What's better cardio everyday or not?

[kbhegrenes]

I am new Cathe junkie, only about 3 months now. I only own her basic step/body fusion, Low Impact step, Low Max, (which I haven't tried yet), Core Max, and Strech max. I am currently doing Mon/Wed/Fri 60 min. Total body weight training with Jari Love's Get Ripped series. Tues./ Thurs./ Sat. 50 minutes Step cardio with Cathe. Sunday's off. I like Jari's video, but now that I found Cathe, Jari has become boring. I want to do more Cathe strength training. I think Cathe suggests my next move should be Cardio and Weight series. I love my step workouts and enjoy lifting too, just not as much. My question is is it better to alternate cardio and total body weight days, or is it better to do 30 min. cardio followed by weight training a particular area, (such chest, triceps)on M/W/F, and make T/R/and Sat. bigger cardio days? (I'm not sure if I'm explaining my question correctly or not.) Am better off working every body part twice a week like I am now, or focus on one or two areas a day and only hit it once week? Or should I change it up and some weeks do it one way and other weeks do it the other way? ( oh I have so much to learn!)
If total body twice a week is the way to go, which Cathe DVD should I start out with. If lifting that area only once a week, which DVD should I get? (Gym Series?)
My goal is lose 10 - 15 lbs, and DEFINE my body, especially upper body, and Abs, (although after two babies, my abs I think will take years.) I am currently doing Weight Watchers and considering the Core plan instead of flex, I sort of do core anyway. But like some people, I can't say no to chocolate cake all the time!:9

Am I on the right track? I know some of you get tired of us newbies, but we appreciate it!! :7
Thank you so much in advance for any info.

 

[kariev]

my suggestion is to start lifting those heavy weights and change it up a bit. currently you have been doing a full body routine. i would now switch it up and change that split to either an upper/lower split, 3 day split, or 1 body part per day. you can rotate these every few weeks or so.
upper/lower:
monday- upper
tuesday-cardio
wednesday-lower
thrusday-cardio
friday-upper (or a full body workout if you like)
saturday-cardio
then the next week you would 2 lowers and 1 upper workout if you chose not to do the full body on friday
the 3 day split can be done using cathes gym style series or pure strength series. each weight workout is broken up into groups. here is an example of gym style
monday: GS chest and tris
tuesday: cardio
wednesday: GS legs
thursday: cardio
friday: GS back, bi's and shoulders
saturday: cardio
if doing one body part per day, be sure to lift heavy enough to completely exhaust the muscle. the slow and heavy series is great for this. you can also use gym style. i've heard a lot of people who love cross train express b/c it can be used in this way as well. when doing one body part per day, work each muscle for about 30 min and then do 30 min of cardio. this split allows you to increase your cardio frequency.
monday: chest, 30 min cardio
tuesday: back, 30 min cardio
wednesday: legs, no cardio b/c its a 60 min workout
thursday: bi's, 30 min cardio
friday: tri's, 30 min cardio
saturday: shoulders, 30 min cardio
one rotation is not better then another. its great to change each rotation every 4-6 weeks so your body doesn't get used to what your currently doing. some people even change it every week. as far as training frequency of each muscle per week. you have to experiment with that. if you are lifting HEAVY for a muscle then once a week should be plenty. for me i have to do legs twice per week b/c they are stubborn. here is what i'm doing now
monday: chest, tris, 30 min cardio
tuesday: legs and abs
wednesday: cardio only 30 min, shoulders
thursday: back, bi's, abs, 30 min cardio
friday: legs and abs
saturday: cardio only
sunday: off
i hope this helps some. there is a post about all of cathe's rotations she has created. take a look at it and see if you like any of them. you can always substitute workouts if you don't have certain videos. sorry this is so long. good luck.

