3x a week full body workouts?

A

amanda12485

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I am wondering if anybody has done a rotation with 3 days a week full body muscle endurance workout ( muscle max, max int. str., muscle endurance) and 3 days cardio ( either hiit or steady state) and how it worked for you. I am thinking it would be a great fat loss rotation if using like insanity or other high intensity cardio on the cardio days. if anyone has done this or has an opinion that would be great!!
 
Let me start by saying that I have not tried this rotation and so can not comment on actual results.

However, lately I have been feeling a bit burned out with cardio and my cardio collection. (Can not wait till Shock Cardio comes out.) I have considered what I would do with an hour a day if not so much cardio. The logical question then is "what are my goals?".

Personally, I would like to lose 2 pounds. I suppose that is more important to me than gaining strength at this time. I also know that at this time I am not so committed to eating protein that a pure strength focus would reap maximum benefits either.

So that leads me to your rotation. I have also considered a 3x a week full body rotation with cardio squeezed in. I have also considered 1 upper, 1 lower and 1 full body with cardio squeezed in. To me the questions are which would burn more calories and would my legs be too tired to get the most out of cardio if worked 3x a week with weights. At 40, I know I just can't recover like I used to 20 or even 10 years ago. Perhaps with 3 full body workouts it is important not to go as heavy as you (me!) might otherwise.

In short I am inclined to believe that 3 full body endurance workouts with a varied intensity cardio mix (like the four day split series) would lead to fat loss.
 
well, this is very interesting. i am 54 and i am always wondering what is the best way to stay in shape as i age. i am on my 2nd round of STS. and it is hard to get cardio in , cuz i'm so tired from STS and life.

and, like you i need to lose a few lbs, but just cannot seem to get there. i did order STS cardio and now i am kinda worried about being able to do them, i know they are gonna be super tough. so, hope i didn't waste my money. i'm just wondering how much longer i will be able to do any hi-impact. i have to be careful now, cuz my feet hurt bad at times after doing hi-impact. tendonitis in my heels and just overall foot pain. i just got some SofSoles for my workout shoes and they seem to help some. my shoes are only a few month old, before you ask.,:), i just have bad feet. could be from the 20 yrs of working out. don't know. but, great thread!
cathy
 
oh, and, there are other posts on here somewhere about doing 3 full body is the best way to lose weight.
cathy
 
Over the years, I have found that 2-3 days of full body workouts and 4-5 days of cardio per week give me the best weight-loss results. I'll do high volume low intensity cardio a couple of days (1-2 hour hikes) and a couple of runs (usually less than an hour). If I want to gain strength, I need to lift more.

Lisa
 
I just read in the April issue of Prevention about this very type of rotation. I'm starting it tomorrow.

I just finished a mostly cardio rotation last month and lost a few pounds, but lost some muscle. I just like to try different things. One thing might work at different times and not at other times.

I'm gonna try it for three weeks or so. I work hard also to eat plenty of clean food, get good rest and listen to my body for recover progress. Full body wt should leave me good and tired. I'll post my results in three weeks or so.

Good luck.
 
I am going to start a rotation of 3 days high intensity cardio, 2 days of full body circuit workouts, and 1 day of total body lifting (musclemax,muscle endurance,ext) and see how that goes. I think it will work really for fat loss.
 
I'm trying 3-4 days intense cardio, 2 total body workout and one circuit workout. I think this will bring similar benefits as your rotation. I don't take a day off, I find I feel lethargic all day if I don't exercise. I don't own all of Cathe's muscle endurance workouts, and to prevent boredom, I am adding in a circuit workout. (I have lots of those. They're my favourites) Anyway, I think that the rotation you have proposed will work extremely well for fat loss. I started only doing one total body a week, with one upper/lower body (alternating weeks) and saw very little imrpovement in my definition. As soon as I upped the total body to two a week, plus either an upper/lower or a circuit, I began to be more shaped. I HOPE it works for you, because it really should! Good luck with it.
 
I also just started a rotation on Monday 2 days total body/3 cardio/1 Circuit...... It'll be cool to see how we all do with it. :)
 
I have done this type of rotation a lot, in fact it's what I usually do and am doing right now! I like it a lot. I tend to use either Cathe's endurance workouts that you mentioned for this, or one of Jari's get ripped series. I also like a weekly 6 day plan with 3 cardio (machine, step, kickbox or elliptical, HIIT, steady) and 3 full-body weights, because if work gets crazy and a day gets missed, I just do whatever it was that was missed on the next day I workout. This is easier to do when the weight workouts are full body and putting one off a day does not then throw off an entire plan. Anyway I highly recommend it. I am 52, workout regularly, and my major interest is overall fitness, cardio, general strength and flexibility (not needing to lose weight at the moment). After any workout, cardio or weights, I do tend to do a stretch like one of Cathe's total body stretching as well. This rotation is keeping me fit and thin very nicely, though it certainly would never get anyone into a serious fitness/figure competition, it works for me, and it did help me lose weight too (I lost 30 pounds in the previous 2 years doing mostly this rotation :)
 
I do three full body workouts a week and I have NEVER had such great results!! I love it - my muscles really "pop" now like never before!
 
