Strength Training vs Cardio

Thejackiedean12

I have always done 45 minutes cardio and a minimal amount of strength training. I have recently wanted to do more strength training so right after my 45 minutes I do strength, but am usually a little tired and I have seen that recently I'm not losing as much as I thought. I have been reading a lot about strength training and how I can actually burn more calories and lose fat if I actually switch it up and do strength training first and probably cardio for 15 minutes at the end.

SingRunTing

I don't do them on the same day. Each week I do 3 days of strength and 3 days of cardio (every other for both). On the 7th day, I rest.

T0M_K

I think that sounds like a good approach. you may want to alternate between your days of weights and your days of Cardio also.

Weight training burns calories well after the session ends as your muscles work to rebuild themselves..at least I think that is the reason. Someone with confirm or correct me. Plus in a calorie deficit situation if you are trying to lose weight, lifting will help maintain your lean mass and you may lose less muscle than just cardio alone. Weight lifting is great to do for many reasons.

Cardio basically burns calories while the session is going on and has no real afterburn.

I think there is room for both in someones life but its more about what you enjoy doing the most that you won't quit on.

DX2JX2

If you convert your cardio into HIIT, you'll increase the weight loss impact of your cardio days. That said, I wouldn't necessarily recommending combining HIIT with weight lifting on the same day - the HIIT will (and should) leave you feeling pretty wiped out. It's doable, but not totally necessary.

KaleChipz

I alternate the days as well to get max benefits of both endurance cardio and strength. I enjoy doing a combo

inertiastrength

My "cardio" comes from walking throughout the day (I get about 12-15K steps) and I only do strength training in the gym. I would be tired if I did both at once too. I really find that my deficit is better with cardio, but keeping my lean mass means my TDEE doesn't go down as much as I lose so I find I dont' have to adjust downwardly as much, so you have the right idea long term. I don't think you'll see a massive difference in the short term if your weight loss is slowing though (check calories, logging and accuracy etc, first)

cqbkaju

In most cases you should do strength training first, often around 3 days per week at somewhere from 5RM to 8RM.
Focus on compound lifts.
You can then do cardio afterwards or on days that you do not lift.

Doing too much cardio first will impact the quality of your weight lifting.
If you think it doesn't then you are not lifting with enough intensity to get much in the way of results.

Relatively heavy strength training will increase -or at least preserve- muscle mass, increase bone density and offset sarcopenia.
That muscle mass will improve your BMR, thus helping you keep the weight off and making it easier to burn additional fat.

HIIT cardio is often considered to be more efficient than to Steady-State, but your mileage may vary.

Be sure to include some flexibility and mobility work after your exercise.
The whole thing should not take much more than an hour or so, usually.
Over 90 minutes and you are almost certainly wasting your time and energy unless you are at least at an intermediate lifting level.
You cannot be lifting heavy enough to be effective for that duration as a beginner unless you are on some very specific drugs from down Mexico way.

stanmann571

cqbkaju wrote: »

In most cases you should do strength training first, often around 3 days per week at somewhere from 5RM to 8RM.
Focus on compound lifts.
You can then do cardio afterwards or on days that you do not lift.

Doing cardio first will impact the quality of your weight lifting.
If you think it doesn't then you are not lifting anywhere near hard enough to get much in the way of results.

Heavy strength training (relatively speaking) will increase (or at least preserve) muscle mass, increase bone density and offset sarcopenia.
The muscle mass will improve your BMR, thus helping you keep the weight off and making it easier to burn additional fat.

This is good info, although, for a beginner, or relative beginner, there's nothing wrong, and some minor benefits to doing 3-10 minutes of light aerobic warmup before doing your strength training. Just enough to get your HR up and your body warm. Honestly, this is where I think the elliptical is the best cardio machine in the gym because you can get everything moving...

cqbkaju

stanmann571 wrote: »

This is good info, although, for a beginner, or relative beginner, there's nothing wrong, and some minor benefits to doing 3-10 minutes of light aerobic warmup before doing your strength training. Just enough to get your HR up and your body warm. Honestly, this is where I think the elliptical is the best cardio machine in the gym because you can get everything moving...

Agreed. Make sure you warm-up properly. Just don't tire yourself out.

I edited the post to clarify that. Thanks @stanmann571

H_Ock12

In order to get two rest days per week, I have one day where I overlap running and weights. Lifting is my primary activity, so I do it first...I'd rather run three miles with Jello legs than squat and DL with Jello legs. I find my best running performance is definitely on days that I don't do a two-fer and if your schedule allows, I would recommend intense cardio on no-lifting days.

happysherri

I can only speak from my experience. I've done the 5-6 days a week cardio bunny thing - very lean look, not much muscle. Then I bulked - during the bulking phase was rough because my midsection stayed thick but loved the muscles that I gained. For about the past 6 months I've been trying to trim down a bit, yet keep most of my muscle. I found a good balance and currently I perform HIIT cardio about 2 times a week and lift about 5 times a week. This is also what I enjoy, and so it's easier for me to stick with this plan. Some times I may add in 1 day of steady state cardio (every other week or so). This has been trial and error and learning ove the past couple of years.

