More Calories burned from cardio

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paulawatkins1974
paulawatkins1974 Posts: 720 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm not sure if I should be posting this here or in weightloss, but I'm finding it a little tough to stay within cals now that I'm doing more strength training than cardio. I'm glad to say I kind of like doing it now, (used to HATE it) and I love that I'm getting stronger. But I miss the fact that I used to be able to burn 300 or even up to 500 more calories a day that I could eat. Now its under 150 three days a week, and I've been told when lifting (heavy for me) you should rest on off days (so no cardio) and on the days I DO lift, I feel too tired to do cardio. Any tips?

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  • CA_Underdog
    CA_Underdog Posts: 733 Member
    edited January 2015
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    Why are you burning so few calories on strength days? Today--as an example--I did a circuit of barbell deadlifts, dumbbell bench presses, two-arm kettlebell swings, and hollow rocks. As soon as I completed a set of the first exercise, and could walk, I was briskly walking over to the next station. 30 minutes resulted in quite a few calories being burned, according to the MyFitnessPal "Circuit Training" entry, and eating per this has given me good losses.
    I've been told when lifting (heavy for me) you should rest on off days (so no cardio) and on the days I DO lift, I feel too tired to do cardio. Any tips?
    I'm not so certain about this. Many now believe light cardio to be beneficial to recovery, since muscular recovery relies on the lymph system, which is passive and relies on your body's locomotion. Also, MEAT (Movement & Exercise) has been under exploration lately as an alternative to RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, & Elevation). It at least alleviates DOMS a bit.
  • paulawatkins1974
    paulawatkins1974 Posts: 720 Member
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    I am doing SL 5x5. No circuit training/cardio involved. I just log it through the mfp database under cardio strength training for 25 or 30 mins.
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
    edited January 2015
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    Add in some cardio on days off. Dont go over board and see how you feel. As you adapt add more. If you have trouble recovering you can always back off a bit.
  • CA_Underdog
    CA_Underdog Posts: 733 Member
    edited January 2015
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    paulawatkins1974 wrote: »
    I am doing SL 5x5. No circuit training/cardio involved. I just log it through the mfp database under cardio strength training for 25 or 30 mins.

    Stronglifts is a solid program. My focus would then be on the second point--can you do "active recovery" on recovery days such as "low intensity steady state" cardio?

    http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/tipsandtricks/a/activerecovery.htm
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
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    I generally do 30 minutes of light cardio (stuff like T25) on my non-lift days. Doesn't seem to have slowed down my SL 5x5 progress to any significant degree.
  • paulawatkins1974
    paulawatkins1974 Posts: 720 Member
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    Thanks guys. I'm going to start walking on my off days. I live in a very hilly area. Heart rate gets up to 170-180 on the hills. I was under the impression I needed to totally rest on rest days. And maybe shorter walks on lift days but after I lift so I don't tire myself out beforehand.
  • subversive99
    subversive99 Posts: 273 Member
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    I'm new to the SL program, started a month ago. I walk 10 min on the treadmill before my lifting as a warmup, and spend 20 minutes working on my running on non-lifting days. Hasn't hurt anything yet, we'll see how it goes as the weights get harder, I haven't maxed out on anything yet. I would say non-extreme cardio on your off days is likely fine.

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