Best combination of strength and cardio

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lma0423
lma0423 Posts: 78 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I currently weigh 170 and my goal weight is 155. I've heard that the best thing for weight loss and to shape your body is 3 days of strength and one day of cardio. This makes sense to me if I were at my goal weight and wanted to tone, but I still have 15 lbs to lose, shouldn't I do more cardio? I also stay within my calories and eat them back after cardio.
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  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
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    I suspect that everyone is going to tell you to lift more. Lifting is all the rage. I find, however, that lifting does not burn calories for me, and does not result in weight loss. But, I can run and bike pounds off quite easily. I am also much less hungry after cardio than I am after lifting, which makes achieving a calorie deficit easier.
    Course, I am in good shape. i can run 8-10 miles if I want (barring injury), and bike 30-40 miles.
    If you can't do those kind of burns it might be different. But, I don't really think so.
  • lhergenr
    lhergenr Posts: 242 Member
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    3 days of lifting is good..Maybe add 15 minutes of HIIT to your workout for 1 or 2 of those days. Then devote one day to cardio only. You'll figure out what works best for you in time.
  • dandandee
    dandandee Posts: 301 Member
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    I'm in no way an expert on working out, heck I'm pretty new to it myself, but I find that while lifting is great and super important I need more than 1 day of cardio to see results. 15 pounds is also what I'm aiming to lose and there's no way my body would shed 15 pounds by just lifting. Plus, I enjoy my cardio.

    I try to do 2-3 days of cardio and after I'm done my cardio I move on to lifting. so it's all packed into 1 workout session. Some people like splitting up cardio and lifting but it works for me to have it all in one day.
  • lma0423
    lma0423 Posts: 78 Member
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    Ideally I'd like to do 2 days of strength and 3 of cardio, would this be a bad idea?
  • Jennaissance
    Jennaissance Posts: 212
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    Why not just do a little of both every day?
  • redraidergirl2009
    redraidergirl2009 Posts: 2,560 Member
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    Do hiit cardio regularly, it's shorter, but you burns more fat that way. Like tabata sets. You can download an app on your phone for times,
  • CalJur
    CalJur Posts: 627 Member
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    Sex. Seriously depends on what you are trying to accomplish.
  • crobinson0923
    crobinson0923 Posts: 57
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    I do 10 min cardio, weight lifting routine and then 30 min on the bike after that... 5 days a week
  • squirrelythegreat
    squirrelythegreat Posts: 158 Member
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    What I was always told in university classes was 3 days strength, 5-6 days cardio. Assuming cardio is somewhere in the 40 minutes - 60 minutes range. Cardio being before strength on those days. Maybe its outdated nowadays.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    From a strictly body composition standpoint you need exactly ZERO cardio.

    Strength training is king. Cardio has benefits for your heart and endurance.

    I wouldn't drop to less than 3x/week of strength training. Add cardio per your preference. Just make sure to feed appropriately.
  • punkin_p
    punkin_p Posts: 29
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    Try lifting heavy and then try telling me that lifting isn't cardio in and of itself. I have to take a knee between squat sets to catch my breath.

    Slow, steady state cardio is very detrimental to strength building, and it is usually not recommended to do both if you are serious about gaining strength and recompositioning your body. HIIT, sprints, that kind of cardio does not have the same detrimental effects on strength and typically speaking has more benefits anyways.

    But it all depends on your fitness goals. If you want to look better naked, lifting heavy will get you there most efficiently. If you want to run a marathon or are obsessed with the number on the scale, your goals will be different.
  • vanguardfitness
    vanguardfitness Posts: 720 Member
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    resistance training with compound lifts and maybe 1 or 2 days of cardio is enough. The fat loss has more to do with diet.
  • realdog2usa
    realdog2usa Posts: 29 Member
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    I do 1 hr cardio everyday ... your heart is a muscle that must be exercised.... what does my 1 hour consist of... right now, I love the outdoors, but it's winter & I discovered 10 months ago that I love Zumba so I'm currently doing Zumba 5 to 6 times a week until the spring thaw when I can do more outdoor activities. I have been getting one, 1 hr hike in each week, more in warmer months. I've been slack in going to gym. ... 1 hr a week on elliptical machine, This month (2) sculpting classes (per week) with weights and finally 1 or 2 Dance Fitness classes - Salsa & Reggaeton (in a week). This IS my week and I start all over with a new week, and so far this year, NO DAYS OFF, I ask myself when it gets tough... HOW BAD DO I WANT IT... ???

