Fitness coach Eric Roberts explains why adding hard cardio to a four-day heavy lifting routine tanks your recovery. Lifting and cardio both drain your fuel tank, leaving you depleted. The result: weaker squats, slower progress, and injuries despite working hard.
Let's say you're lifting weights 4 days a week. During all 4 of those workouts, trying to push yourself, lift heavier. Then when you do your cardio, you're also pushing yourself hard. Your heart rate is getting high. So 6 or 7 days a week, you're having high-intensity workouts. Then the next week, you wonder why you can't squat as heavy as you did the week before, or you're starting to notice injuries. Then you get frustrated because you're like, I'm working so hard, but I'm not seeing the Think of your recovery like a gas tank. When you lift heavy weights, you are using gas in the gas tank. Then when you do high-intensity cardio, you are also using gas. You're emptying the gas tank and wonder why your car isn't going anywhere. Your cardio days still drain gas. The harder you go, the less you'll be able to push yourself with your weights.
