Cardio later in the day after strength training?

[Gallix23]

Hey guys,

I'm following a 6 day-a-week training regimen right now with my only day off being Sundays, however in the workout there is no designated cardio day, so as of right now I'm not doing any cardio. If I do my work out in the morning, would it be a good idea to do cardio maybe 3 out of the 6 days later in the day? Or would it be better to do it right after/not at all?

Thanks for the help

[BHJ1320]

i have heard that running before your workouts will give you less strength and exertion while lifting and that if you run after your workout it gets your blood flowing again making your muscles less pumped and slows down the muscle building somehow. lol i dont know if this is true or not or whatever but if you have the time why not do cardio at another time of day lol

[Gallix23]

i have heard that running before your workouts will give you less strength and exertion while lifting and that if you run after your workout it gets your blood flowing again making your muscles less pumped and slows down the muscle building somehow. lol i dont know if this is true or not or whatever but if you have the time why not do cardio at another time of day lol

Yeah that's what I was worried about. I know not to do it before a workout because you use up all your ATP and get a worse workout in. It makes sense that right after it would decrease blood flow and things, but I wasn't sure if that effect lasted all day which would make cardio later in the day bad too.

[GuyJin]

OP,

Are you trying to build up or cut down? I ask as six days a week is awfully intense even without adding cardio; with it, you run the risk over gradually entering an overtraining phase. Granted, we're all different and some of the lucky ones out there can do six days a week and still make gains--if you're one of them, then, hey, run with it. FWIW, I'd cut down to doing no more than four days a week--i.e. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday off, then Thursday and Friday and weekends off--and doing cardio on your off days.

Just my thoughts here...

[BHJ1320]

OP,

Are you trying to build up or cut down? I ask as six days a week is awfully intense even without adding cardio; with it, you run the risk over gradually entering an overtraining phase. Granted, we're all different and some of the lucky ones out there can do six days a week and still make gains--if you're one of them, then, hey, run with it. FWIW, I'd cut down to doing no more than four days a week--i.e. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday off, then Thursday and Friday and weekends off--and doing cardio on your off days.

Just my thoughts here...

that is a good routine to think about to incorporate your running and still build ^

[Gallix23]

OP,

Are you trying to build up or cut down? I ask as six days a week is awfully intense even without adding cardio; with it, you run the risk over gradually entering an overtraining phase. Granted, we're all different and some of the lucky ones out there can do six days a week and still make gains--if you're one of them, then, hey, run with it. FWIW, I'd cut down to doing no more than four days a week--i.e. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday off, then Thursday and Friday and weekends off--and doing cardio on your off days.

Just my thoughts here...

Well the workout I'm doing now is comprised of 3 workouts that you repeat once a week. For example, i goes like this:

Monday: Workout 1 (Chest, Back)
Tuesday: Workout 2 (Shoulders, Upper Arms)
Wednesday: Workout 3 (Legs, Lower Back)
Thursday: Workout 1
Friday: Workout 2
Saturday: Workout 3
Sunday: Off

I've been doing it for a bit now and I don't feel like I'm over training; each body part gets 2 days rest in between work. I think I could physically do the cardio, but I don't want it to take away from the muscle gains.

Oh, and I'm trying to gain, but I figure I could stand to try and shed a little body fat while I'm at it, I stopped training for about a month and lost some definition which I'd like to get back. I realize that it's probably a best of both worlds scenario that wouldn't work out, but I figure i'd just get opinions on it.

[GuyJin]

Okay, old-school workout...cool. If you can handle the volume and frequency (what kind of sets/reps are you doing, anyway?) then fine. Again, not to piss on your parade, but I wonder how long you can keep this kind of routine up AND make gains? Like I said, six days a week is pretty tough for most and most guys don't go over four days unless they have the experience to do so, but who am I to say? Just giving my thoughts...

[r0nm0n]

Well the workout I'm doing now is comprised of 3 workouts that you repeat once a week. For example, i goes like this:

Monday: Workout 1 (Chest, Back)
Tuesday: Workout 2 (Shoulders, Upper Arms)
Wednesday: Workout 3 (Legs, Lower Back)
Thursday: Workout 1
Friday: Workout 2
Saturday: Workout 3
Sunday: Off

I've been doing it for a bit now and I don't feel like I'm over training; each body part gets 2 days rest in between work. I think I could physically do the cardio, but I don't want it to take away from the muscle gains.

Oh, and I'm trying to gain, but I figure I could stand to try and shed a little body fat while I'm at it, I stopped training for about a month and lost some definition which I'd like to get back. I realize that it's probably a best of both worlds scenario that wouldn't work out, but I figure i'd just get opinions on it.

it also depends on the amount of set you are doing, like i wouldnt be doing more than 7 sets of chest on the chest day. or 7 set of really any muscle on a given day. or else you will deff overtrain with that routine. yet if you are only doing a medium amount of sets per muscle, i actually think this is a great method to build and lose some fat. If you do like 30 minutes of cardio 3 times a week.

