Cardio and Muscle Building.

[ayalgues]

Hi,

I just found this article around here http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/pauline5.htm and confuse me all the way now.
In the cardio part says not to do cardio after weight training!! really?? I have been told for ages to do so. I don't get it!! When am i suppose to do cardio?? on my rest days??
I am 5,3/132pounds/60kg and BF 24 and I am looking to build lean muscle long term but at the moment after having a baby i want to tone up for summer. I normally do the cardio after weight training 4/5 days a week 30/40 minutes interval in cross trainer and up hill in treadmill.
What do you recommend??


Thank you.

[flow.eht]

Hi,

I just found this article around here http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/pauline5.htm and confuse me all the way now.
In the cardio part says not to do cardio after weight training!! really?? I have been told for ages to do so. I don't get it!! When am i suppose to do cardio?? on my rest days??
I am 5,3/132pounds/60kg and BF 24 and I am looking to build lean muscle long term but at the moment after having a baby i want to tone up for summer. I normally do the cardio after weight training 4/5 days a week 30/40 minutes interval in cross trainer and up hill in treadmill.
What do you recommend??


Thank you.

from what i have read your body is in a depleated state after lifting so intense cardio after lifting can cause you to go into a catabolic state.

however saying that i do 10-20mins of a moderate pace walk before and after lifting and it works for me


also check out
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/james4.htm

tis a good read

[egoatdoor]

The article is Pauline's opinion on things.

Yes, ideally cardio should be done separately from weights. But not everyone has that type of time flexibility in their schedules. So doing cardio after weights is the next best solution.

I would advise that you drink a whey protein shake either between weights and cardio or during the first few minutes of cardio. Your body will be in catabolic state after weight training and the protein will eliminate or minimize muscle catabolism during the cardio.

[onnadafit]

I always do weight training first, the body is fuelled, glycogen is in the muscles ready to be broken down and the ATP process ensures you have a great weight training session.. ten refuel with a good carbs/protein mix, the body is warm and time to give the lungs and heart a great workout... mind you on Leg training days, I dont do cardio... the poor things just cannot cope!

time defnitely can make you feel like you are in the gym non stop, but your workouts dont have to be long... split up the body parts/days and do 35-40mins weights and then a good high intensity cardio session for 20mins or so and you are done. Do this 3-4 times a week and see how you go!

I sometimes do cardio in the morning and then a weights session in the afternoon splitting it up and fuelling adequately in between to ensure I get maximum results.

Hi,

I just found this article around here http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/pauline5.htm and confuse me all the way now.
In the cardio part says not to do cardio after weight training!! really?? I have been told for ages to do so. I don't get it!! When am i suppose to do cardio?? on my rest days??
I am 5,3/132pounds/60kg and BF 24 and I am looking to build lean muscle long term but at the moment after having a baby i want to tone up for summer. I normally do the cardio after weight training 4/5 days a week 30/40 minutes interval in cross trainer and up hill in treadmill.
What do you recommend??


Thank you.

[KyleAaron]

Pauline Nordin is a woman with very low bodyfat, small muscles, and if you read her blog, she appears to have disordered eating and other mental issues. Take her advice with a grain of salt.

In general, people find that they get more out of their weight training and cardio both if they do them on different days. If they must do them together, they do cardio second - they just won't be able to lift much weight after an intense session of cardio, whereas they can do some pretty intense cardio after weights.

Dropping the "baby weight" means dropping fat. Dropping fat is all about diet, not how much energy you spend in the gym. It's energy out vs energy in. A typical hour's cardio is 200-300kcal, if you're fairly fit and can really thrash yourself, maybe 500kcal. By comparison, a pack of large fries is 500kcal. I dunno about you, but I find it a lot easier to just not eat the fries than it is to do one or two hours of cardio.

However, if you drop energy in and then sit on your bum, you will lose fat, but also lose muscle. So you'll end up weak, tired and "skinny-fat" - small but flabby. So for health and looks and performance, I recommend a preference for weight training for those wishing to lose fat; the cardio is just to ensure general health and fitness, and to make the weight training easier.