I have also seen results from this type rotation!! I am very happy....these next 3 weeks before Daytona I'm going to tweak it just a little bit and do one total body/one UB/one LB with 3 days cardio and see how that turns out. :)
 
This sounds like a great way for me to start over. Being back in college and all the yard work coming up that I have to get in when weather is good, working the total body 3x a week and cardio 3x a week sounds good. Will this work for fat loss? I am packing way to much weight and I am sick of it.
If somebody could post a rotation that would be great. Peggy
 
Ok here was my rotation........I'll post right up to what I've been doing because I did modify after a few weeks....just because I felt like it...lol

Week One

Sunday- Run (or any cardio)
Monday- Muscle Endurance
Tuesday- Run (short) + Imax 3 intervals 1-5
Wednesday-Muscle Max
Thursday- Run +Yoga
Friday- Total Body or Circuit of Choice
Saturday- Off

Week Two

Sunday- Run (short) + Imax 3 (6-10)
Monday- MIS
Tuesday- Run
Wednesday- Power Hour
Thursday- Run + Yoga
Friday- Total Body or Circuit of Choice
Saturday- Off

Week Three

Sunday- Run + KM Combo's/ Leg Drills
Monday- Muscle Endurance
Tuesday- Run + Imax 1 (1-5)
Wednesday- Power Hour
Thursday- Run +Yoga
Friday- Total Body or Circuit of Choice
Saturday- Off

Week Four-

Sunday- Run (short) + Imax 1 (6-10)
Monday- Hardcore Extreme (Circuit of Choice)
Tuesday- Run +Yoga
Wednesday- Push/Pull Upper Body Premix + Core
Thursday- Run +Yoga
Friday- Legs and Glutes
Saturday- Off




Now I've moved onto one day total body/one day legs/one day upper body/3 days cardio......
 
Fitness Freak has a full body rotation that looks really good. :)
http://www.thecathenation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=236329

I just purchased a new full body workout series that I'm less than thrilled with. :( You can never go wrong with Cathe's workouts:), so I'm going to follow FF's guidelines for 4 weeks.
After that, I'm going to switch over to Cathe's Intensity series Rotation.


ADVANCED Total Overall Body Blast Workout:

Mon: Boot Camp
Tues: off
Wed: Muscle Endurance
Thurs: Imax2
Fri: Cardio and Weights
Sat: Pyramid Lower Body with the first 5 intervals of Imax 2
Sun: Pyramid Upper Body


ADVANCED Total Body Conditioning with more focus on Heavy Weight Training

Mon: Pyramid Lower Body
Tues: Pyramid Upper Body
Wed: Imax 2
Thurs: off
Fri: Cardio and Weights
Sat: Pyramid Lower Body with the first 5 intervals of IMAX 2
Sun: Pyramid Upper Body


Advanced Total Body Conditioning with more focus on Muscular Endurance

Mon: Imax 2
Tues: Cardio and Weights
Wed: Muscle Endurance
Thurs: off
Friday: Circuit Max
Sat: A lower intensity cardio of your choice
Sun: Muscle Endurance
 
Just curious which new series did you buy? I'm always looking at new dvds as they come out, but I'm always nervous they aren't going to be as good as Cathe's and most of the time there not. You might save me some money.
 
sarah2184 said:
Just curious which new series did you buy? I'm always looking at new dvds as they come out, but I'm always nervous they aren't going to be as good as Cathe's and most of the time there not. You might save me some money.
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Valerie Water's Action Hero Babe. There are 6 circuit workouts in the series. I tried the first two and hated them, so I didn't bother trying the other workouts in the series. I sent them back. They were not challenging and I didn't care for the instructor at all. Her form was very unpolished and the entire production felt very homemade to me.

Cathe's workouts are always challenging, her form is impeccable, and her teaching style is so pleasant. I've never walked away from a Cathe workout feeling like I didn't work hard.
I own all of Cathe's full body and circuit/boot camp workouts so I have plenty to make up a 6-8 week endurance rotation.
I did 90 minutes of Cathe's BM2 yesterday and I'm sore!!! It feels so good.:D

I will say that I bought Jari Love's new Extremely Ripped 1000 for $9 presale, and found that a fun challenging circuit workout(the full 60 minute workout).
 
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