Cardio or no Cardio?

[Ravi Sandhu]

I know you should seperate your cardio and weight lifiting sessions. But sometimes I only have a chance to go to the gym once a day would it be better not to do cardio and just weight train or do cardio after lifiting? or before training? By the way i am on my cutting phase and have been doing 45 minutes 6 days a week and weight training 4 days a week.

thanks

[M@]

I was doing cardio immediately after lifting for six weeks. Discarded it on lifting days 'cause I was getting fed up with being in the gym that long every other morning. Didn't affect my results in the slightest. Muscle gain and fat loss have been steady the whole cut.

M@

[Skoorb]

Don't worry about it. I've often done both together. Not saying it's ideal but I defy anybody to find an actual peer-reviewed study that says there are big problems with doing them together...maybe a few percent here and there, and I am sure there are thousands of articles writen by Joe Biceps that say it's a bad idea, but I doubt the numbers show it's a massively bad one--like you're killing muscle gains by 50% or anything crazy like that. Most "bodybuilding knowledge" is anecdotal and hearsay anyway, so unless something is majorly bad and obviously bad (like fasting for a week while trying to hit a PR in bench press), don't worry too much about it.

[karatetricker]

In MY experiences, I have had great success cutting with cardio after lifting, BUT I never did so without muscle loss, often quite a significant amount.

If muscle loss isn't an issue for you (for many people it's not, they just care about losing as much fat asap) then go for it. Just know it's a good possibility. I would definitely make sure your nutrition is very good and the timing is proper.

[Weight-Tress]

I do cardio right after weight lifting, but I vary my cardio on upper body days and lower body days.


Lower body days when I do heavy compound lifting( 2 x a week) : I use the EFX machine for 15 minutes with a some resistance added and then hop on the treadmill for 15 - 20 minutes, put the incline up high and do lunges at a low speed. I look at this as not only cardio, but additional leg & glute strengthening and shaping.


On upper body weight lifting days ( 2 x a week) : I do more fast paced cardio, using the elyptical at 70-75% HR for 30 minutes, then I jog/sprint on the treadmill for 10 minutes with a 5 minute cool down.

When I did little cardio, I didn't reduce my body fat as much as I had hoped. I was lifting heavy & gaining muscle ( & I did loose some body fat) but I still looked a bit bulky because of the last fat layer still on top( I am female ). I thought *I* could get away with little cardio, but I was wrong ( YMMV)

With the above routines, my body fat is melting nicely.

On the days you lift, try a lower impact type cardio. You didn't mention what cardio you did, so this is just a suggestion. I am no expert, but thought I would toss all of this out to you & let you know what worked for me.

[Ravi Sandhu]

I am also trying to maintain as much muscle as possible while i am cutting. So the cardio after weight training is it going to hurt me in the long run? or is it better not to do the cardio then?

[RTE]

You might see if you reduce rest between sets to 30-60 sec, if that will raise your heart rate enough to obtain a cardio effect. That way you will get dual benefit from weight workout.

[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by rtestes

You might see if you reduce rest between sets to 30-60 sec, if that will raise your heart rate enough to obtain a cardio effect. That way you will get dual benefit from weight workout.

Yes, on any program you can lift with an intensity that gives you a cardiovascular workout. Whether it's HIT or making use of supersetting (antagonistic muscle pairing) or trisetting. The latter allow you to get a lot of work done in a short period of time while still allowing for appropriate muscle recovery if you prefer multiple sets. I still think some form of cardio is beneficial for people on non-lifting days. Merely for fat loss purpposes, I see it as unecessary for people on training days except if they are trying to cut to extremely low bodyfat. When you're at, say 8-9%, looking to cut to 5-6% I definitely see adding non-taxing, low-intensity cardio as a beneficial if not necessary to get there. But I think most could get to 9-10% without it on lifting days and may be better off for it.

[oohchild]

If you can afford the time, separating cardio and weight training will be ideal but understand where you are coming from - the hassle to make the trips down to gym etc.

I tried combining and suffer some lbm loss, but that is because I did not have pre-workout meals /post-workout meals when I first started out. Did some changes to my habits, after I feed myself 1 hr before workout and protein shake right after workout, I find myself able to maintain the lbm at least.

[#91]

Originally Posted by rtestes

You might see if you reduce rest between sets to 30-60 sec, if that will raise your heart rate enough to obtain a cardio effect. That way you will get dual benefit from weight workout.

How long of a rest between exercises?

[RTE]

Originally Posted by #91

How long of a rest between exercises?

30-60 sec between exercises also. I have been using that since I started in 1956. I started with supersets and changed to HIT in 1983. It has always been a part of my workout. I rarely ever do cardio, when I do it is LISS on non weight days.

[#91]

Originally Posted by rtestes

30-60 sec between exercises also. I have been using that since I started in 1956. I started with supersets and changed to HIT in 1983. It has always been a part of my workout. I rarely ever do cardio, when I do it is LISS on non weight days.

In general with this how long should I expect a normal workout to be? I know a lot depends on what I do but this would greatly decrease the time in the gym for me so I wonder if too little is being done?

[RTE]

Originally Posted by #91

In general with this how long should I expect a normal workout to be? I know a lot depends on what I do but this would greatly decrease the time in the gym for me so I wonder if too little is being done?

The only thing you are doing is cutting down rest periods. Most people spend more time resting then they do exercising during a workout. I would imagine it would reduce your present workout by 15-20 minutes. Just add up your time.

With the average 30 seconds of lifting per rep followed by the 2-3 min rest between sets advocated by many. Just work up how long your workouts will be when you rest only 30-60 sec.

The effectiveness of exercise is not how long you stay under a roof of a gym but how long you actually exercise. I am not suggesting you change that. But you can increase the time under load by slowing down your reps by taking an average of 8 seconds per rep. 4 sec up and 4 sec in down movement.