Good luck and keep trying to find your "sweet" spot

kellyfeb78

Everyone is different but I do both every time I visit the gym, I switch things up so I will do 20 min cardio then some weights then more cardio followed with more weights, I spend almost 2 hours per gym visit doing this and yes I ache when I leave but I can see the difference in my arms, legs and bum a now which keeps me motivated

rybo

Follow a solid lifting program. Do some cardio that you enjoy. Focus on the health benefits and performance and let the weight loss part be controlled by what you eat.

estherdragonbat

I try to walk at least two hours a day (usually broken up; an hour here, 20 minutes there, etc). If I walk less than an hour, I have a fitness glider in the basement and I do an hour on that. If I get between one and two hours of walking, I may use the glider OR I have a book on strength training that includes multiple exercises for each muscle and/or muscle group, plus suggested full-body workouts, plus weights-and-cardio interval workouts and I do the basic one to warm up and then one that involves dumbbells and a 9" 'bouncy' ball. (I'd never heard of HIIT before joining MFP. From what I can see, these aren't intense enough to qualify; I log them as light calisthenics.)

For strength training, right now, I'm doing a full-body workout every other day. If that starts to feel boring, I'll use resistance tubes and bands and maybe alternate days upper- and lower-body.

I read that just sitting on a stability ball is great for core stabilization so I spend a few minutes each day on one, long enough to read a chapter of Great Expectations. And on strength-training days, when I need to take a 1-minute rest between sets, I get back on that ball and read a little more.

So far, it's working for me. I'm noticing that I've got more energy. I can lift a 15-pound dumbbell, even if it's still a little heavy for me to use in a workout. (I'm mostly using 8s and 10s. The fitness store near me doesn't have any 12s in stock at the moment, but I'm starting to think it might be time.) And this week, a friend asked to borrow some books and I put about 8 or 9 hard covers in a reusable bag to bring. I barely felt the strain, but I think her husband was surprised at the weight when he took it from me. (I don't want to say it was too heavy for him. More 'He didn't see me puffing and grunting as I walked up two flights of stairs with the bag, so he wasn't prepared for the actual weight'.)

mmapags

stanmann571 wrote: »

cqbkaju wrote: »

In most cases you should do strength training first, often around 3 days per week at somewhere from 5RM to 8RM.
Focus on compound lifts.
You can then do cardio afterwards or on days that you do not lift.

Doing cardio first will impact the quality of your weight lifting.
If you think it doesn't then you are not lifting anywhere near hard enough to get much in the way of results.

Heavy strength training (relatively speaking) will increase (or at least preserve) muscle mass, increase bone density and offset sarcopenia.
The muscle mass will improve your BMR, thus helping you keep the weight off and making it easier to burn additional fat.

This is good info, although, for a beginner, or relative beginner, there's nothing wrong, and some minor benefits to doing 3-10 minutes of light aerobic warmup before doing your strength training. Just enough to get your HR up and your body warm. Honestly, this is where I think the elliptical is the best cardio machine in the gym because you can get everything moving...

I think this advice is applicable to anyone. Not just beginners. I just a plain old good idea to do before you lift.

markswife1992

i do about 20 minutes of weight lifting 2 to 3 days per week and i do cardio every day.

Okiludy

I found that Cardio on rest days from heavy pulls is a *kitten*. My glutes and hams are pretty sore after squats and dead lifts and if I walk or even use elliptical it slows down recovery. Now my excessive calorie deficit likely played a role also in slow recovery but I would still have DOMS I feel just not as bad even with a calorie excess.

So I stopped cardio on off days and now do 10-20 on treadmill and 10-20 on rowing machine after training sessions. I try and keep the BPM down to 60-70% of max but the rowing machine kicks my *kitten* and makes it scoot up. I also swim at lunch sometimes on lifting days (after work) but I keep it slow and steady (around 1km in 45 minutes or so).

Why do I do this? I want to be fresh and ready for lifts. I am not training for a marathon. I am not training for a 5k. I am training for weight loss and strength. I need recovery to preform squats/bench(or press)/dead lifts every other day. If I exercise too much cardio I screw up my training goals. Now I know I will plateau pretty quick (calorie deficit) but being obese means lifting at a deficit isn't too bad.

Saying all this I am wondering if I can just stop all cardio besides a swim 2x a week. I do not think it helps with anything besides me eating more. Now that is a benefit! Still I think I would recover even better without it at all and I would still lose weight at a deficit.

TL:DR - I do cardio after lifts and do not do any extra exercise on rest days. I am losing weight and getting stronger. I may even drop cardio to next to nothing.

newheavensearth

I do a strength training dvd 3 or 4 mornings a week. Every day I do at least an hour of cardio, either a dvd or treadmill walk/ jog or elliptical. So some mornings I do the cardio dvd and cardio at the gym after work. If I don't do the strength training dvd, I'll do a weight program from the Jefit app. I use 10 to 30 lb dumbbells, and 55 to 120 lb barbells.