Health Link: Looking to gain muscle? Buy Exercise
By Groovybabe • Jul 23rd, 2007 • Category: exercise, gym, weightlossI went to the gym much earlier today than I normally do because I had a meeting at 2pm. But the meeting was over much earlier than I imagined it would be and now I am left with nothing to do at the time I would have been working out. I want to go workout again! I would if I didn’t think it was a plain stupid idea.
Do you weight train before or after cardio?
I ask because I was doing it before, thinking that my body would then work harder during cardio if I’d trained my muscles, but my instructor said to always do weight training after cardio so that you are at your optimum for cardio. But instructors don’t always seem to know what is best. I mean, doesn’t she realise you burn more calories during workouts and generally if your muscles are worked on?
And the last few days I have been hearing a lot how too much cardio can be detrimental to weightloss (that’s not an excuse to give up cardio, you guys!) - not just online but in a newspaper article I read this morning. Apparently there were trials of three types of working out. 1)no workouts 2)an hour of pure cardio 3)30 mins of cardio, 20 minute rest, 30 mins of cardio and apparently the 3rd way was the one that bought the most results.
So I figure warming up (cardio) then stretching then weight training then cardio would be a good way of doing things. Because the muscles use optimum energy during training and you get a break between warm up cardio and the real mcCoy cardio.
Also, I am so over the cross trainer. I spend the time from leaving the gym until my next session dreading the cross trainer and then when I am on it I think only 20 mins, 15 mins, 10 mins 5 mins…. to get myself through it. I don’t think like that at all about the treadmill so I don’t know why I think like that about the cross trainer. It’s not like it’s too hard, I could probably do longer if I wanted. I reckon it must be the lazy in me not wanting to work so hard.
I stretched my treadmill work today. I’m normally 3.0 incline and 4.0km. At a minimum I was 3.5 incline and 4.5km. I did quite a bit of time at 4.0 incline and 5.0km. I’m not managing to do the whole thing at that level just yet but it was for longer than last time. Sweat was dripping off me!
Oh, one more thing. What level do you workout at on the cross trainer? I started off at L2 but over the weeks managed to increase it to L5. But my instructor said to keep it at L3 as I will bulk up otherwise. But today I saw this little tiny girl working at L10!!!!
Groovybabe is 14.11 stones today and feeling in control.
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Here’s what my fitness coach told me: Warm up with cardio for 5-10 minutes, do 20 minutes (or more if so inclined) of weight training, 5-10 minutes of stretching, and end with enough cardio to fill an hour.
I was doing too much cardio before the weight training, hence my plateau. I agree with doing the weights before the bulk of your cardio. What I have found though is I can’t do the elliptical on the days I do weights because my legs feel awful afterwards.
Typically I do weights three days a week-on those days my cardio is on the treadmill. On the other 2-3 days with no weights, I use the elliptical.
Honestly, I would do cardio and weights on different days. BFL instructs to do only 20 minutes of intense cardio 3x per week. Not much time, because it’s about quality, not quantity. And on the alternating 3 days, I’m supposed to spend about 45-50 minutes doing weight training. The 7th day is the rest day.
The BFL book talks a bit about people doing too much cardio.
Jenera - Thanks, I agree. I definitely think weights first is the way to go.
Betz - I can’t get to the gym more than 3 days per week so I have to do them on the same day.
hmmmm…well every body is different. it takes a ton (!) for a woman to “bulk up”…you would have to lift nearly everyd day for hours…so i doubt that L3 will do that to you.
when i actually do some weight training (i’m gonna try really hard to get soem in this week) i do it afterwards….no specific reason. thats just what i”ve always done.
the fitness program i’m following says something similiar about Cardio. particularly, that it works the body to hard to burn a lot of fat. take it down a few notches and get your heart into the fat burning zone (right under cardio), you burn a lot more AND you dont have to “work as hard” for me, that’s 21 beats per 10 sec. and i dont have to push really hard to get there. its been working well so far, so i’m gonna stick with it.
When I say cardio work I am actually refering to just the machines, not a certain level that I get to. I’m usually in the 120-140bpm which is ‘fat burn’ level rather than cardio. I think I have to get to about 155 for cardio…