Then its also important to diet, im guessing if you do 30 minutes of cardio. and hitting the weights 6 times a week. You should be burning from 2800-3300 cals a day (I dont know your build tho so those are just estimates for a normal person). if you take in about 2300 cals a day, and makes sure you take in atleast 1 gram of protein for .8xyour body weight. ie: you weight 200lbs. 200x.8=160grams of protein. This should be enough. This would be a good way to lose fat, and keep strength.

[Gallix23]

Thanks for the advice guys. As for sets, I normally will alternate doing 3 sets of flat bench (8, 6, 4 reps increasing weight) and 4 sets of incline bench (10, 8, 6, 4, increasing) and vise versa on chest days, and I also switch up barbell and dumbell every other chest day. Many of the exercises revolve around 3 sets, usually 10-6-4 or 8-6-4 for the compound power lifts and 3 sets of 8 reps for the other things (iso triceps, barbell curls, etc).

I'm trying to step up my caloric intake right now but I'm to get at counting calories, normally I'll take a whey shake before my workout, immediately after, and one at night ,in addition to what I eat during the day. I'm also going to start taking Size-On creatine next week which should at least help my recovery.

[BHJ1320]

Well the workout I'm doing now is comprised of 3 workouts that you repeat once a week. For example, i goes like this:

Monday: Workout 1 (Chest, Back)
Tuesday: Workout 2 (Shoulders, Upper Arms)
Wednesday: Workout 3 (Legs, Lower Back)
Thursday: Workout 1
Friday: Workout 2
Saturday: Workout 3
Sunday: Off

I've been doing it for a bit now and I don't feel like I'm over training; each body part gets 2 days rest in between work. I think I could physically do the cardio, but I don't want it to take away from the muscle gains.

Oh, and I'm trying to gain, but I figure I could stand to try and shed a little body fat while I'm at it, I stopped training for about a month and lost some definition which I'd like to get back. I realize that it's probably a best of both worlds scenario that wouldn't work out, but I figure i'd just get opinions on it.

maybe if you take wensday off and sunday on instead you will see more gains in strength and mass due to more rest in between muscle groups. your routine is pretty similar to mine right now but i do the push pull routine and take wensdays off and i never feel overtrained and i get between 48 and 72 hours of rest for my body groups :0

[GuyJin]

Thanks for the advice guys. As for sets, I normally will alternate doing 3 sets of flat bench (8, 6, 4 reps increasing weight) and 4 sets of incline bench (10, 8, 6, 4, increasing) and vise versa on chest days, and I also switch up barbell and dumbell every other chest day. Many of the exercises revolve around 3 sets, usually 10-6-4 or 8-6-4 for the compound power lifts and 3 sets of 8 reps for the other things (iso triceps, barbell curls, etc).

I'm trying to step up my caloric intake right now but I'm to get at counting calories, normally I'll take a whey shake before my workout, immediately after, and one at night ,in addition to what I eat during the day. I'm also going to start taking Size-On creatine next week which should at least help my recovery.

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Just took a look at your stats--145 pounds? Then in all honesty, what you're doing is way too much in terms of frequency. Even if you eat well--and a lot--I'd say it's too much. You need to rest, and as the saying goes, you grow OUTSIDE the gym, not IN it. And, yes, I'd cut it down. The amount of chest work--seven sets or so--for example, is fine and good, but six days a week? Uh uh--not good. FWIW, stick to four days, either upper/lower, or chest/shoulders/tris, legs/back/bis Monday/Thursday, Tuesday/Friday--eat your brains out, and you'll grow. I'd also not alternate the barbell/dumbell stuff every workout--every five or six workouts is okay, but switching it up too much won't make you get that much bigger any time soon. I like variety in my training, but not that much.

Seriously, cut it down.

[Gallix23]

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Just took a look at your stats--145 pounds? Then in all honesty, what you're doing is way too much in terms of frequency. Even if you eat well--and a lot--I'd say it's too much. You need to rest, and as the saying goes, you grow OUTSIDE the gym, not IN it. And, yes, I'd cut it down. The amount of chest work--seven sets or so--for example, is fine and good, but six days a week? Uh uh--not good. FWIW, stick to four days, either upper/lower, or chest/shoulders/tris, legs/back/bis Monday/Thursday, Tuesday/Friday--eat your brains out, and you'll grow. I'd also not alternate the barbell/dumbell stuff every workout--every five or six workouts is okay, but switching it up too much won't make you get that much bigger any time soon. I like variety in my training, but not that much.

Seriously, cut it down.

But this is the way I've been training for a while and I've seen results, I've just always had to quit training for football season and lose all my strength and gains and then have to start back up again. What does weight have to do with the frequency that you workout?