How to fit cardio in alongside heavy lifting
punkeson
Posts: 37 Member
Hi guys
I'm currently lifting heavy with a full body program for 3 days a week. My goals are to maintain or increase strength whilst losing my last 6lbs of fat.
I'm currently doing about 10 minutes of cardio after each lifting session, I either do 10 mins on the step machine or 10 mins incline fast walk on the treadmill at 15%. I've chosen these activities because I've read they're the best activities to work the glutes!
I'm concerned that this isn't enough to maintain cardio fitness - to be honest this isn't one of my goals anyway but I would like to feel that I've still got a good level of cardio fitness.
How does everyone else fit cardio in alongside lifting? I would love some new ideas. I've come across loads of info on the internet saying that cardio will interfer with strength gains, but I don't think the amount of cardio I'm doing now would affect it? Nutrition wise I eat clean but don't track macros, however I eat lots of protein and have a shake a day. I would guess that I eat at maintainence or above.
Thanks x
I'm currently lifting heavy with a full body program for 3 days a week. My goals are to maintain or increase strength whilst losing my last 6lbs of fat.
I'm currently doing about 10 minutes of cardio after each lifting session, I either do 10 mins on the step machine or 10 mins incline fast walk on the treadmill at 15%. I've chosen these activities because I've read they're the best activities to work the glutes!
I'm concerned that this isn't enough to maintain cardio fitness - to be honest this isn't one of my goals anyway but I would like to feel that I've still got a good level of cardio fitness.
How does everyone else fit cardio in alongside lifting? I would love some new ideas. I've come across loads of info on the internet saying that cardio will interfer with strength gains, but I don't think the amount of cardio I'm doing now would affect it? Nutrition wise I eat clean but don't track macros, however I eat lots of protein and have a shake a day. I would guess that I eat at maintainence or above.
Thanks x
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Replies
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My cardio is 95% walking right now. The other 5% is running on days when I want to finish my step goal faster. I walk 13,000 steps on non lifting days and 10,000 on lifting days.
Cardio interferes with gains if you don't fuel it. If you eat appropriately you'll be fine. I think many people blame cardio for "killing their gains" when their main problem is slacking in the weight room.0 -
10 minutes is not much cardio. If you are trying to lose fat and improve endurance / cardio, you need more time.
If you are really lifting heavy, then you should do your cardio after lifting.... I don't know much about it, but I have also read that this helps reduce arterial stiffness.
What is your definition of lifting heavy? No matter what, doing cardio after weights will not interfere.
R
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Depending on the intensity and or length or cardio it will take away from some strength gains. One must choose if cardio or lifting will take priority as you have with lifting.
Without you tracking macros it's hard to determine if your fueling your body enough other than general fatigue. You stating you eat "clean", which technically means you do track your macros/calories with a specific goal so I'm a bit confused on what you consider "clean"eating. Eating "dirty" means you don't track cals or macros of any food you consume.
Carbs are important for cardio while protien is also important to help retain muscle while eating in a deficit. If you decide in the future to eat in a surplus, protien isn't nearly as important and carbs should be at the.minimal 50% of you.
Regardless you might want to consider tracking macros periodically just to make sure you have enough.
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Cardio negatively affecting strength gains in highly overblown. With a properly structured program there's plenty of room for both.0
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Between lifting sets, do some cardio work, jumping jacks (various varieties), burpees, jumping rope, mountain climbers, rapid high knees, anything to elevate your heart rate and keep it there.0
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Fat loss is all about the calorie deficit.
You're on a cut right? Just do some low intensity long slow jogs/fast walks/swims etc. Not too taxing and enough to get your heart rate up. Eat your exercise calories back but make a 500 (men) 250 (women) calorie cut per day by being meticulous with your diet.
I always do my cardio first, with sprints, as I use this as part of my glute program, but I am properly fuelling before hand.
When I was bulking I concentrated a lot on the muscle gains, and made sure I didnt overdo cardio.0 -
I do 5x5 stronglifts 3 days a week and run 4 days a week. I'm training for a marathon and ultra marathon and lifting heavy is a big part of my training. I would add HIIT for 20 minutes on non lift days0
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My time is limited to about 45 minutes per week day in the gym due to my schedule. So on MWF, I lift for 30 minutes and spend the remaining time doing cardio (usually running since I have an 8k coming up). Then on Tuesday and Thursday, I do 45 minutes cardio. On the weekend, I'll do a long (5+ mile) run.
