Cardio on rest days

razorboomarang95

razorboomarang95

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I'm trying to work out how cardio slots in best alongside a regular lifting routine. My default assumption has been that a rest day means doing nothing at all, but throwing in some light cardio looks like it might be beneficial without interfering with recovery.

What works for you: cardio following a lifting session, on its own separate days, or leaving rest days totally clear?
 
Personally, I train with weights and do cardio daily, even though that's more than most people can keep up with. Right now I'm on a streak of 111 days without a break. My lifting sessions run 21 sets at heavy weight, and on top of that I put in 1 hour of cardio, occasionally 2 hours. How you structure it comes down to you and whatever you're able to maintain over the long run.
 
Redz said:

Personally, I train with weights and do cardio daily, even though that's more than most people can keep up with. Right now I'm on a streak of 111 days without a break. My lifting sessions run 21 sets at heavy weight, and on top of that I put in 1 hour of cardio, occasionally 2 hours. How you structure it comes down to you and whatever you're able to maintain over the long run.
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21 sets counts as heavy? 😧
 
It really comes down to what you're aiming for and what your current situation looks like. In my case, recovery takes priority at this point, but another person might be focused on building muscle, or on endurance, or something else entirely.
 
Honestly, it comes down to how your body responds. Not the most useful answer, I realize, but if you add cardio and your next gym session still feels good, that's a win; if you're dragging, dial it back.

Light cardio probably does have real benefits, though. Sitting still all day doesn't strike me as something we're built for.
 
Every day I get some cardio in. When I lift, I'll warm up with a bit of HIIT, and on the days I don't lift I do longer cardio sessions. To me, a rest day can still include 30 minutes of intervals on the elliptical. As long as the cardio is reasonable, it won't hurt your recovery.
 
razorboomarang95 said:


I’m trying to figure out where cardio fits best when lifting regularly. I usually think of rest days as completely off, but adding some easy cardio seems like it could help without messing with recovery.

Do you prefer doing cardio after lifting, on separate days, or keeping rest days completely free?

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On my days off, I've been getting some walking in. Just 2-4 miles, enough to keep the blood moving.
 
Redz said:

Yeah, I push it hard 7 days a week. GH and TRT are definitely factors that help me keep this streak going.
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Man, oh man... I'm 66, and for the first 60 days of my 90 day cycle I went at it hard, adding weight to every workout (I'm in the final week of that 90 now). The way I was getting through my mornings honestly stunned me. If it weren't for TRT (sus), the soreness would have kept me from even rolling out of bed, but with it I've been blown away by how I feel. The last 30 days, though, have been rough. My guess is it's mostly tendon and ligament soreness from upping the weight every single workout. My plan is to add some long pauses and negatives at the end of each routine to try and build those back up. I'm also on tesa and ipa, plus mots and ss-31. With any luck the negatives and pauses will act like isometrics, which from what I've read help the tendons rebound.
 
On the days I'm not working out, my routine is normally just a walk. It's not hard or anything, but getting a bit of movement in beats sitting around completely idle, and it leaves me feeling better.
 
Appreciate all the replies. For the time being I'll probably keep any cardio on my off days on the easy side — most likely just walking — and then pay attention to how my recovery responds. Doesn't seem like this needs to be made any more complicated than that.
 
These days I stack all my training into a single day, and I do that 3x per week. In the past, though, I was training 5 times a day. There isn't a single right approach here — more than 1 way exists to skin a cat.
 
I'm in my early 40s. After I finish lifting, I usually put in 15-30 mins of moderate cardio. My lifting schedule is 3-4 days each week. When I say moderate cardio, that typically means an incline walk or a light jog — the goal is just to raise my HR and work up a bit of a sweat.

On my off days I go harder with cardio (basketball, or a longer run), and I make sure there's always at least 1 full rest day. On that day I only try to accumulate steps by walking around, nothing beyond that.

Like others have said, it really comes down to what your goals are. If mass gain were my main focus, honestly I'd keep cardio pretty minimal and hold onto that energy for lifting — but that's simply what has worked for me before. At the moment I'm wrapping up a long cut / moving into a recomp and maintenance phase.
 
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