Working out twice in one day - weight training or cardio?

robinmltn
robinmltn Posts: 11
in Fitness and Exercise
I already went to the gym this morning and did a half hour on the stair master followed by 30 min of strength training (I worked my shoulders), but then I proceeded to eat A TON of food the rest of the day. I am 5'7" and weigh 133 lbs. I am looking to lose some body fat and then build muscle. If I plan to go back to the gym tonight, would it be better to do some cardio (if I do it, it'll be a HIIT workout) or should I do more strength training? I don't want to go overkill on the cardio and end up losing any muscle I may have gained. Or would it be better to just wait until tomorrow to work out again?

Replies

  • weeble2008
    weeble2008 Posts: 147 Member
    BUMP!
  • TexasGolfPro
    TexasGolfPro Posts: 3 Member
    Personally, I would just wait until tomorrow, and be very diligent about food as well. Don't try to make up for today, but just eat as clean as possible.
  • iWaffle
    iWaffle Posts: 2,208 Member
    I already went to the gym this morning and did a half hour on the stair master followed by 30 min of strength training (I worked my shoulders), but then I proceeded to eat A TON of food the rest of the day.
    It's better for you to do the strength training first in my opinion. Use up the energy you have on the weights and then your body is more likely to go to reserves for the following cardio.

    The only food I tie in with strength training is an after workout protein shake. Just eat good during the day and don't think of it as being tied to a specific workout. Other than trying to spread out some protein in each meal/snack throughout the day just think of the rest of it as being one category of food eaten that day.
    I don't want to go overkill on the cardio and end up losing any muscle I may have gained.
    That's a good idea. I don't believe that a full hour of cardio is going to benefit you since you're already at a weight you like. Excessive cardio will eventually start reducing muscle gains. I just do 30 minutes 5 days a week in the morning and then do strength training 4 nights a week. For me that works out as a good way to split up the workout load and separates the cardio from the weights. It also gives me more time to do strength training when I isolate it. Plus it's really nice to kill your muscles, take a shower, protein shake, and then just go to sleep and not deal with the recovery time. Just sleep through it.

    I'm consistently pulling off about 1 pound a week using this method. Eat good, do 30 minutes of HIIT cardio in the morning, and strength training at night. Mix it around if you like but that's plenty of work out time each day I think.

    EDIT: Of course your calorie intake determines if you're cutting fat or building muscle. Vary as needed.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Cardio.

    There's only so many strength sessions your body can handle in a given time period, whereas you can recover from cardio (within reason, of course) and do another cardio then next day. Your muscles only improve after resting from your lifting. Hit them again and you're basically resetting the rest period, and putting them at risk for overtraining.

    Typically I go in the morning and do strength plus jump rope, then in the evening I go back and cycle. Or cycle with the strength and then do a sprint 8 in the evening. Or go for a long walk.
  • nathaliedessureault7
    nathaliedessureault7 Posts: 1
    wrong answer if u eat good and sleep well it dosent matter everything falls into place thast just lazy talk i am a bodybuilder 190 pds 6 percent body fat and u r
  • PwrLftr82
    PwrLftr82 Posts: 945 Member
    wrong answer if u eat good and sleep well it dosent matter everything falls into place thast just lazy talk i am a bodybuilder 190 pds 6 percent body fat and u r

    Way to resurrect an old thread. I'm sure she's already rested, lifted, or done cardio again at this point more than two years later...
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    wrong answer if u eat good and sleep well it dosent matter everything falls into place thast just lazy talk i am a bodybuilder 190 pds 6 percent body fat and u r

    WAT?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    I don't want to go overkill on the cardio and end up losing any muscle I may have gained.
    Why would you lose muscle doing a bit of cardio? That's just silly, you are more likely to lose muscle sitting down watching TV!

    BTW - I did 6 hours of "cardio" (cycling) yesterday, not losing muscle....

    E.T.A.
    AAAARGH! Zombie thread!
    Wonder if all her muscles melted away? :laugh:
  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
    wrong answer if u eat good and sleep well it dosent matter everything falls into place thast just lazy talk i am a bodybuilder 190 pds 6 percent body fat and u r

    Who are you responding to? Which answer do you think is wrong?

    ???
  • ghosthackexe
    ghosthackexe Posts: 181 Member
    if you over eat your calories still log what you ate and then go by to the gym and do cardio it wont really help you build muscle at all but its probably the fastest way to just straight up burn calories
  • prasadsurve
    prasadsurve Posts: 21 Member
    Cardio.
    If you have already done weight training today, you should let those muscle recover before you stress them again. Muscles build when they are resting after the exercise, exercising them too often without enough rest in between will lead of muscle loss.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    Cardio.
    If you have already done weight training today, you should let those muscle recover before you stress them again. Muscles build when they are resting after the exercise, exercising them too often without enough rest in between will lead of muscle loss.

    OP worked out shoulders. There are plenty of muscles she did not stress.

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