I have been reading this forum daily & I love all of the info! I feel so motivated and I feel like I have "fallen in love" with exercise again since discovering Cathe! I have read of several different recommended workout schedules, each one a bit different than the other. Some have 2 cardio days, others four, etc. How do I know what to choose for myself? My current schedule is 3 days of cardio and three days of weights, all for 45-60 minutes. Are the changes just based on what results I want or my preferences? Is this optimal for building muscle in upper body & conditioning lower body? Also, I push myself as hard as possible during all 6 workouts. Is this correct, or should I ever "take it easy"? Thanks for all help & comments!
How much cardio/strength?
- Thread starter Jul
- Start date
Cathe Friedrich
Administrator
Hi Jul!
Welcome to the forum. You are very right, the changes in your fitness routine should be based on what results you want and what your preferences are. There is no exact formula for inch loss and body fat reduction. There are just a lot of general rules. Once you have followed the general rules, it will take some experimenting to see what "formula" works best for you. When I offer people advice, I generally look at their workout program, make sure that they eat a balanced diet, and offer advice based on what they are looking to do. There are no guarantees that my advice is EXACTLY what they need but atleast I can help get them going in a positive direction and also help eliminate some of the experimenting and guess work.
As for your questions regarding your workout plan, overall your program looks fine and meets the requirements for a healthy and fit lifestyle. However, to give you a little more advice I also need to know if you are receiving results from this plan, and if you are happy with the results you are receiving, and how long you have been on this current plan. Also, are the three weight days total body workouts each day or just a few bodyparts per weight day? And although I don't go deeply into discussing diet, I just need to point out that a balanced and healthy diet is also very important in order to get the best results.
And regarding taking it easy, you definitely want to listen to your body at all times and give yourself permission to take an easy day when you are having a "I just don't have it in me today" type of day. Also easy days should be factored in when your are pushing yourself extrememly hard with workouts that are stressing similar muscles in the same way. This way you are not wearing yourself down. Looking at what you have listed as your activities above, this is what I would suggest:
Mon...high intensity cardio
Tues..high intensity weights (upper and lower)
Wed...REST DAY
Thurs.high intensity cardio
Fri...high intensity weights/upper body only
Sat...high intensity cardio
Sun...moderate intensity/lower body only
Hope this helps!
Welcome to the forum. You are very right, the changes in your fitness routine should be based on what results you want and what your preferences are. There is no exact formula for inch loss and body fat reduction. There are just a lot of general rules. Once you have followed the general rules, it will take some experimenting to see what "formula" works best for you. When I offer people advice, I generally look at their workout program, make sure that they eat a balanced diet, and offer advice based on what they are looking to do. There are no guarantees that my advice is EXACTLY what they need but atleast I can help get them going in a positive direction and also help eliminate some of the experimenting and guess work.
As for your questions regarding your workout plan, overall your program looks fine and meets the requirements for a healthy and fit lifestyle. However, to give you a little more advice I also need to know if you are receiving results from this plan, and if you are happy with the results you are receiving, and how long you have been on this current plan. Also, are the three weight days total body workouts each day or just a few bodyparts per weight day? And although I don't go deeply into discussing diet, I just need to point out that a balanced and healthy diet is also very important in order to get the best results.
And regarding taking it easy, you definitely want to listen to your body at all times and give yourself permission to take an easy day when you are having a "I just don't have it in me today" type of day. Also easy days should be factored in when your are pushing yourself extrememly hard with workouts that are stressing similar muscles in the same way. This way you are not wearing yourself down. Looking at what you have listed as your activities above, this is what I would suggest:
Mon...high intensity cardio
Tues..high intensity weights (upper and lower)
Wed...REST DAY
Thurs.high intensity cardio
Fri...high intensity weights/upper body only
Sat...high intensity cardio
Sun...moderate intensity/lower body only
Hope this helps!
Schedule
I am working with a personal trainer who strongly believes in a six day schedule of 3 hour-long full body workouts (usually 3 sets of one exercise per body part with stretching), alternating with 3 hour-long intense cardio sessions and one day off. It seems to be working fine, but is this more of a toning approach instead of a building approach? I use the maximum weight I can handle with good form and change the routine every 12 weeks.
I am working with a personal trainer who strongly believes in a six day schedule of 3 hour-long full body workouts (usually 3 sets of one exercise per body part with stretching), alternating with 3 hour-long intense cardio sessions and one day off. It seems to be working fine, but is this more of a toning approach instead of a building approach? I use the maximum weight I can handle with good form and change the routine every 12 weeks.
Cathe Friedrich
Administrator
Hi Kathleen!
Depending on your genetics, this could be either toning or building muscle. Personally, I tend to think that(for many people)unless you're prone to putting on muscle, that this would be more of a toning routine rather than maximum building. Reason being that you are only doing one exercise per body part and three times per week. However, you say you are using maximum poundage and with a personal trainer at your side, he/she will make sure its MAXIMUM poundage. In this case, yes, you can be building some good muscle.
As a side note I'd just like to point out that for some body parts, say biceps or chest, one exercise at three sets maximum poundage could build muscle nicely. However, muscles that need to be hit from a variety of diffent areas like legs(front/ back/upper/lower), shoulders(front/mid/rear), and back(upper/mid/lower), may not develop and/or benefit as nicely from one exercise three times per week, since all of the various areas are not being targeted as exclusively.
In any case, the main thing is that you say it "seems to be working fine". Those key words tell me that you are happy with your results so I would continue with it. Happy Lifting!
Depending on your genetics, this could be either toning or building muscle. Personally, I tend to think that(for many people)unless you're prone to putting on muscle, that this would be more of a toning routine rather than maximum building. Reason being that you are only doing one exercise per body part and three times per week. However, you say you are using maximum poundage and with a personal trainer at your side, he/she will make sure its MAXIMUM poundage. In this case, yes, you can be building some good muscle.
As a side note I'd just like to point out that for some body parts, say biceps or chest, one exercise at three sets maximum poundage could build muscle nicely. However, muscles that need to be hit from a variety of diffent areas like legs(front/ back/upper/lower), shoulders(front/mid/rear), and back(upper/mid/lower), may not develop and/or benefit as nicely from one exercise three times per week, since all of the various areas are not being targeted as exclusively.
In any case, the main thing is that you say it "seems to be working fine". Those key words tell me that you are happy with your results so I would continue with it. Happy Lifting!