Incorporating cardio into your workout routine

There are actually some that say cardio and weights can compliment each other. I'm pretty muscular but only lift 2x a week. Perhaps it's because I mostly row for cardio. I used to run and running tends to make you thin whereas rowing builds bulk on me.

I do two days a week hard (interval work rowing or Assault Bike intervals) for cardio. One day, I'll mix them together -- like 500m intervals on the rower along with shoulder/leg/chest compound movements. Brutal day. Not uncommon to burn 800 calories in an hour (I do 8 sets). I do this one at home but I have a lot of equipment, just not heavy barbell/weight plates -- but I do have a power tower, adjustable Bowflex weights, bench, up to 70 lb KB, heavy rope, slam balls (up to 40 lbs) and more.

The other hard day, I might do 4 X 2000m row and then lift at the gym and lift heavier. I'm older and have a cruddy right knee so I'll mix freeweights and machines for the heavier leg lifts.

It's really about what you're trying to achieve. I'm certainly not going to build peak power the way I workout, but my endurance strength is excellent, especially for my age.

Lifting 5 days a week makes it harder for a rest or easy day. I'd rather have the hard days hard and the easy days easy. In your case, with a 5 day lift plan, I'd just focus on one or two days of cardio and warmups before a lift (like a mile jog or something). But you should strive for balance. I think most would benefit from at least 3 hours of cardio a week. I lean heavier on that side (around 6 to 7 hours a week with 2 hours lifting, not including the rowing, which is essentially a light lift).

This is the reason I like "two for" workouts -- cardio and lifting type of machines in one -- Stairmaster, Assault Bike, Rower, Jacob's Ladder, Endless Rope Machine, Bike Trainer, Cycling, Kayaking, strenuous Hiking, running hills, sprints, Climbing machines, sleds, KB swings. These types of cardio also work your muscles. Cardio is also built over time, sometimes many years. I used to despise cardio. I started doing it around 15 or 16 years ago, during my first weight loss. It evolved from there very slowly.

wally2wiki wrote: »

How do you all incorporate cardio into your workout routine? I weight train 5 days a week 1st thing in the morning, for 1 hour. I'm aware that cardio isn't recommended on same days as weight training. Also how long are your cardio sessions?

"Cardio" covers a pretty broad range of things, from light exercise to very strenuous. I lift full body 2x per week and just keep my cardio to light or moderate on those days. I lift during my lunch hour and my cardio is generally done in the evening after work...either just a walk or a pretty easy bike ride. I reserve more strenuous cardio like my spin class and my bike interval work on Zwift for non-lifting days. In general, where cardio is concerned, I make sure I have a good mix of variable efforts.

I personally don't see a 30 minute jog or something after weight training as being particularly detrimental to anything. I'd just stay away from strenuous cardiovascular work on lifting days.

I'd second the advice above, but want to make explicit something I think others have implied but not underscored: There are ridiculously many forms of cardio. Some are not very muscularly intense at all (walking, maybe). Most are at least potentially fatiguing for some muscle groups (cycling, say). Very few are potentially very fatiguing for large numbers of muscle groups (like maybe XC skiing).

Depending on the nature of your strength routine, thinking about the specific cardio exercise to do is IMO pretty important. I'm assuming if you're doing 5 days you probably have a body part split of some kind. Think about how your cardio choice fits in with your split, so you get reasonable recovery overall.

That's in addition to the concept that you don't need to do intense cardio every time: In fact, doing relatively more lower intensity cardio, with high intensity as a side dish or condiment, is a pretty standard approach to training in CV sports.

For you, that advice to do weights first, cardio after (other than maybe a light cardio warmup) - that makes sense. It makes sense for most people. But I think the more general rule is to do the one that's highest priority first. For a few people, at least during some parts of their training calendar, that will be some sport-specific activity, with lifting a little lower priority, if both need to be done on the same day. Just my opinion, though.

Personally I walk 3 miles every morning 7x a week. Then lift weights in the afternoon and practice martial arts at night. I love low intensity cardio because it works as active recovery. I wouldn't be able to run every morning like that. There's no hard rule that says you have to lift weights before cardio. Especially if there's a break in between. You can do it in any order or at anytime that feels right for you.