Cardio ?

hippytee

should I be doing cardio on the days I don't strength train?

My schedule is Mon, wed fri strength training
Tues, cardio ( fast walking,jogging on treadmill and an hr's Zumba on a Thurs.)

Bearing in mind I am overweight, by about 21 lbs, (gained my stopping exercise and overeating the past 6 months ,,,,,,before that I was a healthy 9 and a half stone regularly strength trained 3x per week.

So I'm doing the cardio to help shed the excess weight,,, I eat 100g of protein per day, eat good carbs (40%) of daily intake and 30% good fats i.e from extra virgin olive oil, oily fish, nuts, seeds.

I really want to avoid burning the muscle and melt away the fat as my bMi is 29

TavistockToad

you can do cardio if you want, but you dont have to.

As long as you're in a calorie deficit, you'll lose weight.

sijomial

should I be doing cardio on the days I don't strength train?

Depends on your goals mostly.
I believe for health and overall fitness you should do some.
I have a lot of fitness related goals so I do a lot of cardio (cycling mostly) but I also do it for enjoyment.

So I'm doing the cardio to help shed the excess weight,,,

Then you are doing it wrong - calorie deficit sheds excess weight.

I really want to avoid burning the muscle and melt away the fat as my bMi is 29

Moderate cardio doesn't burn muscle - that's a fuel of last resort.

slideaway1

hippytee wrote: »

should I be doing cardio on the days I don't strength train?

My schedule is Mon, wed fri strength training
Tues, cardio ( fast walking,jogging on treadmill and an hr's Zumba on a Thurs.)

Bearing in mind I am overweight, by about 21 lbs, (gained my stopping exercise and overeating the past 6 months ,,,,,,before that I was a healthy 9 and a half stone regularly strength trained 3x per week.

So I'm doing the cardio to help shed the excess weight,,, I eat 100g of protein per day, eat good carbs (40%) of daily intake and 30% good fats i.e from extra virgin olive oil, oily fish, nuts, seeds.

I really want to avoid burning the muscle and melt away the fat as my bMi is 29

Well done, it seems like you have this well under control and know what your doing. As someone said, you would really have to be hitting the cardio hard (marathon type training) to burn muscle. I lift four times a week and do a bit of cardio on rest days (I don't do cardio on lifting days). I run about Four mile, takes me about 35 mins which is a decent calorie burn and good for heart health/fitness. I used to run 10 miles fast, but I think that was definatley getting into the territory of burning muscle. Remember to keep protein high even on cardio days. Good luck.