Cardio

Four sessions of running, three one hour and one longer run of up to three.
One or two sessions on the bike of an hour, in the summer one of those will get to two or three hours.

I like cardio 4-5 times a week for 45-60 minutes. I don't do any free weights though. I do use the stregnth machines at the gym and do their machine circuit 3 times a week.

I do six hours a week in addition to getting my 10,000 steps in. I do one hour of lap swimming, then go right into a water aerobics class for another hour. Both will strengthen in addition to the cardio.

daviloreana wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

How are you determining that you lose a lot of muscle if you do more than 3 days a week of cardio?

I lift 3x weekly and I get in around 80 miles or so per week on my bike and do some running here and there or I'll do some cross train on the elliptical or hike or whatever...my muscles are just fine.

Muscle loss with cardio is generally only an issue if you are substantially underfeeding your body for your activity or doing some major endurance training.

"a lot of muscle" was a little dramatic, I just feel the long distance running I like to do is slimming me down but is taking away from the toned look I'm trying to achieve. I was just wondering whether decreasing cardio to 1 or 2 days instead of 3 or 4 was too much of a change, especially since most people responded that they are at at least 3 days of cardio.

How long are your runs...this really shouldn't be an issue at all for the average Joe/Jane just out there getting their fitness on. Even when I'm training for a century ride, I don't notice any muscle loss, and that's a good 12-15 weeks of pretty much cardio, cardio, cardio with only a little body weight type of stuff thrown in for good measure.

Really, what this comes down to is your fitness aspirations...there are loads of people who do very little in the way of cardio outside of some walking here and there because their fitness goals don't necessitate it. Others do a ton because they want to run marathons, etc...you should let your fitness goals help determine how much is enough or too much or whatever....

As a matter of general health and fitness, it is recommended that individuals get in at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week...if you're lifting for an hour 4x weekly, I think you're covered if that's all you feel like doing.

daviloreana wrote: »

I just feel the long distance running I like to do is slimming me down but is taking away from the toned look I'm trying to achieve.

What sort of mileage are you doing?

It's extremely unlikely, as cwolfman says, that running is significantly depleting unless you're not fueling your training effectively.

Unless you're looking at elite level marathon performances there's no reason to be losing mass.

I totally get what you mean - it's not losing muscle, it's more the 'flat' feeling I get after doing more cardio. I stick to the tread climber three days a week and run on day four. Yoga three times a week and I lift five. I have found that my diet leads to that 'flat' feeling more than cardio does. The days I veer off and go carb heavy, I feel flatter. The days I stick to my diet, I feel fuller in the muscles, and leaner. I hope that makes sense.

Feeling flat could well just be because you are training hard in a calorie deficit. Performance and recovery are both impaired. The bigger the deficit the harder it will be.

Low carbing could also contribute to feelings of fatigue.