I just started this February 1st, so I haven't been at it that long! Before then, I didn't go to the gym and was just running a few times a week. Running alone has never gotten me where I want to be with my goals, hence joining the gym and picking up some weights.0 -
As for cardio negatively affecting strength- I have steady & awesome gains and I run 100 miles a month (for now it'll be about 150 soon).0
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Why are you worried about glute work for your cardio? That should be covered under your lifting program, and as mentioned, 10 mins of moderate cardio isn't much and won't do much for you. I'm currently doing both a powerlifting program while training for a Spartan Super race so I'm doing a lot of both and as @Chieflrg mentioned, it's cutting into my strength gains but it's not horrible.
You'll have to rework your program and add in your cario as part of your regular routine based on your goals. To lose 6 pounds of fat and maintain strength let alone gain it is pretty hard and your ability to do this will depend largely on how slowly you lose, your program, and how new your are to lifting. If you are losing weight it's almost, but not entirely, impossible to gain muscle so you'll be working mostly with neurological improvements to strength rather than hypertrophy related gains. You will most likely lose some strength but you can quickly regain that at the end of your cut if you do it right.
As for fitting it in, I do cardio at the end of my workouts and strength at the beggining except for my long runs which I do on a day in which I don't lift at all.0 -
Cardio negatively affecting strength gains in highly overblown. With a properly structured program there's plenty of room for both.
Totally agree!
Any interference is much more likely to come from an impact on recovery or gym performance from extreme / prolonged cardio or rather than the nonsensical idea some poeple have that cardio is going to feed off your muscles.
My preference is to keep strength and cardio work on separate days to focus on training quality but my cardio goals are more extreme (100+ mile cycle rides) than the OP's wish to improve general fitness.
Saw this article recently which may be of interest - there's some research links at the bottom of it....
http://www.theproteinworks.com/thelockerroom/article/tpw-spartan/how-cardio-affects-muscle0 -
Cardio negatively affecting strength gains in highly overblown. With a properly structured program there's plenty of room for both.
Totally agree!
Any interference is much more likely to come from an impact on recovery or gym performance from extreme / prolonged cardio or rather than the nonsensical idea some poeple have that cardio is going to feed off your muscles.
My preference is to keep strength and cardio work on separate days to focus on training quality but my cardio goals are more extreme (100+ mile cycle rides) than the OP's wish to improve general fitness.
Saw this article recently which may be of interest - there's some research links at the bottom of it....
http://www.theproteinworks.com/thelockerroom/article/tpw-spartan/how-cardio-affects-muscle
Cardio doesn't "eat" your muscle but the body does perference endurance training over strength training when you look at conversion of muscle fibre so when a muscle fibre is capable of converting between slow and fast twich it will prefernce slow. However, for most casual lifters there should be minimal effect.0 -
well, it's good to see that you are atleast performing the cardio AFTER lifting. That was going to be my main suggestion.
According to the National Academy of Sports Medicine, for general cardiovascular health:
Recommended frequency is 5 days/30 minute sessions per week of moderate intensity (40-60% HRM) aerobic activity such as brisk walking for a total of 150 minutes per week.
-or-
A minimum of 3 days/30 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity (60-70% HRM) such as running or jogging for a total of 90 minutes.
I personally do the same as you do, light cardio after my lifting sessions. Once a week on a rest day i go in and do strictly cardio as a part of active recovery.0 -
I lift 6 days per week. I always lift first and whatever I have left in the tank goes into cardio. I can tell you that I am maintaining a 750 daily caloric deficit and lifting heavy with 30-45 mins of cardio every session. I have not loss any strength. I will say that tracking my macos is very important. Whatever you choose to do for a cardio workout make sure that it gets your heart rate up. You are not really working your cardiovascular system by just walking for 10 mins, but if you do 10 mins of sprints or jump rope your are.0
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Wheelhouse15 wrote: »Cardio negatively affecting strength gains in highly overblown. With a properly structured program there's plenty of room for both.
Totally agree!