So rather than 4-5 days with weights and cardio, I recommend 3 days a week of high weight and low reps for weight training, and then just be generally more physically active - get a step counter (you can get them for a few bucks from ebay) and make sure you get 70,000 steps a week. Combine that with a healthy diet of a wide variety of fresh food, and you'll achieve your goals.

[ayalgues]

Thank you so much for your reply. I never eat junk food. I am Spanish and we are used to cook everything from the scratch. I think i might be doing too much as, as you mention I am getting skinny fat instead of building anything.I think I might do 3 days weight training and 3 days cardio and 1 day off. I have a small baby so i can only go to the gym in the evening when the boyfriend is home, I will have to do the cardio on days off. My lower body needs load of work, Is it ok if i traing lower body twice a week?? and do 4 days weight training??

Pauline Nordin is a woman with very low bodyfat, small muscles, and if you read her blog, she appears to have disordered eating and other mental issues. Take her advice with a grain of salt.

In general, people find that they get more out of their weight training and cardio both if they do them on different days. If they must do them together, they do cardio second - they just won't be able to lift much weight after an intense session of cardio, whereas they can do some pretty intense cardio after weights.

Dropping the "baby weight" means dropping fat. Dropping fat is all about diet, not how much energy you spend in the gym. It's energy out vs energy in. A typical hour's cardio is 200-300kcal, if you're fairly fit and can really thrash yourself, maybe 500kcal. By comparison, a pack of large fries is 500kcal. I dunno about you, but I find it a lot easier to just not eat the fries than it is to do one or two hours of cardio.

However, if you drop energy in and then sit on your bum, you will lose fat, but also lose muscle. So you'll end up weak, tired and "skinny-fat" - small but flabby. So for health and looks and performance, I recommend a preference for weight training for those wishing to lose fat; the cardio is just to ensure general health and fitness, and to make the weight training easier.

So rather than 4-5 days with weights and cardio, I recommend 3 days a week of high weight and low reps for weight training, and then just be generally more physically active - get a step counter (you can get them for a few bucks from ebay) and make sure you get 70,000 steps a week. Combine that with a healthy diet of a wide variety of fresh food, and you'll achieve your goals.

[ayalgues]

Thank you so much for passing me on the link, It's very good.Thank you.

from what i have read your body is in a depleated state after lifting so intense cardio after lifting can cause you to go into a catabolic state.

however saying that i do 10-20mins of a moderate pace walk before and after lifting and it works for me


also check out
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/james4.htm

tis a good read

[fitlover]

Do what you like to do. There's a million ways to cook a potato, but it's up to your own preference how you want to do it. Perhaps if you're unsure, you should do more research on the topic. There's THOUSANDS or articles debating this issue.

Just because one person says something, doesn't mean it's the holy grail of exercise science. Just something to think about.

[Atheena]

I do my cardio after weight training in the morning as long as it's not leg day. But in the mornings after weight training I only run 1.25 miles and then in the evening I go back and do my full cardio. I've always heard to do cardio after weights because your heart rate is already up and if you just do cardio first it takes 20 minutes of cardio before your heart rate is up to where you are in the fat burning zone. That's what I've been told.

[egoatdoor]

I do my cardio after weight training in the morning as long as it's not leg day. But in the mornings after weight training I only run 1.25 miles and then in the evening I go back and do my full cardio. I've always heard to do cardio after weights because your heart rate is already up and if you just do cardio first it takes 20 minutes of cardio before your heart rate is up to where you are in the fat burning zone. That's what I've been told.

I've done the test with a heart rate monitor. If I do cardio by itself with no activity before, my heart rate is generally 95-102 or so. When I finish weights, take a short break to drink a shake and then measure my heart rate just before I start my cardio, its 115-120.

[MichelleAntonia]

Pauline Nordin is a woman with very low bodyfat, small muscles, and if you read her blog, she appears to have disordered eating and other mental issues. Take her advice with a grain of salt.

In general, people find that they get more out of their weight training and cardio both if they do them on different days. If they must do them together, they do cardio second - they just won't be able to lift much weight after an intense session of cardio, whereas they can do some pretty intense cardio after weights.

