Alternating strength training with cardio?

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caseynjason
caseynjason Posts: 96 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Any of you do this? I read something today where alternating days of strength training with cardio will up your weight loss and help you retain muscle and lose more fat. It also said it helps you metabolize fat more in the 12-24 hours after you strength train.

Anyone have more success with this way? I think I am going to try it...treadmill every day is starting to get old. I have been starting pilates, and maybe I could do pilates and strength training a day, then the treadmill the next.

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  • meagalayne
    meagalayne Posts: 3,382 Member
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    It's always a good idea to vary your exercise - to keep your body guessing and also to stay motivated and mitigate against talking yourself out of exercise. Incorporating strength training a few times a week can only be beneficial to your weight-loss. Just make sure you're doing it right and avoiding injury. Body-weight and circuit training is a great way to start. Try incorporating intervals of cardio during your circuits to keep your HR up and burn more calories, if that's your sort of thing - Jumping jacks, knee-highs, skipping, etc all work to this effect.

    A great beginner workout can be found at http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/

    Good luck finding out what works for you!:flowerforyou:
  • waccofatboy
    waccofatboy Posts: 2 Member
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    When I first began the weight loss adventure last February, I didn't alternate cardio and strength. I did a cardio warm up for 12-15 minutes, stretched, specific muscle group training, and then the same cardio as the warm up with an additional 2 minutes to cool down. I had great results. Then I got into Power 90 which alternates. While the workouts were extremely challenging, I don't think I worked as hard or burned as many calories a day. I still had results, but it just took a wee bit longer to get them. The benefit of it was I felt so much better, never run down and never burnt out like I had been a few times before.

    So all in all you can win both either way, I do know people who would advise alternating, and I know people would would tell you cardio just about every day, and strength training 3-4 days (or whatever you need for your goals). Currently, I am doing my Power 90 program again and trying to do some form of cardio every day with the strength every other.
    Also- I agree exercise routines can get very boring. What I have done in the past is just change things up but continue the same path. Like you do the treadmill you could alternate in an elliptical or bike if you have access, stairs (fun but gruesome), or even a jog outside. A little fresh air like once or twice a week is a great way to keep you on your game =)

    Hope this helped, sorry for being long winded.
  • safetyscott
    safetyscott Posts: 66 Member
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    I do treadmill everyday and weights every second day....when weight training a rest day for muscle repair is important. Ive lost 60lb doing this combined with diet.
  • caseynjason
    caseynjason Posts: 96 Member
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    Thanks everyone! I think I will give it a try, treadmill is working so far, but I think it is important to keep building muscle so I can more efficiently burn fat even when resting.
  • AmandaR910
    AmandaR910 Posts: 991
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    I'm thinking about trying this as I've just started adding in strength training.

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