Any interference is much more likely to come from an impact on recovery or gym performance from extreme / prolonged cardio or rather than the nonsensical idea some poeple have that cardio is going to feed off your muscles.
My preference is to keep strength and cardio work on separate days to focus on training quality but my cardio goals are more extreme (100+ mile cycle rides) than the OP's wish to improve general fitness.
Saw this article recently which may be of interest - there's some research links at the bottom of it....
http://www.theproteinworks.com/thelockerroom/article/tpw-spartan/how-cardio-affects-muscle
Cardio doesn't "eat" your muscle but the body does perference endurance training over strength training when you look at conversion of muscle fibre so when a muscle fibre is capable of converting between slow and fast twich it will prefernce slow. However, for most casual lifters there should be minimal effect.
Yep.
Unfortunately a lot of casual/recreational exercisers take out of context what the elite athlete (whether strength or cardio) has to do in terms of eliminating all compromise to get to the pinacle of their chosen sport.
Compromise is actually fine for the vast majority of people. I could be a slightly better cyclist if I dropped strength training, I could be marginally stronger if I dropped cycling. But overall I would lose more than I gained, the 80/20 rule if you like.0 -
Between lifting sets, do some cardio work, jumping jacks (various varieties), burpees, jumping rope, mountain climbers, rapid high knees, anything to elevate your heart rate and keep it there.
If you put sufficient effort into the lifts then your "rest time" is going to have to be just that: rest. Otherwise, your next lift is going to be hopeless.
In my experience, mixing cardio and weights in this manner is a great way to do a poor job at both.0 -
I envy all of you who say they can lift heavy 3 days a week and do high intensity cardio after. I am struggling to do cardio on my "in between days" never mind on the lifting days... on my lifting days I can hardly walk never mind do hard cardio stuff.
I guess you just get used to the levels and work it in. For instance, two weeks ago was my peak week for my powerlifting program (Wendler 5/3/1) I did the following:
Monday:
Deadlift: 165x5, 205x5, 245x5, 315x5, 355x3, 395x4
5K in 24:35
KB swings: 3 sets of 45#x20 w/30 sec rest pause
Bicycle crunches: 50, 50 w/30 sec rest pause
Captain Chair leg lifts
15, 15 w/60 sec rest pause
Tuesday (bench and pullups are light due to shoulder rehab):
Bench: 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 195x8, x8, x6
Pulldowns 130x10
Deadhang Pull ups: 165x8, x8
OHP: 45x10, 95x5, x5
Pendlay Row: 185x8, x8, x8
Bike 15 mins
Push ups: 30, 20; w/60 sec rest pause:
Box Jumps: 30" 3 sets of 10 w/ 30 sec r.p.
Cable Crosses: 30x10; 35x10, 40x10
Burpees: 18, 12, 10 w.60 sec r.p
Thursday:
Squat: 135x5, 160x5, 195x5, 240x5, 275x3, 305x4
5 Mile Run: 43:18
Bicycle Crunches: 60, 50 with 30 sec rest pause
Captains Chair leg lifts: 15, 15 w/60 sec r.p.
Planks: 45 sec, 45 sec, w/30 sec r.p.
Sled push: 90 lb load, 60 meters
Plate carry run: 45lbs 90 meters
Friday:
Bike 15 minutes
Incline Bench: 95x5, 135x10, 155x8, 165x7
Weighted Pull ups: 165x8; 175x10 x10
Power Shrugs: 335x8, x8
1 Arm cable rows: 105x10, 120x10,x 10
Push ups: 35, 20; w/60 sec rest pause
Skull Crushers: 65 x10, x10, x8
Preacher curls: 75x10, x10, x10
Burpees: 20, 15, 10 w/60 sec r.p
Saturday:
Moderate-intense 10K run 53:35 (last week it was 49:21 because I was on a light week and skipped the Friday workout);
So you can do heavy weights and some pretty intense cardio once you've adapted to the workouts, but it takes time. Also, I have an office job and that really helps recover, I don't think I could have a manual labour job and be able to keep this type of program up. I will only be going this hard on the cardio for another 3 weeks then I'll drop down to 5K mostly and the occational 10K but I won't be going as hard. It's very hard to maintain a progressive lifting and running program at the same time, especially as you get older.
