Weight lifting vs Cardio- How many days a week?

I lift 3x a week. I do HIIT 2x a week...but that is new since 2014...prior to that I just lifted.

I do a progressive load program Strong lifts 5x5, which is 2 workouts that alternate and they are compound movements so they work lots of muscles all at once.

Workout A is Squats, Bench press and Rows
Workout B is Squats Overhead press and deadlift

No I don't stretch I do warm up sets, 2 with empty bar, 2 with small weights.

I do 3 days weight training and 3 days cardio broken up as every other day. The 7th day I rest or sometimes do cardio. I use coffee as a pre-workout sometimes but more often than not I just eat a lot of carbs earlier in the day. I try to get all my protein though my food but I do use protein powder if I don't hit my protein that day.

I do weights 4 days/week and cardio 1-2 times and one of those is playing sports, not cardio exercise for the sake of cardio.

I currently lift 6 days a week and don't do any cardio. I don't enjoy cardio and it really doesn't fit with my goals. I do play some sports, at times (basketball or indoor soccer). How much you do of either is going to depend on your goals and your enjoyment level.

Pre-workouts are not necessary, but I do take one (C4 Extreme). I like the boost of energy I get from it. Also, protein drinks aren't necessary unless you are having trouble meeting your protein needs from whole foods.

I don't stretch pre workout. Warm up sets at lighter weights to get warmed up. I will stretch on off days.

Gym time can range from 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours.

I do body pump 3x a week Do minimum 500 push ups 5x a week so thats my strength.. Spin, Insanity, cardio-kick
take up the other days I do not do pump. .

Sorry so many questions here! Haha on average how long are you in the gym lifting? One hour? 2?

40 mins for lifting 4 days/week. The one cardio day would be 25 mins, sports 1 hour

i am a believer that the weights have a greater long term benefit for body change than the cardio but that is based on my own personal results.

m - legs - quads
tu - chest/back
w - hiit/core
th - legs - hamstrings
fr - shoulders/arms
sat/sun - rest.

1hr to 1:15 max for the workout. weight days are 4 weeks heavy weights low reps followed by 2 weeks medium weights medium reps followed by 2 weeks light weights high reps, then start over. hiit training is 20 min, core training is 30 min.

protein target is 1g/lb of bodyweight and i use protein shakes to help hit this number. good luck...

I lift 2-3 days a week this winter, in the spring I will be lifting 4 days a week. I don't do cardio much.

Currently, I lift at least 4 times a week, different body parts each day (Back/Biceps, Chest/Triceps, Shoulders/Traps, Legs). My only cardio consists of tennis, usually at least 2 times a week, much more than that when I can. My warmups consist of a few sets of light weights, though I do usually do static leg stretches at least a few times a week in the gym between exercises. (need to do more stretching (or yoga), since I'm getting a bit more stiff as I get lift more).

I take a preworkout (Pre Jym) before workouts, and a protein/weight gainer shake after working out (and usually first thing in the morning too, since I'm currently trying to gain weight. Once I'm doing trying to gain weight, I will switch programs and begin a pure progressive strength routine, probably something like Stronglifts 5x5.

Obviously, I use MFP to track my calories, though I rarely track my exercise calories. However, since my weight gain may be beginning to stall, I might have to start eating back those calories (though I'm already at 3500 calories a day).

Here's a chart of my lift stats for the first 6 weeks of my current bulking program, along with a few notes



Strength is actually my primary goal. The only reason I'm bulking is because I'm doing this 12 Week Transformation Challenge (not that I mind a bit of extra muscle for aesthetic reasons). I'm doing the Jim Stoppani 12 Week Shortcut to Size Program (can be found on bodybuilding.com).

A few notes on the strength stuff - all stats are "calculated maxes" (except for week 4 deadlift). I use JEFIT to track my workouts which calculates the 1RM.

You may notice that squats are rather up and down. In Week 3, I began squatting to parallel which is why there is a big drop there (I've had 4 knee surgeries, so have always been hesitant to go to parallel). In Week 5, I felt a strange pulling sensation in my lower abs, so I took it really easy that week. I've since been working my core more, since I suspect that my lower abs (TVA specifically) might be weak.

Also, there is a big drop in leg extensions in Week 6. That is because I switched to single leg extensions since my gym's machine only goes to 170lbs (not heavy enough for two legs anymore)

Warm up on the treadmill for about 20-25 mins then follow with heavy lifting-compound lifts (different target area daily) for about 30 mins.

5 x per week

I hate cardio but I am doing my first 5K this summer so I need to work up to that. Come summer no more dreadmill.

Cool! You guys are so informative! So I'm noticing some people are alternating and I thought the seasons comment was way interesting and will have to look more into that. The only real lifting I have done was for physical therapy for my ankle due to a cheerleading injury and experienced pain and weakness when I would dance so that's really all the knowledge I have. All we did for my legs/ankles were on the machines. So my next questions is, how are you counting your calories that you do burn lifting? Some of you mentioned lifting outweighs cardio for your bodies and just curious to how many you are burning. I am all about cardio and it's my favorite exercise plus I'm a Zumba instructor so I won't be ditching the cardio solely for weights either. But curious to know the numbers y'all are pulling!

My calories are calculated with activity level factored in. So, it is different from MFP calculations where I wouldn't need to enter activity and eat those calories back.

However, you can enter strength training under the cardio section and just put in the amount of time spent. Although, it is somewhat inaccurate.

I lift M, W, F, with less than 15 minutes on the arc trainer afterward, except leg day (Friday) because I can barely make it to my car. T, Th I do training for 5K, and Saturday I'm at home, so I'll walk with the kids or do a dvd. Sunday rest. I do warm-up sets, but I don't always remember to stretch afterward. I want to start doing stretching or yoga on Sundays, but I always forget to do it.

ETA that I use a heart rate monitor to measure calorie burns for cardio, lifting I log 1 calorie, because I don't know what my burn is, and a heart rate monitor isn't very useful for non-steady state cardio.

Hmmm..yeah that's what I've noticed. I don't eat the calories I burn but I do like to track what it is that I'm burning and keep a record for my weight loss if that makes sense. Cause I doubt a fitbit would work, right?

That is correct. The FitBit isn't going to give an accurate calorie expenditure for strength training.