lifting freely. If strength leads, cycle instead of run, keep sessions short, and separate them — or lift first.
The default Easy cardio routine is Cardio Punch Circuit and the default HIIT routine is Full-Body HIIT. Choosing another routine replaces only that session’s content; it does not change the type or weekday planned in stage one.
Build my Cardio week
Frequently asked questions
How many days a week should I do cardio?
Choose the number of active weekdays you can sustain. Omini starts the Cardio priority with one HIIT session, adds Cardio as more weekdays become available, and includes two full-body strength exposures from two active weekdays onward. This is an editable starting point, not a limit.
Why should some days be easy?
Because HIIT usually costs more recovery than supporting Cardio. The builder therefore adds Cardio before adding more high intensity and tries to keep HIIT separate from strength when enough weekdays are available. It does not change the authored dose of the routine you select.
Will cardio ruin my lifting gains?
Interference is real but asymmetric and manageable: aerobic adaptations are largely spared, and the cost lands mostly on strength and power. A meta-analysis of 21 studies found running interfered significantly while cycling did not, and session duration mattered more than frequency. Cycle instead of run, keep sessions short, and separate them from lifting — or lift first if they share a session.
Do I need to follow the 80/20 polarised training rule?
Not really. A meta-analysis of 17 studies and 437 athletes found polarised distribution only slightly ahead for VO2peak, and only in interventions shorter than 12 weeks with highly trained athletes. Time-trial performance, time to exhaustion, and threshold power showed no difference at all. Total volume and actually hitting real intensity matter far more than the exact split.
Can Omini run these interval sessions?
Yes. Any of the interval structures on this page — 4×4 minutes, 6×20 second sprints, or work-to-rest ratios like 1:3 — can be built as a preset with hands-free voice announcements for every work and rest period, so you never have to watch the clock mid-session.
References
Related timers
Cardio Training: What Does It Train, and How Should You Do It? →Heart Rate Zones: What Is Zone 2, and How Should You Read the Zones? →HIIT: How Hard, How Long, and How Often? →Interval Timing: 30/30, 40/20, or Rest Between Rounds? →Hiking: What Does It Train, and How Should You Walk? →Strength Training: Why Do It, and How Should You Train? →Training Recovery: Can You Train Every Day, and How Should You Plan the Week? →Strength and Cardio: How Do You Balance Them, and Which Comes First? →Training 101: What Actually Decides Whether Training Works? →