Need Help

[mus505]

Hi,
I am 5'-8". I had been working out. I was very close to 300 pounds at one point but i have controlled my diet/worked out and now i am 222lbs. Since I am skinnier than what i was before, I am thinking about starting to lift weight. Now days, I do 70 min cardio for 5 days a week and a 30 min cardio on saturday. I just want to know that, should i do cardio with lifting weights or not. I am not very experienced because all the weight i lost was cardio and my diet. Some people/website etc.. says that "dont do cardio on the day when you do weightlifting", some says to do "cardio no matter what". I am very confused, please give me some advice. Thankyou..

[Glockwork3]

Well personally, i lift my sets then i do a 1.5 mile run just to be loose the next day and not all stiff, after running then i stretch. i dont know if thats wrong but it doesnt seem like anythings wrong with it... but im no professional.

[Odin92681]

I think 20 minutes of cardio on your "lifting" days is okay, if you have the energy afterwards. If after your lifting days, you are still revved and ready to go... you need to increase the intensity.

[mus505]

I am lifting wieghts in evening and doing my 70 minute cardio in the morning now. I hope i am not doing anything wrong... But thanks you for ur advises..

[MaggioMuscle]

Great question! I have experimented with this myself. I encourage you to find what feels right for you. That will change as your fitness improves, by the way. It is an ever evolving journey- that is what makes it so much fun!

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with cardio and weights on the same day. Just dont let your workouts get so long that you feel hungry or too tired or bored or dread going to the gym. Some argue that cortisol and other catabolic effects will offset your muscle gains and fat loss if you workout longer than, say, 45 mins- 60mins. This maybe true to some small degree, but have you ever seen a fat Olympiead or Triathalete? Some of these folks train up to 6hrs a day five days a week- no joke!

In general though, if you exhaust your glycogen stores, your body will need to take either glycerol or protien to make more energy (in the form of ATP) for you to keep going. That translates to lost muscle, not really lost fat, because you dont store much glycerol (you store fatty acids, which cannot be used to make glucose).

To avoid this problem altogether, I have done what others in this thread have done. Since I do not wish to threaten mass building, I get more protein and divide my long cardio days such that I have an a.m. cardio and p.m. weight training- or keep cardio workouts short enough so that when done after my weights, my workout does not exceed an hour. The exception is once a week when I do my long runs which can last up to five hours (30miles).

Be sure to get a good carb/protein meal after these workouts. If it will take longer than 30mins to eat, drink some juice or gatorade so your body can start using this glucose right away and will stop taking your muscles apart to get it.

Hope this helps.