Cathe: Your opinion on my workout split please??

[Male Cathe Fan]

AM/Early monring daily workout:
Mon - KickMax * Coremax
Tue - Kick, Punch, Crunch
Wed - KickMax
Thu - KickMax & Coremax
Fri - Kick, Punch, Crunch
Sat - KickMax
Sun- Rest (Coremax)

PM/Late day workout:
Mon - rest
Tue - Slow/Heavy: Triceps Biceps, Forearms
Wed - Slow/Heavy: Chest, Back
Thu - Slow/Heavy: Shoulders, legs
Fri - Rest
Sat - Pyramid: Upper
Sun - Pyramid: Lower

Keep in mind i'm a 28 y/o guy. Am I overtraining? Will this schedule not give my muscles enough recup. time? Should I do exclusively S/H split per week or Pyramid Lower/Upper 2X a week?
I'm trying to reduce body fat and gain lean muscle. Thanks!

 

[howrobin]

Not Cathe here.

Wow. After you do all this for a while, maybe Cathe will add you to her DVD work out crew!

Re. the PM weight training only. The weight books I have read all say no more than every other day for each muscle and that variety of exercises for each muscle is okay. Your program is two sessions per week for each muscle. So that is okay. And the change between the SH and pyramid sounds like variety. So that sounds okay, too.

Re. the six days of cardio and doing the cardio on same day as the weight training. clearly this is a lot. If I were doing this, I would just ask myself how I feel, whether my energy level was good and whether I was able to do each work out with energy, enthusiasm, and focus. If you find yourself getting bored, lackadaisical, unable to do the weight or movements you did two weeks before, no energy or enthusiasm for the rest of your life, then the program would seem to be too much.

Your post does not say how long you have been doing this program or what fitness level you started out at, but you must not be a beginner. Given that the goal is to keep going, perhaps you might alternate weeks like the one above with a week where you cut the cardio in half, e.g. 3 days instead of 6.

Re. the weight training. Cathe's Musclemax is a great strength work out also, if you need more variety.

Your post does not mention any diet issues. The fat loss obviously is affected by caloric intake as well as the exercise. The heavy exercise increases the caloric demand. A question that occurs to me is whether reducing the exercise somewhat and reducing the caloric intake might lead to the same result, as well as giving you more time for the rest of your life. Assuming that each work out, plus changing clothes, getting the weights out and putting them away, taking a shower, drinking something after exercising, and cooling down, averages 1 1/2 hours, you are spending 3 hours a day with exercise.

Good luck.

 

[Rose11]

Hello. Not Cathe here either. I take it you like kickboxing huh? I'm a 27 y-o female (28 next week) and I also do am/pm workouts when I'm short on time. At the moment I'm on my 3rd week of the Gym Style series and like you I do cardio in the morning and weights in the evening when I'm on a tight schedule and I do cardio even the days I do weight training however my cardio sessions are about 30 mins except for one or two sessions I do other days where I do cardio for about 45-50 mins. The only thing I might change about your rotation is maybe add some variety in your cardio: by doing some running, etc. instead of doing the same kickboxing workouts all the time. Of course you can also take advantage of the premixes of KPC and Kickmax or mix & match both workouts by doing maybe the first 30 minutes of KPC followed by the blasts of Kickmax, etc.

Like the previous poster mentioned, listen to your body, sometimes you might need to shorten those cardio sessions because they can wipe you out and you need lots of energy for your late day weight session so you can lift at your highest potential. Finally, diet is extremely important so watch what you eat too! Good luck and welcome to the forums.

 

[Lynn M.]

Hi -

Clearly not Cathe either, but I have a couple of suggestions for you.

In re to the cardio, you might want to consider cross training w/ something else. With all of the kickboxing and weight training, you are putting alot of stress on your shoulders. I'd hate to see you injure them, as that shoulder injuries are a pain to heal!

In re to your weight program, I would also suggest putting a day of rest in between your chest workout and your shoulder workout. Alot of the same muscles are used in both workouts, so giving them some time to recover would be a good thing.

Lastly, with all of the training you are doing, it would be smart to have a day of complete rest, where you do nothing. I've done AM/PM splits like yours and believe it or not, I've seen much better results when I have a rest day, esp with the intensity of your program.

Here's a suggestion on how you can get everything in. I think it might work out better for you as far as maximizing your gains.

Do your cardio every day, but try this for your weights:

M: S&H chest/back
T: PLB
Wed: S&H Shoulders/bis and forearms
Thurs S & H Legs and Tris
Friday Rest ( rest from cardio this day optional)
Sat PUB
Sun Rest ( no cardio this day either)

You've got a tough schedule, so make sure you are getting lots of rest and good nutrition. Also, I would suggest doing this type of rotation for no more than 3-4 weeks at a time and then doing a week that is more recovery based. I think your body will definitely need it.

Good luck! Lynn M.

 

[Male Cathe Fan]

Thanks guys, I deeply appreciate the feedback.

You've made good points. I am tiring my shoulders a bit, I find even though I take my L-glutamine I'm often working through soreness and that's not good. I will try and ease up on the cardio, maybe trimming it to 4 days a week. The thing is, I LOVE Cathe's kickboxing. Especially that over the head hammer strike move. (I always pretend it's my bosses head I'm hammering into the ground)
Lynn, I'll implement the split you mentioned, it looks great and should ease up any fears of overtraining.
As for my diet, I'm trying to stick to 3000 calories and avoid carbs if possible.
I really want a nice looking core by this spring/summer coming up so that's why I'm trying to whittle away as much as possible because I once heard/read that you can't overtrain the Abs..is that so?

Will keep you updated and thanks all for your replies.

 

[fitnessangel]

I agree with everyone's suggestions. Personally, I only work abs 3-4 days per week. I work them until I get a good toasty feeling (if that makes sense). I don't know if you can overtrain abs, but all muscles need a break. After I cut down from 6 days per week of abs to 3-4 days I saw better results (real definition).

One thing to note: With all of the kickboxing that you are incorporating into your program, remember that you are getting some ab work done through that as well. If I were you, I would cut back on the ab sessions to 3-4 days per week. However, when you do your ab work make sure you feel it the next day

Good luck!!

 

[beckymd]

Just thought I'd pipe in to say not to avoid carbs. Our bodies need them and by not eating carbs, you are really taxing your kidneys. Low carb/no carb diets have thrown people into kidney failure. Dialysis isn't fun.

-Becky

 

[Male Cathe Fan]

Thanks, yes I have noticed that denying carbs is not only bad for my taste buds, but i get major stomach grumbles too, which leads me to cravings for very unhealthy food choices.

 

[fitnessangel]

Great point, Becky. Our brains need carbs to fuel them, as well as our bodies. It is one of our primary sources of energy. A well balanced diet will incorporate moderate portions of each food group- some with a little more and some with a little less in size. When you do eat carbs, aim for whole grains or whole wheat.