Always cardio after weights.
Heavy weights x low reps = strength focused
Light weights x high reps = bigger muscles focused
I believe it's been proven a mixture of both is optimal but don't quote me on that
1 hour cardio sessions
- Thread starter madindehead
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Always cardio after weights.
Heavy weights x low reps = strength focused
Light weights x high reps = bigger muscles focused
I believe it's been proven a mixture of both is optimal but don't quote me on that
Soldato
But isn't this that you will have a higher lean muscle mass so your body has a higher BMR to maintain it? If so then the difference will be quite minimal because I don't think OP will put that much on.
The easiest and most effective way to increase your BMR is to eat a tub of been and Jerry's every night, get a Dominoes twice a week, a big curry Saturday night and Fish n' chips Friday night. Drinking around 12 units of alcohol every day, and spend your time int eh office munching on mars bars and packets of crisps, washed down with liters of coke. Within a few months your BMR will be much higher.
Alternatively, if you want to loose weight you mainly want to focus on the TDEE.
Hey OP, the 15mins a pop thing is good start but record your times, distances, resistances etc in a log book 
Try beat one of the variables each time you set foot into the gym; if you can do this you'll always be progressing
If you haven't considered using weights at all maybe look into it, a mixture is usually best and for most people the term "weight loss" is actually "fat loss" retaining muscle is an important part of getting "in shape".
If you don't fancy the weights or cannot perform them for whatever reason then look into a thorough stretching and mobility routine good luck!
Try beat one of the variables each time you set foot into the gym; if you can do this you'll always be progressing
If you haven't considered using weights at all maybe look into it, a mixture is usually best and for most people the term "weight loss" is actually "fat loss" retaining muscle is an important part of getting "in shape".
If you don't fancy the weights or cannot perform them for whatever reason then look into a thorough stretching and mobility routine
good luck!Hey OP, the 15mins a pop thing is good start but record your times, distances, resistances etc in a log book
Try beat one of the variables each time you set foot into the gym; if you can do this you'll always be progressing
If you haven't considered using weights at all maybe look into it, a mixture is usually best and for most people the term "weight loss" is actually "fat loss" retaining muscle is an important part of getting "in shape".
If you don't fancy the weights or cannot perform them for whatever reason then look into a thorough stretching and mobility routine
I'm going to disagree with this. If you are trying to beat one of the variables every time you go then you are going to get injured and/or start hating the workouts. Cardio workouts should be fun, and for the most part shouldn't leave you exhausted. Effort should vary based on your natural energy levels and muscle conditions on that day. If you try and push every workout to the max then your body will breakdown, one of the reasons HILT is so dangerous when over used.
It is better to train by heart rate and/or perceived effort and try and keep constant efforts. Over time the pace and or distance will increase naturally for the same effort level. Some days will be slower or shorter, other days long or faster. In fact, emphasizing the differences will lead to increased performance adaptions. If there is a day where you feel like you can just use the elliptical forever then go out and push a longer distance/time as desired, alternatively if you are feeling tired or sore or just lazy then do a shorter easier workout.
As for weight, you can do a a huge amount of workouts using just your body weight, so these can be done at home. Planks, crunches, squats, lunges, high jumps etc, leg raises, clams etc. are exceptional for increasing strength and improving fitness without increasing injury risks or leading to muscular imbalances. Plus you can do them watching netflix in your living room which is a real winner.
About weights: If I do anything, it will be bodyweight related. Like D.P. mentions, I can do these at home just fine. Or work them in at the gym. But my primary focus at the gym is on the cardio sessions.
I will take a look at the Beginner Pete Plan, thanks for that Street.
I will take a look at the Beginner Pete Plan, thanks for that Street.
Man of Honour
A good bodyweight training regime, with some HIIT at the end is fantastic IMO.
I did that for a while when I was short on money and I still managed to get back up to strength at the gym quickly owing to all the bodyweight stuff I was doing, and HIIT helped keep my coordination and cardiovascular health in check too.
I did routines like bodyweight squats, pistol squats (with lots of variations such as jump squats etc), burpees, press ups, handstand push ups, pull ups (pull up bar), dips, and lots of core related exercises (planks, birddog, dead bug and lots more) - you can vary the intensity by slowing down on the eccentric movements or concentric movements or both, shorter breaks, more reps and all sorts of variations. Raising your legs when doing push ups, or adding a backpack and so on.
Then for HIIT, I varied from skipping (an amazing exercise to do!), to hill sprints, bodyweight ciruits, shuttle sprints and that sort of stuff.
If you're willing to put the effort in you can get fantastic results without spending an hour of pure cardio. Sure, you won't put on huge amounts of lean muscle mass, but you will burn calories, and if you get the body in the right hormonal state, burn fat more quickly too. I certainly didn't lose and muscle mass - and by the time I got back to gym I was back up to speed in about 2 months or so - which considering I hadn't done weights in nearly a year was great (but I was in my 20s too so probably helped!).
Cardio is good if that's what you want to train for - but if you want to be an all rounder, don't focus time on purely cardio.
I did that for a while when I was short on money and I still managed to get back up to strength at the gym quickly owing to all the bodyweight stuff I was doing, and HIIT helped keep my coordination and cardiovascular health in check too.
