Cardio on non-weight train days?

rocknroll667
rocknroll667 Posts: 56 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
can you please share your knowledge/experience working out every day? Was your weight loss goal ensured by extra cardio? Worth the effort to get in 30 minute cardio session on non weight train days?

Replies

  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited May 2015
    Weight loss was not "ensured" by extra cardio.. My weight loss started and ended in the kitchen..

    Doing 30 minutes of exercise is always a good idea..good cardiovascular health.
  • rocknroll667
    rocknroll667 Posts: 56 Member
    Thanks gia. Been slowing changing habits in the kitchen and seeing progress. Doing weight training 4 days a week. Let's say my diet is perfect and I'm doing weight training 4 days a week. Is a run even adding any help on 3 off days or is it smarter to have an off day?
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    you really should have at least one complete rest day, once a week. This will give your body a break, allow coritisol levels to come down, and also keep you from burning out….as much as I like lifting, I do enjoy my rest days too...
  • rocknroll667
    rocknroll667 Posts: 56 Member
    Oops I'll post this in exercise. SORRy ...I'm new.
  • Emilia777
    Emilia777 Posts: 978 Member
    edited May 2015
    It all comes down to your caloric deficit, and exercise is relevant for weight loss only insofar as it can earn you a few more calories to eat (though it’s usually best to only eat back half of your exercise calories, as they’re overestimated).

    I used to like cardio a lot more and run fairly often, but I’ve been having such fun with my weight training lately that I don’t do it as much anymore. I do my best to walk lots though.

    What weight training program do you follow, and what are your goals?
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    what is your strength training program like? Is it a homemade program, or structured one? Are you doing big compound lifts or just using machines?
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    Definitely smart to have at least one off day. I currently run 3 days a week and do weights 3 other days. Your body needs time for recovery or else you'll burn yourself out quickly and risk injury.

    Cardio helps with weight loss only in that it burns calories. If you're having no trouble staying with your calorie goal, extra cardio is not necessary. But if you want a little more to eat on your non-weight training days, 30 mins of cardio is a good idea. Plus it's good for your overall health!
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    edited May 2015
    You should have at least one total rest day imo. Weight loss will happen if you are at a consistent calorific deficit, which may be achieved by eating less than you burn. One of the incidental benefits of exercise is that it will burn calories, which will add to the deficit, so the question becomes how many calories?

    How many will depend on which exercise, your weight, intensity and duration. The more of everything will mean more calories burned. I'd guess you could be looking at anything from between 100-350 calories depending on what you are doing. Multiply that by the number of times you will do the extra session. Considering youd have to burn a min of 3500 calories, then you can see youd have to do a lot of exercise to lose weight by cardio alone, but the extra calories do make things easier to maintain your deficit, so its up to you whether you think its worthwhile or not.The health benefits are desirable enough. Its much easier to create your deficit by controlling and reducing what you eat.
  • rocknroll667
    rocknroll667 Posts: 56 Member
    thank you people. I was thinking about it wrong because I thinking it will speed up fat loss directly. But of course it's indirectly speeding up fast loss because it aids in helping you stay with your deficit. I do have trouble staying at my goal with a fluctuation of 150-250 calories, so I think I'll add in at least two hard runs a week and one off day.

    I use dumbells on upper body days, with some kettlebell movements. And lower body is deadlifts at 175 lbs right now and front squats which are only at 95-100. And some other assistance work. A homemade program.
  • Emilia777
    Emilia777 Posts: 978 Member
    edited May 2015
    I don’t see why “only”. Those are some pretty heavy weights.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    rocknroll667 wrote: »
    thank you people. I was thinking about it wrong because I thinking it will speed up fat loss directly. But of course it's indirectly speeding up fast loss because it aids in helping you stay with your deficit. I do have trouble staying at my goal with a fluctuation of 150-250 calories, so I think I'll add in at least two hard runs a week and one off day.

    I use dumbells on upper body days, with some kettlebell movements. And lower body is deadlifts at 175 lbs right now and front squats which are only at 95-100. And some other assistance work. A homemade program.

    Do you have accesto a gym with barbells?
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  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    I run on the days I don't lift (I lift three days a week). One day is more "active rest," but the other three are HIIT. I really love pounding the pavement and am blessed by living somewhere I can exercise outdoors year-round.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    You could just up your general activity level on non workout days, I got a fitbit and try to get around 10k steps when not on a workout day
  • rocknroll667
    rocknroll667 Posts: 56 Member
    Yes I use barbells for squat/deadlift. Going to start chest with barbell too, was just being easy with dumbells because it makes me so sore already.
    Psychgrrl wrote: »
    I run on the days I don't lift (I lift three days a week). One day is more "active rest," but the other three are HIIT. I really love pounding the pavement and am blessed by living somewhere I can exercise outdoors year-round.

    Do you eat at a deficit with the goal to lose? Do you eat back your calories? Have you experimented with just weight training and no running and seen same results weekly? Thanks!

  • Emilia777
    Emilia777 Posts: 978 Member
    rocknroll667 wrote: »
    Yes I use barbells for squat/deadlift. Going to start chest with barbell too, was just being easy with dumbells because it makes me so sore already.
    Psychgrrl wrote: »
    I run on the days I don't lift (I lift three days a week). One day is more "active rest," but the other three are HIIT. I really love pounding the pavement and am blessed by living somewhere I can exercise outdoors year-round.

