How much cardio do you do?

ticribbs
ticribbs Posts: 120 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
For those of you that strength train what is your workout plan like? How much cardio do you do and how many rest days do you take?
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Replies

  • BlueBombers
    BlueBombers Posts: 4,064 Member
    About 20 minute warm-up on the treadmill followed by 30-40 minutes of lifting, alternate upper and lower body each day. Some days I skip the treadmill if I have done a lot of walking throughout the day and just lift.

    I also go for walks on my coffee breaks at work as I have a desk job. Also take the dog out for his walks.

    Lift 5 days per week.
  • MrGonzo05
    MrGonzo05 Posts: 1,120 Member
    My cardio is unstructured and I wouldn't dare call it training. In the summertime it's quite a bit of cycling. Typically I'll do a least one 30 mile ride on the weekend, sometimes more. Also a bit of running. In the winter I ride an exercise bike or shovel snow. Lol.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    I don't do any cardio.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    I do 35 minutes of stair stepper 5 days a week after I finish lifting, then about an hour of whatever -usually running- once a week.
  • adaybetter
    adaybetter Posts: 51 Member
    Maybe 60 mins total a week. Nothing to extreme. I eat pretty healthy all the time
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    I don't do any cardio either. Every now and then I'll do 10-minute interval sprints but not often.
  • albertabeefy
    albertabeefy Posts: 1,169 Member
    I lift 3 days per week. On two of those lifting days I also do HIIT (high-intensity-interval-training).

    At least two NON-lifting days per week I also do HIIT (overall I do HIIT 4x per week) and occasionally (if I feel like it) I do some steady-state cardio.

    I don't like steady-state cardio EXCEPT for long bicycle rides ... (and where I ride it's mountainous, so it's not really 'steady-state'). Oh, and I only like those when the weather is nice.

    I likely do WAY more cardio that most people because as a diabetic, it helps my glycaemic control incredibly. If not for that I'd do it considerably less.

    That being said ... and FYI even if you skip traditional cardio, and limit your exercise to strength training, you're ALSO doing "cardio" in that you're elevating your heart rate much in the same manner as any other interval training. Many people are exceptionally healthy even though they don't ever do anything on a treadmill, elliptical, bike, or jog, etc.
  • albertabeefy
    albertabeefy Posts: 1,169 Member
    ... hit the wrong damn button. Ignore post please =D
  • bgarganera
    bgarganera Posts: 22
    Lift about 4-5 x a week
    Cardio 3x a week (1 HIIT session, two moderate paced sessions on treadmill)

    Always do cardio after my lifts as I don't want it to affect my strength training.
  • craftywitch_63
    craftywitch_63 Posts: 829 Member
    I'm probably going to be beaten with thousands of wet noodles by serious lifters for this, but I lift about to 1/2 hour per day 5 days a week and do cardio every single day for about 90 minutes and I swim for about an hour twice a week. I'm training for a 5K, so I run or use the elliptical quite often.

    I always do my strength training before the cardio because I hate lifting, so I get it out of the way first.
  • snazzyjazzy21
    snazzyjazzy21 Posts: 1,298 Member
    Atm I do elliptical 3x a week for 45min and HIIT 3x a week. If I didn't do cardio I think I'd lose my mind. And get caught by zombies.
  • craftywitch_63
    craftywitch_63 Posts: 829 Member
    Atm I do elliptical 3x a week for 45min and HIIT 3x a week. If I didn't do cardio I think I'd lose my mind. And get caught by zombies.

    I'll protect you. It's my sworn duty as a certified zombie killer!! :happy:
  • Left4Good
    Left4Good Posts: 304
    Every day around 25 minutes.
  • karinamazzetti
    karinamazzetti Posts: 1 Member
    Comparing to what I experienced this past year, I can tell you a few things you should find useful:

    Depending on how close you are to your ideal weight these days, and if you have an elliptical machine available, I can tell you about myself that I have lost so far 20 pounds (safely 1 to 2 lbs. per week). This equals to 3,500 caloric deficit a week or 500 cal. less than what your daily calorie intake for maintenance should be, depending on what your weight is now. However, your calorie burning gets higher if you exercise everyday -- no rest -- unless you have to. I do 30 minutes on the elliptical at level six. This means that I burn 600 cal. in those 30 min at that resistance level. Your body will not be as achy as people think because if you kidneys work properly, you should not accumulate any lactic acid which could produce discomfort. 30 min workout everyday, believe it or not, will be fine. If you have anymore questions for me, post them or on my homepage.

