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  • How much cardio?

    How often should you cardio a week and if you do it more than 3 times a week do you cardio in the morning and lift in the afternoon or vice versa.

  • #2
    If your goal is strength/power/size, you should never really do long, slow, endurance cardio --- i am constantly shocked when I hear about boxes, football players, etc. doing 5mile/1hour + runs on the norm.. just beating down muscle fibers and the body so you become a smaller slower person

    and in general I would never recommend long, slow, endurance cardio for anyone unless they're goal is to become a long, slow, endurance athlete.

    Instead, focus on high intensity interval training sessions, incorporating complexes, circuits, drop sets, etc. to train muscles with an elevated heart rate, thus increasing the heart rate for a prolonged period due the recovery muscle building aspects of the exercises while also constantly stimulating and elevating basal metabolism due to increased lean tissue (muscle)


    If your trying to lose weight by long, slow, endurance cardio, the benefits eventually plateau once a trained state is reached, and than you have to run longer/harder. Plus the impact of most forms of endurance cardio are detrimental to joint integerity and on top of that the repetitive nature lends itself nicely to over use injuries at isolated joints (similiar to pain bodybuilders occasionally develop from an excess amount of isolated hypertrophy training)

    The only benefit of long slow endurance protocal is the cardiovascular system effects of an increased blood pump (not sure of right science word) from the heart and increased mitochondria at the cellular level.

    and finally, if your goal is strength, size, power, or to build muscle -- long slow cardio actually alters enzyme action and basically slows down protein synthesis which is extremely important in muscle recovery/building..

    just my .02 based off what I've read/heard -- I just listened to a teleseminar by alwyn cosgrove about fat loss where he basically reiterated everything above in his interesting irish (?) accent, lol. and apparantly, the science behind cardio for fat loss was built off the idea that elite endurance athletes have no fat, so long-slow-endurance training MUST be ideal for fat loss...when in reality, 99.9% of people engaging it in won't ever, ever reach any level remotely close to an elite endurance athletes training program design..

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    • #3
      so that doesnt answer my question on how much cardio a week and if its ok to cardio on days you lift but resting 8 hours in between

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      • #4
        that is a very indivialized question that really can't be answered without more information as to your background. program design, recovery techniques (incl nutrition), etc.

        The one size fits all approach doesn't work in health/fitness

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        • #5
          Monday-Chest Biceps Abs
          Tuesday-Legs Calves Abs
          Wed-Off
          Thursday-Back
          Friday- Shoulders Triceps Abs
          Sat-Off
          Sun-Off
          The workouts I use are from a fitness book I purchased and are pretty intense they last about 1 hour - 1 hour 45 min
          I take AST VP2 Protein before and after workouts and Axis Labs CEE creatine before and after. As far as the rest of my meals I eat lots of food like Eggs Oatmeal Fish Chicken and Spaghetti. I only drink water and orange juice and have been eating right for around 2 months now. I also drink a ON Casein shake right before bed.

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          • #6
            o and a few other details...

            Been working out not missing a session for about 2 months and 2 weeks. I started keep records of my workouts and aim to beat them every session.
            A few stats
            Age 19
            Weight 167-169 (started 2 months ago at 162-163)
            Height 5'11

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            • #7
              Your body type sounds alot similar to mine. What are your goals? If your just trying to gain muscle mass, performance in a sport, or just all around fitness, the length of time your workouts are seem too long than what you need. I dont know if its the volume in your workouts or you have long rests but I would definitely shorten it. I promise that you can get out of the gym in less than 50min(even less) and have a great exhausting workout that will give you what you want. As far as cardio, stay to high intensity cardio like jump rope, sprints, etc. For your bodytype, Id say at most 3x a week would be perfect. Just play around with the volume and amount per week. Hope that helps bro! good luck! And btw thats good to here that your making gains and stayin disciplined.
              "Greater love hath no man, than to lay down his life for a friend" John 15:13
              CFD

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              • #8
                goal: Pure Looks
                I try to rest 1 min to 1:30 sec between sets ..
                I try to cardio like 5 times a week cause thats what the book told me
                But ya I wanna look huge but be but cut up I dont care about strength if people cant see it there are plenty of fat kids who are alot stronger but I look alot more ripped than them specifically when I started to add cardio and dropped some more body fat.