 

[kbhegrenes]

kariev,

thank you so much!! I think I will try the first rotation you suggested first, and then after a month or so try another one you suggested. It's hard being new, there's so much info, I either can't find it, or don't know how. This gives me a great place to start!! I appreciate your time!:7

 

[kariev]

anytime. feel free to post questions. there are many of us that would love to help you get going. we were all beginners at one time too. it is a lot of info and it can be overwhelming. you don't have to know all of it by tomorrow. you will learn little by little and then you will be a pro;-) good luck

 

[kbhegrenes]

kariev,

you're sweet, thanks!

 

[kbhegrenes]

kariev,
quick questions,,, on the first rotation you suggested, would you suggest pyramid upper and lower body dvd? Also in your current rotation that you wrote to me, what dvd are you using?
I'm trying to decide which dvd's to buy next. I'm on a budget,so I can't order everything I want to right now. I'm trying to decide which strength training dvd set to get. I'm leaning towards Gym style. Slow and heavy looks really advanced and not sure I'm ready for that!! Any suggestions?
THANKS!!

 

[kariev]

the pyramid workouts are great for an upper/lower split however i have used the gym styles for this as well by combining both upper body timesaver workouts. i switch my workouts from using gym style and slow and heavy. i think gym style would be a great addition to your video library. it is one of my favorite strength series from cathe.

 

[drover]

Trust in the LORD with all your heart.

was wondering if ya'll would give me your opinions on this. i find it very interesting.
thanks, cathy

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As a pre-weight training warm-up, even two minutes of cardio will sabotage your lifting results.

Why? Most cardio (1) works only works/warms leg muscles & joints, and (2) burns off your lower-body muscles' precious, very limited supply of ready ATP (adenosine triphosphate)-- the single compound that causes ALL muscle activity.

Perfect for lifting, quickly available ATP sources are depleted (in the working muscle) within two minutes of strenuous activity. This short window of opportunity is ideal for weight work, which requires intense work for the short period of time needed to exhaust each muscle group.

The ideal warm-up for weight work is to precede each lift with a few repetitions with an easy, light weight-- using the identical motions used for the heavy weight exercise that follows. (This warms up the right muscles and joints, from the proper angle.)

On a per-muscle basis, your stored ATP is gone in the first 5-6 seconds of intense activity. A muscle contracts when its ATP releases energy-- by losing a phosphate to become ADP (adenosine diphosphate). Sources of muscle energy is like a four-stage rocket. Depletion of ATP ends stage one.

Stage two is over in the first 20-25 seconds of intense activity, after local Creatine Phosphate is spent-- donating a phosphate to ADP (diphosphate) to restore it to the powerful ATP (triphosphate).

Stage three is over within only two minutes (or less!) of intense activity. In this phase, local glucose (sugar) revive is used to revive ATP.

The fourth and final stage is the "aerobic stage" which is a good fit for cardio-- but awful for weight lifting. Although cardio may seem like a good idea for burning fat it isn't-- because burns calories at 1/18th the rate at which the first three stages incinerate calories.

For fat loss, burning calories is all that counts-- and they much faster in the first three stages.

 

[kariev]

while this article did great on explaining the metabolic stages, i find it a bit extreme. 2 min of light cardio right before lifting is not going to use up your ATP stores and make you weak for lifting. The cycle the article explains is why high intensity interval training is beneficial but that does not mean that other forms of cardio are not. It fails to mention that a calorie deficit is also important for fat loss. you can kick your on a** doing sprints and then hit the drive thru for dinner and pack back on all those calories. the article is actually confusing. it starts off by basically saying a warm up is bad and finishes by talking about fat loss.

 

[kbhegrenes]

I don't know much about this yet, but common sence tells me that without warming up a bit, you could risk injury, which would really slow you down from your goals. Am I right?

 

[kariev]

this is very true!

 

[Cole7626]

My only take on this is, look at how many circuit workouts Cathe has. If it didn't work, I don't think she would make them that way Just a thought. I just started combining my cardio and weights and am liking it a lot. I lift heavy and make sure to have a bit of carbs before I start so my muscles don't run out of fuel.

Nicole

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.

[/url]

 

[kariev]

i agree. cathe isn't going to make a video that doesn't work. i love circuits. i think people are getting too hung up on rules about working out and the important thing is to just get moving.