    Vitko
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Depends on my current goals
  • snazzyjazzy21
    snazzyjazzy21 Posts: 1,298 Member
    Comparing to what I experienced this past year, I can tell you a few things you should find useful:

    Depending on how close you are to your ideal weight these days, and if you have an elliptical machine available, I can tell you about myself that I have lost so far 20 pounds (safely 1 to 2 lbs. per week). This equals to 3,500 caloric deficit a week or 500 cal. less than what your daily calorie intake for maintenance should be, depending on what your weight is now. However, your calorie burning gets higher if you exercise everyday -- no rest -- unless you have to. I do 30 minutes on the elliptical at level six. This means that I burn 600 cal. in those 30 min at that resistance level. Your body will not be as achy as people think because if you kidneys work properly, you should not accumulate any lactic acid which could produce discomfort. 30 min workout everyday, believe it or not, will be fine. If you have anymore questions for me, post them or on my homepage.

    Vitko

    ....what?
  • dt3312
    dt3312 Posts: 212 Member
    I do a variation of what you do. I do about 15 minutes of cardio (elliptical or exercycle or recumbent elliptical). Then I do strength training, but sometimes after a while I go back and do a few minutes of cardio to get my heart rate higher. I can't lift really heavy weights right now because of a shoulder issue. After strength training I do pilates and flexibility type exercises. This is what I do about 3 times a week. On two days a week I go to Yolaties class for an hour which is lots of core and balance work.
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
    My main 'cardio' is that I walk everywhere with a 6kg child on my front and a rucksack on my back :wink:

    However, my lifting has just become cardio too as I have reached my limits and 5 reps on the squats requires a good minute or two to get my heart beat back down.
  • GI_John_RN
    GI_John_RN Posts: 48 Member
    My current training plan has me running 2 miles x 5 days a week. The rest of the training is body weight strength training.
  • alexveksler
    alexveksler Posts: 409 Member
    60 min elliptical. Precor 420. Everyday. I average 6 days per week.
  • HarrietSabre
    HarrietSabre Posts: 186 Member
    I aim for pilates strength training (not focusing on yoga-style moves, more on press-up and sit-up and lunge variations), sometimes with smaller weights on at least 3 days a week, and aim for a mix of cardio (either a gym session where I do 10 minutes on each machine for a total of 40-50 minutes or 30-60 minutes of aerobics-style stuff) and those body-weight strength moves 3 times a week.
  • katro111
    katro111 Posts: 632 Member
    I lift 3x per week, walk my dog for 45-60 minutes every day (sometimes more on the weekends if it's nice out) and do 1x per week of "intense" cardio (either cycling class, HIIT on the treadmill or a combo of stair climber + elliptical).
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Right now, a lot...but I'm training for a cycling event. Usually I only do about 45 - 60 minutes of riding 3-4x per week and lift 3x per week. I generally take 2 rest days. A rest day doesn't mean I just sit on my *kitten* though...I still go walk the dog or whatever and get a few miles in...play golf, general recreational activities with my kids, etc.
  • brandiuntz
    brandiuntz Posts: 2,717 Member
    When I'm not playing a sport that takes up all my time (currently football), I lift weights 3 times a week and run 3 times a week. I'm using StrongLifts for the weightlifting and I run anywhere from 3-9 miles per run, depending on what kind of race I'm preparing for.
  • Leadfoot_Lewis
    Leadfoot_Lewis Posts: 1,623 Member
    I do cardio and/or abs on days I don't lift. On average I do cardio about 1-2/week
  • cardbucfan
    cardbucfan Posts: 10,571 Member
    Let the beatings begin for me too. I never have days where I'm like "oh boy! I get to lift today!". But I do say "Oh boy! It's my favorite spin class!" Or "yay! It's time for my dance class!". I lift 3 times a week first thing (all compound stuff) because I like the results and know I need it but I spin 3 times a week, do the dance class once, and do HIIT once. I also golf a couple of times too. I do all that because I love it.
  • DizzieLittleLifter
    DizzieLittleLifter Posts: 1,020 Member
    2 sessions of HIIT (6 intervals) and 1 session of 45min LISS. Usually a run. I Lift 5 days a week and am in contest prep for Bikini.
  • jlclabo
    jlclabo Posts: 588 Member
    i train 5-7 days a week, all depends on if my body is up for it. weights are anywhere from 45mins-3hours and cardio is anywhere from 30mins to 1.5 hours. i go to the gym twice a day, weights early then cardio at night.
  • loubidy
    loubidy Posts: 440 Member
    On a strength training day I do a five minute cardio warm up, usually the stationary rower and a ten minute finisher often on the bike. (up to 3x a week)

    I go to Les Mills Body Combat three times a week and sometimes go for a run or a walk.

    I'm quite unstructured so my weeks vary but as I am aiming for fat loss right now I do quite a lot more cardio than I'll probably do when I'm maintaining.
  • ticribbs
    ticribbs Posts: 120 Member
    As the OP it's probably fair that I give mine ;)....So I'm not exactly strength training yet, I'm trying to work myself up to that so I created a 30 day plan of incremental increases in crunches, leg raises, planking, push-ups, and squats. Each day I'm still either doing 20 minutes on the treadmill or 30 minutes on the elliptical plus 20 minutes on the bike. After 30 days I might try weights.

    Edit - I am taking 1 rest day a week.

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