Lifting soon and was wondering how many days can I do cardio

Sreneesa

Hi y'all!

I have been doing strength training with weights up to 20lbs dumbbells or 40lbs on barbell at home using fitnessblender, those numbers are mainly for lower body when doing squats, lunges, etc. Up to 15lb dumbbells for upper body. I usually strength train three to four days a week. With fitnessblender its more a combo of strength training and cardio so I still burn a good amount of calories.

Recently, I joined a gym that opened up by my house. Now, I want to try lifting using StrongLifts but my question is how many times a week can I still do cardio like stairmaster and running on treadmill? I still want to lose weight so not incorporating cardio isn't an option for me. And do not want to do HIIT so just wanted some opinions on duration of cardio session and how many times a week is cool along with Stronglift routine? I do not have much weight to lose, perhaps another 15-17lb or so(gained a few lbs... lol... having too much fun lately, but I'm cool with that. Was worth it. lol), and I'm not flabby or anything, more like firm fat if that makes sense. I would like to have more definition, lose the fat I have to reveal my muscles more without losing or minimizing muscle loss. Done good so far keeping muscles and my routine has paid off but just want to step it up with lifting.

Also, it seems like lifting gives you faster results so that is the main reason why I am interested.

Any thoughts?

Thank you kind people ahead of time! Greatly appreciated!


Edit: I'm asking this due to conflicting things I have read saying for example, when lifting not to do cardio no more than 2-3x a week and no longer than 30 min duration or it may interfere with muscle repair. But since I'm not building muscle due to being on a deficit and just preserving my current muscle does that advice apply to me? Confused... lol

Sreneesa

Bump

Serah87

I lift heavy 5 days a week, alternating upper and lower body and I walk 6 miles 6 days a week, with 1 day as my rest day.

ETA: I am eating in maintenance.

Llamapants86

I do SL 3x a week and run 4 or 5 times a week. Shorter runs after SL longer run once or twice a week with one complete rest day.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/4618-stronglifts-5x5-for-women
That's a great group of people with lots of helpful info.

JoRocka

whatever feels like a comfortable sustainable amount to you.

There is no "right" answer to how much when you're only goal is weight loss.

If you were training or bulking I'd have a different answer- but focus on the diet- do cardio when the spirit moves you- life on a schedule and be happy with your new body.

I'm cutting- so I do more cardio than normal- 2-3 times a week plus dance class.


Bulking- I only ever did dance- I never had dedicated cardio- I didn't want to be piling on over 3500 calories every time I did cardio.

Sreneesa

@ Christianwife Thank you for your answer. You look great!

So in your opinion you would say it would be okay for me to do say, 30 minutes of cardio(running/jogging on say 5.0 speed after lifting, which would be three days a week, and perhaps, on off days, 2 days of say 30 min running on treadmill and 30 minutes on stairmaster? So a total of 3x lifting and 5x cardio without it interfering with muscle repair? Just trying to rap this around my head since there is so much conflicting opinions out there on the internet. lol

WildBillR

Do the StrongLifts (SL 5x5) three days a week, and you should be able to do things like cardio (running, biking) or yoga on alternate days for 30-45 minutes. I wouldn't go overboard with the cardio though. You're not trying to gain muscle, since you're still eating at a deficit. Stick with that plan, and you should be fine.

jescamp9481

bump

Sreneesa

Thanks JoRocka! You look awesome as well!

I guess I needed to hear that because I'm not bulking or anything so glad you broke it down for me.

eimaj5575

Bump

KMasz

For the past couple of months, I've been following new rules of lifting for women. I run during the day at work (around 12:30pm) for 45 minutes and then lift after work (around 5:00 pm) for 60 minutes: both on the same day, three times a week. That also leaves room for a run on the weekends, or hiking because I like to hike. It works for me because my muscles don't get sore from running in the time span before lifting and it allows my muscles the rest & repair time needed. I may be wrong, and someone should correct me if I am, but I don't think it matters if you are trying to build muscle or just maintain it, your muscles need the repair time regardless.

Again, this is what works for me, I'm not sure if it would for you as well, but you can give it a shot to see how it feels.

Good Luck!