    Do you eat at a deficit with the goal to lose? Do you eat back your calories? Have you experimented with just weight training and no running and seen same results weekly? Thanks!

    You’d see the same results without running if you maintained the same deficit.

    You’re not asking me, but I have the exact same weight loss results (i.e. around 1lb/week avg) with running maybe once a week compared to when I was running 3-4 times, and I even upped my calories since then (and I don’t eat back exercise cals). I burn maybe cca 310 calories for a 5k run, so 3 runs are 900 calories (or .25lb loss) at most. I push harder on my lifting and try to walk lots of rest days.

    Also, just a thought, but if you’re tempted to look into a structured lifting program, some popular ones are Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5, or Strong Curves.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    Emilia777 wrote: »
    rocknroll667 wrote: »
    Yes I use barbells for squat/deadlift. Going to start chest with barbell too, was just being easy with dumbells because it makes me so sore already.
    Psychgrrl wrote: »
    I run on the days I don't lift (I lift three days a week). One day is more "active rest," but the other three are HIIT. I really love pounding the pavement and am blessed by living somewhere I can exercise outdoors year-round.

    Do you eat at a deficit with the goal to lose? Do you eat back your calories? Have you experimented with just weight training and no running and seen same results weekly? Thanks!

    You’d see the same results without running if you maintained the same deficit.

    You’re not asking me, but I have the exact same weight loss results (i.e. around 1lb/week avg) with running maybe once a week compared to when I was running 3-4 times, and I even upped my calories since then (and I don’t eat back exercise cals). I burn maybe cca 310 calories for a 5k run, so 3 runs are 900 calories (or .25lb loss) at most. I push harder on my lifting and try to walk lots of rest days.

    Also, just a thought, but if you’re tempted to look into a structured lifting program, some popular ones are Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5, or Strong Curves.

    Yes to the bolded part.

    I do cardio once a week about two mile run and I am losing one pound a week on my cut right now.
  • rocknroll667
    rocknroll667 Posts: 56 Member

    [/quote]

    You’d see the same results without running if you maintained the same deficit.

    You’re not asking me, but I have the exact same weight loss results (i.e. around 1lb/week avg) with running maybe once a week compared to when I was running 3-4 times, and I even upped my calories since then (and I don’t eat back exercise cals). I burn maybe cca 310 calories for a 5k run, so 3 runs are 900 calories (or .25lb loss) at most. I push harder on my lifting and try to walk lots of rest days.

    Also, just a thought, but if you’re tempted to look into a structured lifting program, some popular ones are Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5, or Strong Curves.[/quote]

    Thank you!!!! I have been too lazy to use a specific program!!! I will get to it! I really should given the success I've seen from a homemade program.
  • Emilia777
    Emilia777 Posts: 978 Member
    Ndj, that’s some awesome progress on a cut. I hope you’ll do the whole before/after pic thing!!

    OP, I love my program (Starting Strength), and a structured program was (/is) great for me as a noob. Good luck and have fun!
  • kpodaru
    kpodaru Posts: 133 Member
    gia07 wrote: »
    Weight loss was not "ensured" by extra cardio.. My weight loss started and ended in the kitchen..

    Doing 30 minutes of exercise is always a good idea..good cardiovascular health.
    ^^ THIS. the food choices you make really does have the greatest impact, positive or negative depending on your choices.

    when i was young, sure - i could eat crap, sort of workout and still stay lean. when i hit my l ate 30s, i tried that again, and nope; my body was having none of that! i therefore had to re-vector my entire diet, got rid of all the crap, ate only foods that i cooked, no processed junk and no sugary garbage. best decision i've ever made and the weight just dropped right off.

    in terms of exercise, i workout every day: 5am when i was working, 930am now that i'm on sabbatical. i do a cardio/weights circuit 3x/week and muay thai 4x/week. there are times i'll do doubles for the heck of it (i really do enjoy exercise/being out and about) so i'll do a 20K+ bike ride or lift some weights on muay thai days.
  • rocknroll667
    rocknroll667 Posts: 56 Member
    Rock on!!!! That's a great program!
  • jonathansilas1984
    jonathansilas1984 Posts: 36 Member
    I do Cardio and BWF on the same day, taking every other day as my rest. I sprint up the hill beside my house then walk down it, rinse and repeat for 20 min, then I do pushups,pullups,squats, handstands,back bridges, and leg raises. Working great so far.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Cardio is for health and helps the deficit, but the bottom line on weight loss, is the deficit.
  • MoiAussi93
    MoiAussi93 Posts: 1,948 Member
    Extra exercise will burn more calories and result in faster weight loss...as long as you don't also eat more. However, make sure you don't burn out. Take a day off every once in a while to give your body a chance to recover.
  • sandryc79
    sandryc79 Posts: 250 Member
    I *really * like the little bit of extra food that cardiovascular earns me. Even if it ends up being an extra piece of fruit or a fiber one bar I want that every day. I still take about 1 day off a week but all the other days I do 30-60 mins of cardio. I have not started weight training because I just started swimming laps 3-4 days a week and that is working my muscles plenty hard.
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