cardio and weights | Cardio 101 | Forum

I just read the Taylor Lautner article, and found it to be really inspiring.  Thanks Darrin. 

I was particularly interested in the amount of cardio he (didn't!) put in. Well i've got a gut to lose.  About 1.5 years ago i started a 5 x 5 program and got good results.  As i progressed i started doing wieghts one day followed by upto 30 mins cardio the next day, using a Versa Climber.  Now in all honesty i really did feel better, and that was the time that i got the most positive comments from family and friends.  The i began reading up and was told by another forum that i was overdoing it for a beginner, and not allowing my muscles to rest and recuperate enough.  So i dropped the cardio and tried to fit it in after my workout.  But i found i couldn't do 30 mins because i was too tired.  Since that time my training has been fairly periodic, and i would still describe myself as a beginner. 

After reading all through this (thanks!) i want to ask what do you think?  Was i overdoing it, or should i return to the routine now, that i'm ready to start training again.  Thanks in advance for your time.

Tan, You are really working hard, and that is going to pay big dividends.  It's very motivating to read stories like yours. Keep up the good work! 

Cardio is one of my least favorite expenditures of time and effort.  But, it WORKS for me, and that makes it tolerable (if not fun).  Don't let the "no cardio" crowd beat you down.

If you don't already have Tom Venuto's Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle eBook, you can click on the blogroll and take a look.  He has invaluable information and advice in there.

The short version is this:  You will want to adjust the amount of cardio you do according to the results you are getting.  But, by all means, keep it up and good luck!

Another thing to think about is why you are doing the cardio.  If it is strictly for fat burn, then 10 – 20 minutes of HIIT cardio would work for you.  I agree with Darrin on the twice a week thing.  If you are doing cardio for races, then that a totally different beast.

And maybe I'm silly for this, but I still believe that too much cardio will impair your ability to grow mass.  Not saying it's impossible, but cardio wears you down.  I know from experience.  I am biggest when I do cardio once a week.  But when I do it 2-3 times a week, my body gets "stuck" in terms of gain.  I do perform cardio because I have some racing goals, so I aim for 5K runs each session.