Dropping the "baby weight" means dropping fat. Dropping fat is all about diet, not how much energy you spend in the gym. It's energy out vs energy in. A typical hour's cardio is 200-300kcal, if you're fairly fit and can really thrash yourself, maybe 500kcal. By comparison, a pack of large fries is 500kcal. I dunno about you, but I find it a lot easier to just not eat the fries than it is to do one or two hours of cardio.

However, if you drop energy in and then sit on your bum, you will lose fat, but also lose muscle. So you'll end up weak, tired and "skinny-fat" - small but flabby. So for health and looks and performance, I recommend a preference for weight training for those wishing to lose fat; the cardio is just to ensure general health and fitness, and to make the weight training easier.

So rather than 4-5 days with weights and cardio, I recommend 3 days a week of high weight and low reps for weight training, and then just be generally more physically active - get a step counter (you can get them for a few bucks from ebay) and make sure you get 70,000 steps a week. Combine that with a healthy diet of a wide variety of fresh food, and you'll achieve your goals.

Thank you, Kyle. Your posts are always extremely informative and well written, and most importantly, heavy on the common sense that is so often left out of discussions like these.

I've told plenty of my friends who want to lose weight and "tone up" this stuff, but none of them really take it to heart. Unfortunately, there is a still a large contingent of women out there who can't break out of the "cardio cardio and nothing BUT cardio" mantra when it comes to losing weight and getting the bodies they want.

[KyleAaron]

ayalgues, just get into the gym and do a full-body routine at least twice a week. In every workout, do a deep knee-bend, pick something heavy up off the ground and put something heavy overhead. Depending on your current fitness and bodily awareness, it could be a zillion different combination of exercises.

Bodyweight squats, inverted rows with knees bent, knee pushups
Bodyweight lunges, inverted rows with legs straight, pushups
Split squats with rear foot elevated, chinups, pushups with feet elevated
Dumbell squats, dumbell rows, dumbell overhead press
Barbell deadlift, barbell row, barbell bench press
Barbell squat, barbell clean & press
etc,

Legs, pull, push in every session - in that order. Pick three exercises, one for each movement, and stick to them. In every session, do more than you did before - more weight, or more reps, or more sets. This stresses your body, so it adapts, it changes.

Strength gives you confidence. When you can pick your bodyweight up off the ground you find that at that moment, at least, you don't give a damn about the size of your bum. And confidence is what makes a woman beautiful, that's why Queen Latifah is sexy and Roseanne Barr is just fat.

This takes time. In the first month there will be no change in your looks, but you will feel more energetic and lively. In the second month you will notice changes. In the third month your friends will notice changes. And so on.

So, strength workout a couple of times a week, as for cardio, well, it's not going to burn much calories, don't do it for that - just go for what it's called, cardiovascular fitness. Health. An hour's brisk walk or cycle, half an hour's swim or jog. Nothing major. Do that a couple of times a week, and again more, more or more - in every session, more weight (you can have stuff in a backpack), more speed or more distance.

Thankyou MichelleAntonia, very kind.

It's my job, so I get a lot of practice at these explanations. I am a big believer in people knowing why they're doing something. Every exercise, every minute on the treadmill or in the pool or on the track, every set and every rep, there should be a reason for it. If you don't know why you're doing it, then... why are you doing it?

So then we get into, okay, this is why you're doing it, but is that correct? Is this actually the best way to achieve your stated goals? And whether the person's goals are to slim down or muscle up or be better at their sport or not have a sore back anymore or whatever, quite often their exercise and diet are not taking them towards their goals. Which is a pity, because the gym is a real pain in the arse, and stomping along on a treadmill or just picking up pieces of iron and putting them down again is a fundamentally boring and stupid thing in itself. Really this should be taking you somewhere.

But for many people it's not actually about achieving their stated goals. It's a sort of religious thing. "Oh no, I had cheesecake last night, I must punish myself with two hours on the bike!" Like Catholic confession. Or it's a social thing, they go to see their friends at the gym, or want to be able to boast to their friends that they go.

For some people in the gym, though, they actually have something they want to achieve, and so it's them who are worth talking to. "Why are you doing that?" Simple question, surprising how often there's no real answer.