I have a question about cardio. Usually after I lift, I like to shoot around on the bball court for 20 or so minutes. I don’t play full court, and I usually don’t play any games, just shooting around. Is this a bad idea? I break a sweat doing it, but is it actually hurting what I want to accomplish? My goal right now is to pack on the muscle without packing on an abundance of fat.
I don’t know much about when to do cardio, or what cardio helps/hurts strength progress. I’m going to be doing Starting Strength in a week or so if that helps.
I wouldn’t do cardio after lifting because you will just be feeding an already catabolic state. I believe in getting in and getting out before your hormones take a nose dive and your cortisol spikes up too much.
I would put cardio on an off day or make it a distinct workout separate from the lifting workout by at least 4 hours ideally.
That said, what you are doing doesn’t sound like intense cardio unless I am getting the wrong impression about the intensity and your physical condition. You say you are breaking a sweat, yet it sounds like you’re just shooting baskets and maybe jogging around a bit. Your goal is muscle gain, so I assume you probably are not too fat or out of shape.
It would probably be ok to shoot some hoops if you keep the time spent short (20 mins is ok), and you keep the intensity low. It’s good to cool down from a workout gradually. I would make sure to get my post workout shake in between the lifting session and the basketball though.