Best combination of strength and cardio

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.

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.

Why not just do a little of both every day?

Sex. Seriously depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

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 Maybe its outdated nowadays.

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.

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!

I do 2-3 days lifting. 2-3 days cardio.

I run and do HIIT style workouts. I think it's improtant to figure out what works for you.

Bump

The best thing for weight loss is eating at a deficit and/or cardio to burn calories. It is possible to lose weight (quite rapidly) from eating at a deficit alone. But you are losing lean body mass as well as fat.

The scale is not the only thing that matters. If you care about shape and 'firmness', you should do strength exercises too. And although they do not burn as many calories at the time of doing the exercise, the after-burn and effects of raising your BMR from building more muscle (muscle = more metabolically active than fat) are not to be discounted.

You're right - slow steady-state cardio (going for a 5 mile run, for example) is very detrimental to strength gains. Take a look at marathon runners then take a look at sprinters. Completely different bodies, right? If you're running for a long time at low intensity, it is beneficial to lose any and all mass, so slow steady state cardio causes you to lose muscle mass as well as fat, and usually doesn't change your percentage body fat much if at all. HIIT, sprints, that kind of thing require you to be stronger in order to get better, and so will help to preserve muscle mass.

So if you want to do cardio without hurting your gainz, make it intense
But you can skip it altogether if you want. Right now I'm completely focused on strength building, so that's all I do and I'm having great results. But eventually I will add in sprints because it's something I want to be good at.

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.

I agree with this. I do a little cardio just to keep my heart healthy, but you can bet your *kitten* I'm not spending hours on the dreadmill...20 minutes of HIIT 2x a week will do it...I'd rather spend my time lifting and my body looks better that way anyway. Calories can be controlled through diet.