I've read before that if you are trying to burn more fat and build a more muscular physique then it's wise not to overdo it on your cardio sessions. I enjoy cardio workouts very much but at the same time, I still want to keep and build the muscle that I do have. When I belonged to the gym, I would run on the treadmill and then sometimes lift weights right after. I've read that this isn't a good idea. It's more effective to separate your workouts so that you do cardio one day and weight training another.
Better Cardio for Less Muscle Wasting
When you spend long sessions doing a cardio workout, you do burn a lot of calories. However, you are also probably burning through muscle. The thing with long cardio routines is that you can burn a lot of calories during that session but when you lift weights, you will burn more calories during rest. More muscle means a faster metabolism which burns more bodyfat.
Having a Good Balance
In order to have a good balance of cardio and weights, it's probably better to skip the long cardio sessions and replace them with interval training. I used to do that a lot on the treadmill by warming up with a light jog for 5 minutes then running as fast as I could for about 1 minute. I'd repeat that about five times. It made the time on the treadmill a lot less boring. If I got bored with the treadmill, I would do the same on an elliptical machine.
I would then do some weight lifting on the next day and alternate days between cardio and weights. This is probably a better balance if you are trying to maintain muscle and burn more fat.
What is your routine like? Are you doing too much cardio or not enough?
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