When to do Cardio?

[SLWII]

I know many here will say "dont do cardio". However I am not in very good shape. I am around 21% BF and I have lived a very sedentary life for the last 10 years or so. I can get winded by going up more than 1-2 flights of stairs.

I want to be able to have better cardiovascular endurance as well as more strength.

Would it be better to do cardio after workouts or on off days? The type of cardio I plan on doing will mostly be walking on the treadmill with as high of an incline as I can take at a brisk walk speed. I would do this for 30-45 min.

So, after workouts or off days?

And is that type of cardio good or would you recommend a different type of cardio?


Thanks for the help!

[FKYT]

I used to do 30 minutes of light cardio after my lifting, and found this didn't interfere with recovery too badly (assuming you're eating enough). I'd do the cardio right after the lifts instead of the off days, just to maximize my recovery time. If you're doing light cardio and you work out MWF, you could even fit in an additional cardio session on Saturday without too many problems.

I think the main divide about cardio is whether it should be done as long, slow distance or in short, intense intervals. If you're doing long, slow distance, the particular type of cardio (i.e. running vs cycling vs whatever) doesn't matter that much. Just do whatever's within your current ability to do.

[Mahendra]

I think that as long as you're getting enough rest, and eating properly, light cardio won't really affect your gains... (It hasn't for mine). I've personally done cardio on all off days while on SS (even trained Muay Thai), and I've consistently made gains.

If you feel that you're starting to stall a lot on your lifts, then consider cutting back a bit on cardio and re-evaluate.

At the end of the day, each person's bodies react differently to different amounts of stress...

Just my two cents from my personal experience...

[Greg C]

Whenever you have time since you are walking. It won't interfere with recovery. Just get it done. For something more intense, you may want to include it as a finisher when you get there or as a morning session if you lift in the evenings. I've done both with little to no impact.

[SLWII]

Thank you all for your replies!

I think I will start with doing 30 min after my workouts and keep my off days for recovery and see how that goes.

[DV]

Do it whenever you're most likely to actually get it done. I personally respond well to short, intense cardio. Like max 10 min sessions. I like using burpees or sprints myself, but there are lot of options.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Some good answers here already and I do something just a little different that might work too. After my lifting at least one day week I do a GXP for 15 minutes. Then later in the week I''ll do another GXP as a cardio standalone workout. This gives me 2 high intensity cardio workouts a week with 2 rest days and is interspersed with 2-3 jujitsu sessions during any given week. I wear a heart rate monitor from time to time when I lift and find that my approiximately 30 minutes of lifting keeps me at anywhere from 60% -85% of MHR depending on how long I rest between sets (2 -4 minutes) for a moderate session with "cardio" benefits for three other days of the week. At 60 it's kept me in the Good (35) to Excellent (42) VO2 Max range for geezers my age.

[ihatemoney123]

If you do your workouts with less rest between sets....it will be beneficial. Whatever you do, the key is to hold your heart rate at a certain level for a certain period of time. I only do the olympic lifts but I do not take more than 1 minute rest between sets. I noticed it has helped me tremendously when I play full court basketball games. I can handle a heart rate of 160+ much much better. Before lifting, I had my heart rate measured (during a basketball game) at 185-190 which is not good at all. My resting heart rate before lifting was close to 85-90 and now it is around 55-60. I used to try to bring it down by doing long distance running. Unfortunately I could never work up running more than 4 miles without stopping.