women trying to lean out with strength...how much cardio?

I am trying to gain muscle with minimal fat gains and this is my plan, if it's of any help...

Monday
10k training (60 mins)

Tuesday
Abs circuit (30 mins)
Upper body heavy lifting (15 mins)

Wednesday
Rest

Thursday
Legs circuits (20 mins)
Upper body heavy lifting (10 mins)

Friday
Abs circuit (30 mins)
Sprints (15 mins)

Saturday
Yoga (90 mins)

Sunday
Back and bum circuit (30 mins)
Upper body heavy lifting (15 mins)

I see that you dont hit the weightlifting everyday, which is good.

To gain muscle you should eat 500 calories over your daily expenditure.
Eat enough protein for yourself. Eat fats (30% of total calorie intake"hemp oil", "flaxseed oil" , they have good ratio of omega3:omega6.) - this is good for your heart.

10 minutes lifting is definately not enough. You should eat pre-workout meal.
To workout every muscle group on upper body it will usualy take 45 minutes.
Give yourself 3min rest between each set minimum.

do not do less than 3 sets of 8rep max. if you can do more than 8 reps, then increase weight by 10% until you reach 8 reps.

Dont forget about back muscles, do chinups or assisted chinups if needed. for lattisimus dorsi.

Eat well! and spend more time weightlifting is definately going to help. Eat enough protein.

You should see newbie gains quicker than you think.

I do both cardio and strength 3 days a week each with 1 rest day. I just wasn't seeing the kind of results I wanted to see doing cardio only (for at least a year).

I'm not very far into the strength yet, but I'm shooting for three days of strength, two days of cardio and two rest days per week. The diet will be important for leaning out too.

I think there is a lot of time wasted on mediocre exercises like "cutting" with high reps and "ab circuits".

unless you want to spend hours in the gym each week, keep it simple and keep it heavy. this builds muscle. IMHO there is no such thing as toning. You are tearing and building muscle or you are doing cardio (high reps). Building muscle = tone.

bodybuilders might need to work on specific body parts for competitions, for the rest of us, complex multi-muscle exercises are all really all that is needed.

On abs - real lifting will build your core naturally, the majors, deads, squats and pullups do this for you - no need to waste time doing 30 mins of crunches.

I do both! I hit the gym 3 times a week, do 10-20 mins of warm up cardio, do my strength training, then to another 20-30 mins of cardio before stretching I think its important to keep it balanced

I'm also doing "New Rules of Lifting for Women" right now. It's AWESOME! I'm currently lifting (heavy) three days a week. I try to do cardio 2-3 days a week, but I mostly listen to my body. If the thought of exercising makes me cringe (like today), I don't do any cardio. I like to make sure I'm well rested for my lifting days, which include 15-30 minutes of cardio after lifting.

Like others have said, eat well, drink lots of water and lift heavy. Anything else is bonus.

I think there is a lot of time wasted on mediocre exercises like "cutting" with high reps and "ab circuits".

unless you want to spend hours in the gym each week, keep it simple and keep it heavy. this builds muscle. IMHO there is no such thing as toning. You are tearing and building muscle or you are doing cardio (high reps). Building muscle = tone.

bodybuilders might need to work on specific body parts for competitions, for the rest of us, complex multi-muscle exercises are all really all that is needed.

On abs - real lifting will build your core naturally, the majors, deads, squats and pullups do this for you - no need to waste time doing 30 mins of crunches.

This exactly. I haven't done any "ab work" in months.

Hmm, this is making me rethink my routine

I do the same principle each gym session, 3-5 times a week (varying the machines I use)

1-1 hour 20 of cardio, 10-15 minutes of lifting on machines or free weights, followed by 5-10 mins of floorwork

If I don't burn 500calories in the first one hour I feel I have accomplished nothing

Hmm, this is making me rethink my routine

I do the same principle each gym session, 3-5 times a week (varying the machines I use)

1-1 hour 20 of cardio, 10-15 minutes of lifting on machines or free weights, followed by 5-10 mins of floorwork

If I don't burn 500calories in the first one hour I feel I have accomplished nothing

10-15 mins lifting is a waste of time. Do an hour of cardio after you lift. Add the 20 mins left over to lifting heavy compound weights.

As to your last sentence, that sounds awfully restrictive and quite negative... might want to rethink that as well. Oh, and I hope you're eating to your net.

i hope im doing the right things...

im doing 4 or so days a week which consist of 3-5 min on the bike... just to get my heart going.

i then move through the weight machines, lifting weight levels that i can only do 6-8 reps of without feeling like im gonna drop the weights. i do two sets of each machine...

then i do kettlebell swings one set of 8 with a 12kg kettlebell, once i feel i can do more than 8 i will go to the next weight.

ive then been doing weighted squats followed by vipr training with a 10kg bar, bicep curls and shoulder presses.

then once a week i might swim, otherwise a bit of just dance or zumba kinect at home.

i try not to do more than 30 minute sessions and alwaus with my HRM.

so far, in two weeks ive taken 44 seconds off of my fitness test time and increased my weights drastically.

i feel stronger, and can already see the muscle when lifting, i also have lost alot of cms.

obviously, ive alot of weight to lose, i also want to be able to do my 5k run on July 1st. i aim to start training for this in about 10 pounds time.

any help or suggestions most welcome!