    I'm aware that I need to work on strength training... I do 100 sit-ups each night (past 2 months) holding a 4 lb. medicine ball behind my head... I started the Jillian 30 day shred first of December and after 2 or 3 days I came down with the flu which knocked me down for almost 2 weeks...

    I've been back on board and going strong since the New Year Holiday with "NO DAYS OFF" and hour cardio everyday ... I've not become extremely fatigued... I switch around my actities to prevent that from happening. OH, I also bicycle, you will burn an insane amount of calories on a bike... try it wearing a heart rate monitor.

    My personal fitness campaign began Mar 1st last year... My personal trainer took my measurements tonight, compared to mid April last year there are significant results in every area.... I'm far from finished... Miles to go before I sleep! hahahha I love myself, love what I see in the mirror, love my new 32" Levi jeans (down from the one 38" dress pants I wore to Church on Sundays, wore shorts all the other days). I love my new lifestyle... I now live to be healthy... and the best part is I'm not finished...

    So what's the right mix of cardio - strength... I'd say cardio most days... perhaps 3 or 4 days alternating strength 2 to 3 times a week. You'll find what works... Just keep moving... :) moving in the right direction... strive for progress not perfection!

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  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    I currently weigh 170 and my goal weight is 155. I've heard that the best thing for weight loss and to shape your body is 3 days of strength and one day of cardio. This makes sense to me if I were at my goal weight and wanted to tone, but I still have 15 lbs to lose, shouldn't I do more cardio? I also stay within my calories and eat them back after cardio.

    so you're going to do more cardio, but then on cardio days you're going to eat all your calories back to net zero? Do you see where I'm going with this? If you can't meet your calorie goal without doing cardio, then by all means do it. But if you can hit your calorie goal without doing, why would you do it?

    (And before 16 people chime in with a chorus of "BUT IT'S GOOD FOR YOUR HAWWT!!", she asked about getting "tone", not getting ready for a 10k or the Heart Rate Olympics)
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    I do 2-3 days lifting. 2-3 days cardio.
  • lma0423
    lma0423 Posts: 78 Member
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    Thanks for all the replies! So since I'm not obsessed with the number on the scale and would rather see my body change I guess I will stick with 3 days of strength training and a day of HIIT cardio. From what I understand, if I strength train and do too much cardio I'm kinda taking away from the strength training.
  • BenderFitness
    BenderFitness Posts: 349
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    I run and do HIIT style workouts. I think it's improtant to figure out what works for you.
  • sarahstrezo
    sarahstrezo Posts: 568 Member
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    Thanks for all the replies! So since I'm not obsessed with the number on the scale and would rather see my body change I guess I will stick with 3 days of strength training and a day of HIIT cardio. From what I understand, if I strength train and do too much cardio I'm kinda taking away from the strength training.

    If you are serious about this....lift. And lift Heavy.

    I've been running since April of 2012 and I got down to what I thought was my "goal weight"...and guess what...I was not happy with how my body looked naked. I assumed that once I hit my "goal weight", I'd have the body I pictured in my head. Not so. So....in September, I started lifting heavy and THAT is giving me the body I had in mind. Slowly, but surely...I'm seeing the results I am after. No...the scale is not moving incredibly fast, BUT....my measurements are changing and my body is changing for the better.
    I lift heavy 3 days a week doing mostly compound lifts. I do small amounts of cardio after if my legs have any strength left...maybe 10-15 minutes. Then, I try to get a 3-4 mile run in at least once on the weekend.
  • Goal_Seeker_1988
    Goal_Seeker_1988 Posts: 1,619 Member
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    Bump
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    I currently weigh 170 and my goal weight is 155. I've heard that the best thing for weight loss and to shape your body is 3 days of strength and one day of cardio. This makes sense to me if I were at my goal weight and wanted to tone, but I still have 15 lbs to lose, shouldn't I do more cardio? I also stay within my calories and eat them back after cardio.

    You eat less doing the lifting, because it burns less, if you want to keep the same deficit anyway. And this assures it's fat loss, not muscle that cardio only would be prone to cause.

    So eat back what MFP gives as lifting estimate, not HRM, which is invalid for calorie burns for anaerobic exercise.

    Oh, skip the HIIT advice, you will already be doing lifting. HIIT is like lifting for sport specific. Don't waste your time on a different anaerobic exercise you probably actually won't get the most out of anyway - if you did the lifting correctly.

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