Doc wants more cardio, need to balance with strength training.

V

VanHlebar

0
I just had my annual physical and for various reasons, my doctor has told me that for the next three months at least I need to increase my cardio plan to 3-4 days a week.

I currently am doing strength training on Mon, Tues, Thurs and Friday and then do cardio for 45 minutes on a bike on Wed and Sat.

My question is this, my current strength training routine is repeated Mon & Thurs are the same and Tues & Frid are the same. If I went to only doing strength training on Tues & Thurs and then the cardio for Mon, Wed, Frid and Sat this would still be ok right? I realize that my muscle gain will basically slow way down, but this would be only for three months I hope.

Sorry for the long post...the ultimate goal was to gain about 15-20 pounds in muscle over time. I started out on my current routine in August and have lost one inch on my waist and gained around 5 pounds.

Thanks,
-Eric
 
If the doc just wants you to maintain a higher heart rate for an extended period of time, I would just lift more intensely.

What does your routine look like? If you do lots of big compound and thus energy-spending exercises like power cleans, snatches, and squats, you will acheive a higher heart rate...depending on your intenisty level.

Of course, that's just an option. If you can't get your heart rate high enough with these lifts, then I would just listen to the doctor...
 
What is the rationale for increased cardio?

My inclination to agree or disagree will be highly contingent on whether it's based on a heart/cardiovascular condition, or whether you're simply overweight.
 
why not do 3 full body workouts on Mon Wen Fri, this will then leave you with 3 days for cardio, if you wanted an extra cardio session stick a HIIT session on the end of one of the cardio days.
Also if you move to a 3 day a week weight's regime it would fit in nicely with doing a 5x5 plan and at least you can target strenght gains(if not muscle gains) while you have to do the extra cardio
 
jsb said:
why not do 3 full body workouts on Mon Wen Fri, this will then leave you with 3 days for cardio, if you wanted an extra cardio session stick a HIIT session on the end of one of the cardio days.
Also if you move to a 3 day a week weight's regime it would fit in nicely with doing a 5x5 plan and at least you can target strenght gains(if not muscle gains) while you have to do the extra cardio
Click to expand...

i agree with this also you could do your cardio everday in the AM
 
Thanks for the help folks. The reason behind the extra cardio has to do with my good cholesterol. It is about 20% low for my age due to a very poor diet. I am trying to modify my diet and I am using Fitday.com to try to at least monitor what I am eating and see where I can make some changes. My doctor now had be on fish oil and niacin for the next three months and wants me to increase my cardio during this time period to help increase the good cholesterol.

I am not over weight or out of shape. Quite the opposite to be honest. I am 5'9" and I weigh 160lbs with a 33 inch waist. I don't think I can get my heart rate to the point she wants it at with weight training alone. She wants me to target somewhere in the 150-160 bpm for 30-45, 3-4 times a week. I was doing this only 1-2 times a week during my regular routines.

I am not opposed to doing the cardio in the AM and then doing my weights in the evening but I was concerned that this might be too much and result in me getting burned out. I do like the idea of doing a full body workout 3 times a week and doing the cardio the other three days.

I really do enjoy my weight training, but I need to find a balance for the next three months until I go back and get rechecked.

Thanks again.

-Eric
 
I am not your doctor, so if I were you I'd ignore my advice, but....

It seems illogical that if you and your doctor KNOW that your problem was caused by poor diet, why you need to change your execise routine to "fix" the problem, just change your diet.

Also, if I were you, I would like to see some studies that indicate that LSD cardio is better for raising good cholesterol than HIIT or strength training before I went crazy with modifying my routine to include more LSD cardio...
 
I agree.

Fish oil is almost a given for CV health (and a bunch of other ****), get 5-6g per day at least. If you're not already, get a gram or two of vitamin C as well, since ascorbic acid removes LDL (the bad cholesterol) from the blood.

If anything, you'll find that weight training will keep your lipid profile healthier than cardio. Cardio only tends to improve it up to a certain point, after which you get diminishing returns (ie, it takes a lot more to see a tiny improvement).
 
Try oly lifting and see how high you can get it with varying levels of intensity. You won't know until you try, since you're fully capable of it.

An example would be to superset power cleans with front squats, back squats, or dumbell swings...you get the idea.
 
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