"?" Balancing - stretching, cardio and weight lifting?

[likes2bfit]

I have been doing rotations with Cathe workouts for several years. My results have been GREAT. The IS series has been really effective for me!

My concern is that I don't stretch enough. I am usually stiff in my hamstrings and sometimes my adductosr and abductors. This stiffness is more than it has been in past years.

Would it help to add in a full body stretch workout 2 days per week? How many cardio days and lifting days should I put in to maintain my currant level of stamina and body size? Should the lifting days be endurance or strength-gain type?

I recentyl purchased a full body stretch workout in hopes that it might help. But, I don't want to loose the fitness gains I have worked so hard to achieve.

Judy

 

[likes2bfit]

RE:

I forgot to mention that I play doulbes tennis twice per week too. Maybe that make a difference in adding to stiffness?

Judy

 

[Soosan]

RE:

Have you tried or are you interested in trying yoga? There are many benefits to doing yoga, but the main reason I do it is because it has and continues to improve my flexibility big time - much more so than athletic stretching. Some weeks it's hard to include a full yoga workout in my routine but I almost always add 15 min or so to my Cathe workouts. (I skip her stretch sections.)

As far as how many cardio/lifting days per week you need to maintain your current fitness level, I am no expert, but I've always heard 2 days of lifting for each body part is sufficient, maybe even one if it's strictly for maintenance. Whether endurance- or strength-type lifting, that depends on your goals. Both are important for overall fitness, so if your goal is to maintain fitness in both areas, you should probably do both types of lifting. And of course, everyone is different and what works for one person may not for another.

I'm not sure about the cardio question. I've heard 2-3 times per week, including interval training. But again, what works for one person may not work for another. You might need to experiment a bit, keeping track of your workouts and your progress.

HTH!

 

[Aquajock]

RE:

Hi, Judy! IMHO, adding in two fullblown total-body stretch workouts per week would be overdoing it. While you do want to maintain flexibility in all muscle groups, you can overdo stretching as a practice AND overstretch muscle groups (which could lead to hyperflexibility and joint instability) at the expense of your cardio training.

As far as the number of cardio and strength training sessions you should do to maintain your current level of stamina, there's an old saying: If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. The recommended frequency, duration and intensity level of your workout sessions and the balance among cardio, strength and flexibility is fairly unique to each person's physical and lifestyle needs. I'm here to tell you that shaking up your current routine and schedule does have physical and mental value.

I'm probably not the best person to weigh in with an opinion, because I would never have the patience for a workout session that's strictly stretching, nor (at least at this time in my life) for a stand-alone yoga session, traditional or athletic-oriented. To me stretching is a way of capping off a workout. I do do a brief warm-up prestretch for the lower body in each workout, as well as an extended total body stretch at the end of each workout, but never a stretch workout by itself (except during that marathon walking vacation I took in Washington DC in September; stretching every morning did help).

Sorry this is so mealy-mouthed; I'm interested in others' opinions as well.

A-Jock

 

[likes2bfit]

RE:

Thanks for the replies everyone.
I'm thinking this week I will do Classical Stretch Deep Athletic Stretch twice to learn it and then possibly try to use it "post workouts" in what ever rotations I am doing.

Cathe if you read the origional post, Id' still like your take on this

Judy

 

[kathryn]

RE:

The best time to work on flexibility is when the muscles are warm, like after a cardio or weight workout, so I'd suggest adding on some extra stretches (held 15-30 seconds) at the end of your workouts. Pay particular attention to the "parts" that were most called on during the workout, and areas where you are particularly tight (tight hamstrings are very common).

 

[Carol122201]

RE:

Could you possibly just take an extra five minutes or so to do your own stretches at the end of the workout? I always do extra, and I also add a few basic yoga asanas at the end. It's sort of my way to unwind and "finish" the workout. I always feel like I need more stretching, although I do think Cathe does an excellent job in her tapes, but just for my own personal comfort, I do extra stretching at the end. It only takes about five more minutes. Just a suggestion ...

Carol