how to structure weekly workouts/weights

[andreasue]

Hi,
My name is Andrea. I just turned 44 and can honestly say that i'm in the best shape of my life thanks to the Cathe workouts! I've lost 30 pounds and gained muscle and stamina by doing these workouts on FitTv, but I now need more. I just bought the DrillMax workout and I love it - I want to buy more dvds. My question is how many times per week should I be incorporating weights into my workouts? Should I be lifting heavy weights during some workouts and lighter weights during others? I've recently read that it is best to wait 72 hours between weight work - would that apply to a lighter weight workouts or only heavy weights? I like the look of the intensity series (maybe that would be best for me?) but I have a lot of trouble following some of the more complicated step routines. Any advice regarding how to space my weight work would be appreciated (I excercise 6 days per week, including running).
Thanks!

 

[kariev]

>Hi,
>My name is Andrea. I just turned 44 and can honestly say that
>i'm in the best shape of my life thanks to the Cathe workouts!
>I've lost 30 pounds and gained muscle and stamina by doing
>these workouts on FitTv, but I now need more. I just bought
>the DrillMax workout and I love it - I want to buy more dvds.
>My question is how many times per week should I be
>incorporating weights into my workouts? Should I be lifting
>heavy weights during some workouts and lighter weights during
>others? I've recently read that it is best to wait 72 hours
>between weight work - would that apply to a lighter weight
>workouts or only heavy weights? I like the look of the
>intensity series (maybe that would be best for me?) but I have
>a lot of trouble following some of the more complicated step
>routines. Any advice regarding how to space my weight work
>would be appreciated (I excercise 6 days per week, including
>running).
>Thanks!

not cathe but since noone has posted i'm going to throw out my 2 cents. As far as weight training i would do 3 days a week and on alternated days i would do your cardio. You can make this split any way you want but you want it to be challenging. you can get the gym style series and do that split or get the pyramid series and do an upper or lower split. i would focus on heavy weights, with proper form of course, for 4 weeks if you want to build strength and put on some muscle. Then switch everything for 4 weeks to endurance type of full body workouts. or you can do a combo of both: upper body one day, lower body the next, and a full body routine for the final workout. hope this helps

 

[kathryn]

Andrea, there are a lot of ways you can incorporate weights into your training. If you are just beginning to workout with weights, I suggest starting with two, full-body workouts per week, working up to 3 by week 3.

If you are more experienced (have been working out with weights for a while), or have reached a plateau with this type of training, then progressing to splits (where different body parts are worked on different days) is a logical step, as it will allow you to work each muscle group more thororoughly.

A two-day split---lower body one day, upper body another day--like the Pyramids is a good first split. You can do lower body on days 1 and 4, and upper body on days 2 and 5.

The next step can be a three-day split, like PS or Gym Styles, or S&H. Do each workout once per week (ie: upper body 1 on day 1, lower body on day 3 and upper body 2 on day 5).

As for how long to wait between weight workouts, it's standard to wait 48 hours before working the same muscle group (ie: if you work chest on day 1, don't work it again until day 3), but YMMV. Each individual may need more or less recovery.

IMO, it's also a good idea to not do chest/back/shoulders on consecutive days, as the shoulders are often a touchy joint, and they are worked when doing chest (especially) and back work (less), so working chest on day 1, back on day 2, and shoulders on day 3 might lead to overuse problems for the shoulders. Instead, inserting the leg workout to break up the sequence is a good idea.

For how heavy to lift: the amount of weight you can lift will vary with the speed and number of reps in a workout, but the last 2-3 reps of each set should be challenging. You don't have to go to failure on each set, but you should feel like you are working.

HTH!

 

[andreasue]

Kathryn,
Thanks for the great advice! I'm going to print this out and keep it in my exercise file. I agree about the shoulders - mine are so weak I find they are easliy strained. I've also just discovered the rotations that Cathe posts each month. I'm following June now and doing just what you suggested with the two day Pyramid split. Thanks for taking the time to answer my question!
Andrea