I'm taking my week off from weight training (its been about 8 weeks), should I still do cardio? What do you guys do?

If you want to do cardio on your week off, then do it. It certainly wont hurt. What's more important is keeping your nutrition in check.

I typically do absolutely nothing when I take time off from lifting, but I don't think a bit of cardio to get the blood moving will hurt. In fact, it will probably help with recovery. I just don't like running ; p

I am going to post a quote from Alwyn Cosgrove regarding "cardio" that I have brought up several times already on this forum...

We still divide training into "strength" and "cardio" portions. It's still an integrated system. We shouldn't be thinking about dividing muscular work and metabolic work or programming them separately. I mean, if I had you do front squats and push presses as a combination for 40 seconds with 40 seconds rest, it would be very metabolic. And on the other end of the continuum, walking a mile is really nothing more than 1500 low resistance reps, right?

When does a side lunge stop being a mobility exercise and start being a strength exercise or a metabolic exercise? They are artificial categories that the exercise community has created. We need to start realizing that a total integration approach is the next step.

Think about that and then think about why you are even doing "cardio" at all. It is just the equivalent of doing a different movement (often involving the legs) with lighter weights for a longer period of time. Is better performance in that kind of activity one or your goals or not?

Tim

I always considered "cardio" to be a cardiovascular activity ~ exercise pertaining to developement of the heart. While there are certainly lifts one could do that could be aerobic in nature, when I hear "cardio", I always think "heart".

So, while I understand TimWalsh's point, I think the OP is just wondering about the heart conditioning aspect while resting from the muscle developing aspect.

I am going to post a quote from Alwyn Cosgrove regarding "cardio" that I have brought up several times already on this forum...



Think about that and then think about why you are even doing "cardio" at all. It is just the equivalent of doing a different movement (often involving the legs) with lighter weights for a longer period of time. Is better performance in that kind of activity one or your goals or not?

Tim

My cardio is mainly jogging/running/sprinting. I do cardio because I enjoy it, and in the previous 3 or so years I've been lifting, I never incorporated it. I'm liking my results this way, and I've also grown a liking for running. Other than that, I'm also cutting, so I figure theres some calories burnt while doing cardio.

My cardio is mainly jogging/running/sprinting. I do cardio because I enjoy it.

It is good recreation and can burn some calories.:cool: