Strength training enough for healthy lifestyle

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stphnstevey
stphnstevey Posts: 68
in Fitness and Exercise
I want to ensure I am doing the enough exercise for a healthy lifestyle. I am doing 1hr strength/weight training about every other day

I think the recommended amount of exercise is about 20mins every day.
Does it matter if I am not exercising everyday?
Overall I am getting more than the recommended (7x20mins) 140mins/wk - about 180-240mins
Do I need to do cardio or is any exercise that raises my heart rate good enough?

Replies

  • PattyC64
    PattyC64 Posts: 56 Member
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    I think that every other day is fine for strength training. You can do cardio every day. You may want to try cardio on your off days.
  • stphnstevey
    stphnstevey Posts: 68
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    To be honest I DON'T want to do cardio - I like to eat back my exercise calories so i don't get into to big a defecit and go into starvation mode. I just want to do the stregth training but I am worried that for my own fitness, strength training alone is not ideal
  • aproc
    aproc Posts: 1,033 Member
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    I almost never do cardio. I do weights about 5 days a week and thats it.
  • bkesecker
    bkesecker Posts: 163 Member
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    It is my opinion that you need some cardio for heart health.
  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
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    I second your opinion. At the very least, I would urge you to do bout 20 mins cardio at teh beginning of your lifting sessions to get the blood pumping and lungs working - I am sure your lifting records will improve as a result of lifting warm.

    Also consider stretching slowly after a lifting session and even specifically on off days.
  • stphnstevey
    stphnstevey Posts: 68
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    My heart is pumping by the end of a strength workout!

    This is where it gets confusing, my heart rate is raised, but is that enough for healthy cardiovascular system

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