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StealthHealth wrote: »Between lifting sets, do some cardio work, jumping jacks (various varieties), burpees, jumping rope, mountain climbers, rapid high knees, anything to elevate your heart rate and keep it there.
If you put sufficient effort into the lifts then your "rest time" is going to have to be just that: rest. Otherwise, your next lift is going to be hopeless.
In my experience, mixing cardio and weights in this manner is a great way to do a poor job at both.
To be fair, you can superset with an activity using the same muscle group after lifting. EX. Bench press and inbetween sets performing a stability ball pushup or decline push up. Or performing squats, then performing box jumps.
BUT, there still needs to be a rest period in there (30-60 seconds) and this would be training specifically for muscular endurance/stabilization/neuromuscular efficiency, NOT hypertrophy, maximal strength, power, etc. You most definitely wont be lifting in the same weight range you would if you were just doing the typical lift>long rest>lift again.
It can be beneficial for those just beginning to lift who wish to burn more calories during their work out, and who need extra endurance/stability work before moving on to hypertrophy training. It's especially beneficial for those who have a weak core.
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Hi guys
I'm currently lifting heavy with a full body program for 3 days a week. My goals are to maintain or increase strength whilst losing my last 6lbs of fat.
I'm currently doing about 10 minutes of cardio after each lifting session, I either do 10 mins on the step machine or 10 mins incline fast walk on the treadmill at 15%. I've chosen these activities because I've read they're the best activities to work the glutes!
I'm concerned that this isn't enough to maintain cardio fitness - to be honest this isn't one of my goals anyway but I would like to feel that I've still got a good level of cardio fitness.
How does everyone else fit cardio in alongside lifting? I would love some new ideas. I've come across loads of info on the internet saying that cardio will interfer with strength gains, but I don't think the amount of cardio I'm doing now would affect it? Nutrition wise I eat clean but don't track macros, however I eat lots of protein and have a shake a day. I would guess that I eat at maintainence or above.
Thanks xHi guys
I'm currently lifting heavy with a full body program for 3 days a week. My goals are to maintain or increase strength whilst losing my last 6lbs of fat.
I'm currently doing about 10 minutes of cardio after each lifting session, I either do 10 mins on the step machine or 10 mins incline fast walk on the treadmill at 15%. I've chosen these activities because I've read they're the best activities to work the glutes!
I'm concerned that this isn't enough to maintain cardio fitness - to be honest this isn't one of my goals anyway but I would like to feel that I've still got a good level of cardio fitness.
How does everyone else fit cardio in alongside lifting? I would love some new ideas. I've come across loads of info on the internet saying that cardio will interfer with strength gains, but I don't think the amount of cardio I'm doing now would affect it? Nutrition wise I eat clean but don't track macros, however I eat lots of protein and have a shake a day. I would guess that I eat at maintainence or above.
Thanks x
I've read that 15 mins of cardio on top of weights is more than enough. I myself do 30-40 mins cardio(indoor bike or treadmill) after an hour and half to 2 hrs on weights, and I do that schedule every other day. Then on the days that I dont do weights, I do an hour of cardio. Been doing this routine for about 7 months now, and my body seems to be handling it well. So I guess it all depends on how much you can handle. Good luck.0 -
If your cardio sessions are going to be that short, the most bang for your buck is HIIT (High-Intensity-Interval-Training)...basically sprint bursts with "rest" periods at a normal, steady pace. 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off for 10 minutes is far more effective for maximum cardio benefit in short time periods vs. steady pace throughout. So increasing duration may not be as important as what you're doing with your time.
The most popular HIIT training method is the "Tabata" protocol, 4 minutes total, 20 seconds full blast sprint, 10 seconds rest for 8 rounds. Try it and you'll be shocked at what a 4-minute workout can do to you. You can do this with anything you choose...running, stepper, elliptical, rowing, air squats, box jumps...the exercise is not necessarily as important as the intensity of the sprint periods. As far as developing glutes, that's what squats and deadlifts are for. Don't worry about building strength with cardio. You'll likely just be spinning your wheels (pun intended).0 -
If your cardio sessions are going to be that short, the most bang for your buck is HIIT (High-Intensity-Interval-Training)...basically sprint bursts with "rest" periods at a normal, steady pace. 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off for 10 minutes is far more effective for maximum cardio benefit in short time periods vs. steady pace throughout. So increasing duration may not be as important as what you're doing with your time.