Sreneesa

LLamapants looking good girl!

Thank you for your answer. I'm starting today!

Sreneesa

Thanks Wild! 30-45 mins of cardio seems very fair!

Sreneesa

Thanks KMasz!

Yes, you are right about muscles needing time to repair. I'm just used to doing a split strength training workout. Upper one day then lower the next. But with SL it total body so was just wondering if I could do some cardio, if I'm not sore, the next day.

But I will incorporate 30 mins after lifting and on off days maybe to a run, if I'm sore for under 30 mins to get blood circulating.

BernadetteChurch

You don't NEED to do cardio to lose weight - all you need is a calorie deficit.

But if you enjoy cardio then do whatever you feel capable of doing.

Hornsby

I lift heavy 5 days a week (1 hr per day), and do cardio around 10-15 hours per week. Basically, I'm saying you can do however much cardio you want.

Sreneesa

You don't NEED to do cardio to lose weight - all you need is a calorie deficit.

But if you enjoy cardio then do whatever you feel capable of doing.

Thanks for your answer.

I know I do not need cardio but cardio helps me to lose it quicker since I do have my exercise calories already countered into my daily calories which is 1800 cals. I honestly could be doing almost 2000 calories a day according to Scooby at .5 lbs a week. So I have to do exercise that will burn a certain amount of calories in order to eat my daily calories.

Edit: Actually for .5 a week I could eat a little more. lol... that estimate was based on .9lbs a week.

Sreneesa

THanks Hornsby! Love the sound of that! LOL

JoRocka

I know I do not need cardio but cardio helps me to lose it quicker since I do have my exercise calories already countered into my daily calories which is 1800 cals. I honestly could be doing almost 2000 calories a day according to Scooby at .5 lbs a week. So I have to do exercise that will burn a certain amount of calories in order to eat my daily calories.

what?

Sreneesa

I know I do not need cardio but cardio helps me to lose it quicker since I do have my exercise calories already countered into my daily calories which is 1800 cals. I honestly could be doing almost 2000 calories a day according to Scooby at .5 lbs a week. So I have to do exercise that will burn a certain amount of calories in order to eat my daily calories.

what?

According to Scooby for me to be able to eat my daily calories I have to exercise 3-5 hours a week. Adding the cardio brings it that total as well as burns more calories. Maybe I didn't say it correctly.

Edit.: sorry for mistakes.. stupid phone. lol

cwolfman13

There is really no "right" answer here...the answer would be highly dependent on your fitness goals. Right now I'm training for a cycling event so I'm spending a lot of time on my bike and only lifting a couple of days per week and doing more muscular endurance type of lifting than heavy lifting in order to get all of mileage in.

When I'm done with my event I will move to more of a balanced fitness regimen where I basically lift 3x weekly full body and do 3-4 days weekly of cycling or swimming for 45 - 60 minutes on alternating days.

Sreneesa

Thanks Cwolfman!

Makes sense.

spoiledpuppies

FWIW, I'm working with a trainer for heavy lifting. He doesn't want me to doing any regular cardio--only HIIT 1-2 days per week (1 if I'm in a lifting phase of 4 days per week, 2 days of HIIT if I'm lifting just 2 days). He said that if I must do regular cardio for my own pleasure, it should be for no longer than 40 minutes and no more than 70% of my max heart rate. I haven't done any regular cardio in a couple of months now.

Basically, he said that regular cardio and heavy lifting would ask my body to pursue competing goals.

livinatthegym

Hi. It is totally up to you. Listen to your body and see how it feels. I do cardio at least one hour six days a week and on mon, tue, thur, I do an extra hour in the evening. I also swim at least 3 x's a week, do TRX 3x's a week and I lift weights 4x's a week. It works for me and feels right. The bottom line is this routine may be too hard for some and too easy for others...you have to gauge yourself and do what feels best. Best of luck to you!

Rose6300

I just finished up 12 weeks of Stronglifts, while eating at a deficit. My primary goal was to retain muscle while losing weight. I did SL 3x a week and cardio (37 minutes kickboxing video) 3x a week on intervening days.

