How many days cardio and how many strength training

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jenbeck18
jenbeck18 Posts: 32 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
What is the ideal. Balance of both. I feel like not enough time in the week.

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  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    There is no ideal, depends on your goals, but a very common pattern is 3 of each with one day off.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
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    Yep. Depends on your goals. I'm 4 days lifting, no days of cardio.

    Doing a 3 day full body split, with rest days in between, and a few sessions of cardio is good.
  • CrabbyCancerMama
    CrabbyCancerMama Posts: 95 Member
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    I do lower body MWF and upper body T TH. cardio 5x a week.
  • Jules_farmgirl
    Jules_farmgirl Posts: 225 Member
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    I do lower body MWF, upper TT and cardio 6x/week with Sunday as my rest.

    It's in what your goals, schedule and time frame is
  • Fallfrenzy
    Fallfrenzy Posts: 118 Member
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    Like others have said, it is whatever is ideal for you and your goals. For me, I work on upper body/core TTS and lower body/core MWF with Sunday being my rest day. I try to fit in 20-30 minutes of cardio 4-5X a week to get my aerobic activity in.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    When I was losing, I had very limited time to workout. I was doing about 3x per week strength training (30 min each).. I also did some walking, yoga. No actual cardio though. This fit with my goal since I was interested in muscle retention/lowering my BF%
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,675 Member
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    For good health, the recommendation is 45 minutes of cardio 5 days a week. For weight loss, it's whatever you want. I do all cardio, no weight training. but I'm a runner, training for a marathon, so running has to be priority.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Enough cardio for heart health - but not so much to negatively impact having a good lifting workout or recovery from one.

    Unless your goal is running races or triathlons, then other way around.

    And yeah, not enough time for it all.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
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    To each her own. Personally, I do 2-3 strength and 2-3 cardio days. Doing both about equally serves my needs and meets my goals: cultivating my love for endurance cardio because it's a zen stress-killer for me, but also maintaining lean mass and preventing injury through strength. I haven't had a running injury in the years since I started strength training, I have nicely sculpted abs that I love, I can lift heavy stuff, and my pace is faster these days because I'm stronger and more powerful - but that's just me. Find someone whose goals you share and ask them what they do...then try it yourself! Good luck! :D
  • OldAssDude
    OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
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    3 to 5 sessions of cardio and 1 to 3 sessions of muscular.
  • pondee629
    pondee629 Posts: 2,469 Member
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    "To each her(his) own. Personally, I do 2-3 strength and 2-3 cardio days"

    Depending on the season, and my more immediate goals, 3 days lifting to 2 days cardio (current) or 3 days cardio and 2 days lifting (when it gets warmer and stays lighter later), unless I'm training for an upcoming run and then I'll throw in a 4th day running.
  • unrelentingminx
    unrelentingminx Posts: 231 Member
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    Currently I'm doing 2x strength + intervals, 2x running, and 1x cycling.
  • AigreDoux
    AigreDoux Posts: 594 Member
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    I do 4 days of strength, and 3 days of cardio (running). I combine one of my upper days with a short run and have one full rest day per week.

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