Question for lifters- how much cardio is too much?

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  • PPumpItUp
    PPumpItUp Posts: 208 Member
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    Yeah, sorry, we got sidetracked.
  • EmbeeKay
    EmbeeKay Posts: 249 Member
    edited June 2017
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    No worries! I always like learning something new. I know that lifting burns calories, just from what I've read it's harder to figure out how many, versus tracking a session of running, for example.
  • wackyfunster
    wackyfunster Posts: 944 Member
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    You can do basically however much LISS as you want as long as you get adequate calories/protein. HIIT should be kept to a minimum (tabata for 4 mins 3x/week at an absolute max). Anything other than LISS and HIIT is counterproductive.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
    edited June 2017
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    I lift 2x per week and do some kind of cardio 5x per week. Excessive is going to be very much an individual thing. At the moment I'm not training for anything so my rides are pretty much just fitness rides and not particularly demanding so they don't really interfere with my lifting or recovery. I like hitting the climbing gym most Sundays...

    I have a couple of body building buddies and they don't do much for cardio save for a jog here and there and some walking...it's not a recovery thing as much as it is a wanting to put on muscle mass kind of thing and they already have to eat a lot so "too much" cardio would require that much more eating.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    PPumpItUp wrote: »
    Not with the after burn effect. Nothing compares to lifting in this regard. HIIT is good as well though.

    In percentage terms yes - calories are still insignificant though
    A small percentage of a big burn easily exceeds a big percentage of a small initial expenditure.

    None of it is worth bothering about!
  • Quest4More
    Quest4More Posts: 24 Member
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    I use cardio as a way to trim the fat as necessary....so I tend the focus on weights for awhile so I am not pulling my body in two different directions....once I have gained a few pounds of fat and muscle, I will do nothing but cardio and maintenance lifting until the fat is trimmed off....for me it works out better than trying to do both at the same time. Everybody is different though....depends on your goals, etc.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    PPumpItUp wrote: »
    EmbeeKay wrote: »
    a big part of my workout motivation is knowing I can eat more, and I'm going to miss that (since lifting doesn't burn a whole lot).

    Lifting has an "after-burn effect." If you got in a good workout and damaged your muscles well you will burn extra calories after you lift while your body is repairing the muscles.

    the EPOC value is negligable at best- it's a nice "talking" point but in reality it's trivial.
  • PokernuttAR
    PokernuttAR Posts: 74 Member
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    EmbeeKay wrote: »
    I've read that excessive cardio can hinder your lifting goals. What is excessive?

    Back to the OP's initial question - It really depends on your goals. Many bodybuilders say more than 20 minutes of steady state cardio has a negative effect on muscle building. Personally I don't like jogging so I do HIIT on the elliptical which I find more enjoyable and is much shorter.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,982 Member
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    Just do cardio after lifting and best to do it after at least 10-15 post lifting rest period.

    Personally, I do just one 15 min moderate steady state or two 5 min HIIT sessions on my rower at least an hr after eating and/orlifting, which is easy for ne to do because all of my gym equipment is at home.

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