When I started to stall in weight progression, I I kept confusing myself with the "don't do cardio" advice, as I really wanted to progress in my weights, as the SL program is pretty focused on this progression. But I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't going to build that much strength (deficit eating) and that I really wanted to keep doing cardio because I'd found it so difficult when I started out (thus I reasoned that I really needed to keep at it or I'd lose my cardio progress).

Ultimately, I decided to keep at the cardio but not push myself too hard at it, as when I did it left me drained for the following day's lifting session. And instead of the SL "add 5 pounds every session until you stall/if you fail 3 times deload/add 5 pounds....." approach I ended up just sticking at my stalled weight for as long as I needed to.

I think a good approach is to decide on your personal goals and remind yourself of them periodically.

Sreneesa

FWIW, I'm working with a trainer for heavy lifting. He doesn't want me to doing any regular cardio--only HIIT 1-2 days per week (1 if I'm in a lifting phase of 4 days per week, 2 days of HIIT if I'm lifting just 2 days). He said that if I must do regular cardio for my own pleasure, it should be for no longer than 40 minutes and no more than 70% of my max heart rate. I haven't done any regular cardio in a couple of months now.

Basically, he said that regular cardio and heavy lifting would ask my body to pursue competing goals.

This would be the reason I started the thread. lol...Seeing this on the internet caused me to get confused....

Are you bulking? or eating at a deficit to lose weight but trying to preserve muscle?


Edit: I could deal with doing just 30 minutes of cardio.

lrmall01

Just FYI, here is a write up on cardio from the Stronglifts website.

http://stronglifts.com/cardio-fat-loss-hiit-vs-long-duratio-cardio/

willrun4bagels

@ Christianwife Thank you for your answer. You look great!

So in your opinion you would say it would be okay for me to do say, 30 minutes of cardio(running/jogging on say 5.0 speed after lifting, which would be three days a week, and perhaps, on off days, 2 days of say 30 min running on treadmill and 30 minutes on stairmaster? So a total of 3x lifting and 5x cardio without it interfering with muscle repair? Just trying to rap this around my head since there is so much conflicting opinions out there on the internet. lol

To add to what others have said, and speaking as someone that just started Stronglifts 5x5 last week, I do not feel I'd be able to do any cardio right after lifting. So if you anticipate lifting for 45 mins to complete one of the SL workouts and then hopping on the treadmill for 30 mins of running, you may not be able to do all 30 mins (but as with anything, YMMV). I walked for 5 mins on the treadmill this morning after completing workout B and could barely move my legs. I'd stick with cardio on non-lifting days to make the best use of your time.

Sreneesa

Hi. It is totally up to you. Listen to your body and see how it feels. I do cardio at least one hour six days a week and on mon, tue, thur, I do an extra hour in the evening. I also swim at least 3 x's a week, do TRX 3x's a week and I lift weights 4x's a week. It works for me and feels right. The bottom line is this routine may be too hard for some and too easy for others...you have to gauge yourself and do what feels best. Best of luck to you!

Thank you!

Sreneesa

Just FYI, here is a write up on cardio from the Stronglifts website.

http://stronglifts.com/cardio-fat-loss-hiit-vs-long-duratio-cardio/

Thanks! Ill check it out!

Sreneesa

I just finished up 12 weeks of Stronglifts, while eating at a deficit. My primary goal was to retain muscle while losing weight. I did SL 3x a week and cardio (37 minutes kickboxing video) 3x a week on intervening days.

When I started to stall in weight progression, I I kept confusing myself with the "don't do cardio" advice, as I really wanted to progress in my weights, as the SL program is pretty focused on this progression. But I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't going to build that much strength (deficit eating) and that I really wanted to keep doing cardio because I'd found it so difficult when I started out (thus I reasoned that I really needed to keep at it or I'd lose my cardio progress).

Ultimately, I decided to keep at the cardio but not push myself too hard at it, as when I did it left me drained for the following day's lifting session. And instead of the SL "add 5 pounds every session until you stall/if you fail 3 times deload/add 5 pounds....." approach I ended up just sticking at my stalled weight for as long as I needed to.

I think a good approach is to decide on your personal goals and remind yourself of them periodically.

Good advice!

Thank you!