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                • #9
                  I would also like to mention im in college and literally have almost limitless amount of time for the gym. I have the time to be able to split up cardio by 8 hours from weightlifting in the same day I could also lift for like 5 hours you get my point. Time is a bonus for me so I try and relax and nap alot and get atleast 8 hours of sleep at night

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Operationswole View Post
                    goal: Pure Looks
                    I try to rest 1 min to 1:30 sec between sets ..
                    I try to cardio like 5 times a week cause thats what the book told me
                    But ya I wanna look huge but be but cut up I dont care about strength if people cant see it there are plenty of fat kids who are alot stronger but I look alot more ripped than them specifically when I started to add cardio and dropped some more body fat.
                    Like what JD said, there isnt a one size fits all program. That book may have a great workout routine but it may not be suited for you. It sounds like to me you have a fairly speedy metabolism(going by age, weight, and height). If you just want the looks, then I recommend trying 2-3 days of cardio. Stick to sprints, jump roping, even boxing if your gym has a punching bag. For some reason, the public has this mind set that taking a 45min run or jog will make you look alot better. That may be for someone who needs to lose alota weight but that will make you lose muscle mass which wont get you cut.

                    Originally posted by Operationswole View Post
                    I would also like to mention im in college and literally have almost limitless amount of time for the gym. I have the time to be able to split up cardio by 8 hours from weightlifting in the same day I could also lift for like 5 hours you get my point. Time is a bonus for me so I try and relax and nap alot and get atleast 8 hours of sleep at night
                    Thats great that you have alot of time but its so not necessary to spend most of it in the gym. 30min to one hour is all you need. Keep your rests between sets short. I would do cardio right when you wake up and weights in the afternoon. Try 5days of weights and 2-3days of cardio. Make sure you get in at least 1gallon of water if not more. Get after it bro!
                    "Greater love hath no man, than to lay down his life for a friend" John 15:13
                    CFD

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                    • #11
                      more time in the gym isn' tbetter... it means your training poorly, wasting time, or just not intelligent -- overtraining leds to dramatic decreases in muscle function and thus progressions towards your goal

                      your workout split seems pretty beat to me; what book is it from? i'd recommend you learn to train and build your own customize workouts week by week etc. that way you address all the weak points you need to enhance while still maintaining/capitlizing on your strengths..

                      the lack of leg training is disappointing to see -- is your goal to be a big meathead with a huge upper body and pencil legs? do you hope to train at LA Fitness all your life and be "the man"?haha squats & deads make men, not back and bis -- this relates to learning about training again, within your program design the exercise selection prolly is poor too (again all speculating based on this thread)

                      like farmer said , cardio 2-3x a week at an all out pace is what you should do, and intersperse bodyweight exercises if you can.. maybe run 110yd sprints immediately followed by 20 pushups for time (as an example)

                      but in all honesty, nutrition plays a huge role in all of this; adding size and remaining lean; if your diets crap and you are the typical college kid (booze all night long, little to no sleep, horrible daily campus dining buffet feasts etc.), results will be hard to come by

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                      • #12
                        the book is The Truth By Frank Sepe

                        My legs are worked hard atleast 1 time a week plus like 3-4 cardio sessions so ya my legs and calves are now like most kids they actually look good and not like chicken legs.
                        As for nutrition i eat right and usually always get enough sleep.

                        So what do you suppose is a better training schedule?

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                        • #13
                          more legs... cardio isnt a leg workout

                          if your calves and legs are like most kids, they're chicken legs., plus, who cares what your like in relation to others? the majority of americans are fat, lazy, and stupid.. compare yourself to yourself, and constantly push yourself to beat yourself and improve. if your content comparing yourself to fat, lazy, stupid people, i feel sorry for the self inside of you.

                          deadlift heavy monday, squat heavy thursday - and on tu/fri incorporating lighter leg movements as well in addition to heavy rows,. if you want a good workout, check out defrancos built like a badass ebook. if you want to continue your bodybuilding training and ruin your joint integrity through excessive isolationg movements, go for that.
                          Last edited by jiritt0; 11-19-2009, 09:45 AM.

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                          • #14
                            The limbs play an important role in our work-outs.
                            This is something interesting and everyone
                            get through it.
                            weight loss pills

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