The cardio / strength training balance

Anita Drink

Anita Drink

New member
Hello all. I am new here, so please forgive me if a better search of the forum could have yielded an answer to my question. I am a 5' 7" female that weighs 135. I would like to drop 5 pounds and tone-up a bit. I eat about 1,500 calories a day (though I tend to splurge on weekends, but am working on that). I also work out consistently 4-5 days a week, usually about 35-40 minutes of cardio. The problem is that usually only 45 minutes mid-day to get in a work out. I want to start strength training again, but I'm afraid that less cardio would cause a weight gain. What is a good balance? Would the following plan even yield results:

Monday - 40 minutes cardio
Tuesday - 20 minutes weights, 20 minutes cardio
Wednesday - 40 minutes cardio
Thursday - 20 minutes weights, 20 minutes cardio
Friday - 40 minutes cardio
 
You need to let go of the notion that no cardio = automatic fat gain.

For starters, you could stand dropping the cals a bit, ESPECIALLY if you're having trouble controlling intake on the weekends. Something like 10 cal per pound of bodyweight would be good. Less if you can't get a handle of the weekend eating.

If you find that you have to do cardio every single day that you train, that's a surefire sign that something is off nutritionally.

I've walked a lot of guys through plans to single digit body fat levels and that was with very few sessions of cardio each week.

Losing fat is sooo much more about nutrition than it is cardio.

I'd focus on 2 sessions per week of full body strength training and 3 sessions per week of cardio.

What are you're cardio sessions like currently?
 
Thanks for your reply! I could stand to drop my calories and really work on that as well as showing restraint on the weekends. I alternate my cardio between the two types of elliptical machines,stairclimber and treadclimber, though I am partial to the ellipticals. I am trying to slowly get back on the treadmill after a knee injury that occured a few months back; I find I have no pain when running now. I usually have the intensity set at 10-12, depending on the machine. It's not high intensity; I could carry on a very breathy conversation if I wanted to. And as mentioned, it's usually 35-40 minutes. Thanks!
 
Assuming you've built a nice foundation of cardiovascular fitness, I'd start toying around with some interval training.
 
I did my first 45 minute full body strength training return in a long time. It felt great, and I am sore today! It's been awhile since that happened. Today I am going to cardio intervals for 40 minutes. Was thinking about hopping on the treadmill for the first in months. My plan is to do walk at 3.5-3.8 for two minutes, then 6.0 minute and repeat. Is this an efficient interval? What would be a good interval principle to apply to other machines as well?
 
The idea of interval training in this context is to allow a higher density workout. By that, I mean greater caloric expenditure and intensity in less time.

So, basically any interval will work that allows you to touch intensities that you would otherwise not be able to maintain in a steady state bout of exercise.

Make sense?
 
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