The most popular HIIT training method is the "Tabata" protocol, 4 minutes total, 20 seconds full blast sprint, 10 seconds rest for 8 rounds. Try it and you'll be shocked at what a 4-minute workout can do to you. You can do this with anything you choose...running, stepper, elliptical, rowing, air squats, box jumps...the exercise is not necessarily as important as the intensity of the sprint periods. As far as developing glutes, that's what squats and deadlifts are for. Don't worry about building strength with cardio. You'll likely just be spinning your wheels (pun intended).
Actually, the true Tabata is not a rest but a low intensity interval mixed with max intensity and is best suited to wind sprints and biking. Of course, even elite endurance athletes tend to throw up after this type of training so the rest version is probably best lol.0 -
Yeah a rest period (30 -60 seconds) between your lifting set, and your cardio interval. Lifting, rest, cardio, rest, lifting, rest...rainbowbow wrote: »StealthHealth wrote: »Between lifting sets, do some cardio work, jumping jacks (various varieties), burpees, jumping rope, mountain climbers, rapid high knees, anything to elevate your heart rate and keep it there.
If you put sufficient effort into the lifts then your "rest time" is going to have to be just that: rest. Otherwise, your next lift is going to be hopeless.
In my experience, mixing cardio and weights in this manner is a great way to do a poor job at both.
To be fair, you can superset with an activity using the same muscle group after lifting. EX. Bench press and inbetween sets performing a stability ball pushup or decline push up. Or performing squats, then performing box jumps.
BUT, there still needs to be a rest period in there (30-60 seconds) and this would be training specifically for muscular endurance/stabilization/neuromuscular efficiency, NOT hypertrophy, maximal strength, power, etc. You most definitely wont be lifting in the same weight range you would if you were just doing the typical lift>long rest>lift again.
It can be beneficial for those just beginning to lift who wish to burn more calories during their work out, and who need extra endurance/stability work before moving on to hypertrophy training. It's especially beneficial for those who have a weak core.0 -
Wheelhouse15 wrote: »Cardio negatively affecting strength gains in highly overblown. With a properly structured program there's plenty of room for both.
Totally agree!
Any interference is much more likely to come from an impact on recovery or gym performance from extreme / prolonged cardio or rather than the nonsensical idea some poeple have that cardio is going to feed off your muscles.
My preference is to keep strength and cardio work on separate days to focus on training quality but my cardio goals are more extreme (100+ mile cycle rides) than the OP's wish to improve general fitness.
Saw this article recently which may be of interest - there's some research links at the bottom of it....
http://www.theproteinworks.com/thelockerroom/article/tpw-spartan/how-cardio-affects-muscle
Cardio doesn't "eat" your muscle but the body does perference endurance training over strength training when you look at conversion of muscle fibre so when a muscle fibre is capable of converting between slow and fast twich it will prefernce slow. However, for most casual lifters there should be minimal effect.
Yep.
Unfortunately a lot of casual/recreational exercisers take out of context what the elite athlete (whether strength or cardio) has to do in terms of eliminating all compromise to get to the pinacle of their chosen sport.
Compromise is actually fine for the vast majority of people. I could be a slightly better cyclist if I dropped strength training, I could be marginally stronger if I dropped cycling. But overall I would lose more than I gained, the 80/20 rule if you like.
I concur with this.0 -
10 minutes is a great cooldown for lifting but not going to get your CV system very fit. true cardiovascular benefits only come from sustaining your heartrate beyond the 20-30 minute mark.
a mix of intervals (tabata, HIIT, whatever you want to call it) AND long, slow distance is necessary for maintaining well-rounded fitness in every energy system of the human body. usually a 1:3 ratio is best (1 interval workout for every 2-3 long distance workouts)
keep in mind intervals tax the same recovery systems as lifting, so space your interval work as far as possible from lifting.
i like doing cardio in the mornings and lift in the evenings. higher intensity cardio on my "rest" days from lifting. long/slow distance on the lifting days. i get some carbs and protein soon after cardio to replenish my system so i am at full capacity for lifting later in the day.0
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