I did routines like bodyweight squats, pistol squats (with lots of variations such as jump squats etc), burpees, press ups, handstand push ups, pull ups (pull up bar), dips, and lots of core related exercises (planks, birddog, dead bug and lots more) - you can vary the intensity by slowing down on the eccentric movements or concentric movements or both, shorter breaks, more reps and all sorts of variations. Raising your legs when doing push ups, or adding a backpack and so on.
Then for HIIT, I varied from skipping (an amazing exercise to do!), to hill sprints, bodyweight ciruits, shuttle sprints and that sort of stuff.
If you're willing to put the effort in you can get fantastic results without spending an hour of pure cardio. Sure, you won't put on huge amounts of lean muscle mass, but you will burn calories, and if you get the body in the right hormonal state, burn fat more quickly too. I certainly didn't lose and muscle mass - and by the time I got back to gym I was back up to speed in about 2 months or so - which considering I hadn't done weights in nearly a year was great (but I was in my 20s too so probably helped!).
Cardio is good if that's what you want to train for - but if you want to be an all rounder, don't focus time on purely cardio.
My primary focus is on my road cycling. My focus right now, is to lose the weight that I have foolishly allowed to creep back on. My preferred method is cardio, because I actually enjoy it. I also want to do some more swimming too to help myself out.
I will look into a good bodyweight training routine too, or maybe people here can recommend one. I don't want one to focus on building massive amounts of muscle, rather having suitable muscle to support what I am doing.
I will look into a good bodyweight training routine too, or maybe people here can recommend one. I don't want one to focus on building massive amounts of muscle, rather having suitable muscle to support what I am doing.
Man of Honour
You won't build massive amounts of muscle doing bodyweight. Even doing weights it will take years. Unless you take exogenous hormones... It's like women saying, I don't want to do weights because I don't want to get big... you won't love. It's not some magic thing that happens - it takes a huge amount of work.
However doing SOME weights (even if only bodyweight) movements, does improve everything about how your body works.
However doing SOME weights (even if only bodyweight) movements, does improve everything about how your body works.
Soldato
D.P, can you please reply to MrThingyX's post. I always see you talking as the authority on cardio (because you do a lot of it being your qualification), but MrThingyX has come back with some valid responses to you and you seem to be purposefully ignoring it, whilst continue to beat your drum to other people's replies, with more opinion.
Ace. Thanks Freefaller. Can you recommend a good starting program to look at?
Doing the same thing over an over again with no goal or feeling of progression leads to exactly zero fun.
At least 4 different cardio machines with at least 3 variables to play with and pursue is not going to leave you injured. You don't have to try beat your 100% best every time.
Go in, start light and breezy and then start building up
I simply didn't see his response.
Tell that to any triathlete, decathlon athlete or any sports coach that get their athletes to do cross training. Cardio exercise result in increase heart volume, increased heart efficiency, increased capillaries, larger glycogen stores, improved fat metabolism, improved lung capacity, increased neuro-musclar control, improved mental strength to push hard, increased red-blood cell count,, increased mitochondria, increased blood plasma, weight control, etc., etc. These benefits a wide range of cardio sports. What does get specialized is the particular muscles to do each sport. So for me for example, I do a lot of running but a little swimming and cycling. I have the CV fitness to to cycle for hours and hours but my FTP is low so I simply don't have the speed of dedicated cyclist, I just don't have the quad muscles. Conversely good cyclists will do very well running, Lance Armstrong ran a sub-3 marathon with relatively little training, something which most running will never achieve in their life.Not really: cardio "fitness" (exercise and recovery capacity) is sport specific, with only relatively transferable gains between sports/activity types.
There is specialization, and if you really want to be the best of the best then dedicating the most time to 1 exercise is the best thing to do, but there is plenty of crossover from a cardio perspective. Its mostly technique and muscle strength/adaptions that don't crossover.
Not necessarily; poor technique, poor form, poor training, poor recovery are all major factors. There is then just the physics of it, e.g. cyclist have a lower occurrence of leg injuries despite extremely limited motion because there are no impact forces compared to running. Swimming don't get leg or back injuries because they are weightless, but they are prone to shoulder injuries.
I don't agree that its lack of mobility but I agree that athletes both can suffer such injuries and need to do some strength work to mitigate them. I am a big believer in strength training to improve my running. Runners often get hip issues, but that is from a combination of repeated impact forces, poor technique when tired, and muscular imbalances due to specialization. E.g., runners develop very strong calves and upper legs to enable them to propel them selves, but stability muscles from the core are less important for performance and so experience less adaption. This is why strength exercises are important.
I agree, except you don't have to add weights and you don't have to do it in the gym. As Is aid earlier int his thread, I recommend doing some body weight exercises in your living room.
A typcial work out for me is soem combination of this:
And other similar workout for core strength (various combos of planks, ab crunches, squats, jumps, pull ups). 2-3 times a week for 20-30 minutes helps tremendously. These things are all very safe, don't require special technique & training, won't cause muscular imbalances, can be done watching Netflix, and have a low injury risk.
I agree 100%, goals are very important. But you shouldn't set a goal every time you do an experience, set long term goals and have shorter term milestones. I would do a fraction of the exercise I do if it wasn't for goals, but my goals are more holistic like "Do a Marathon in April going sub-3, do a triathlon in the summer, do an Ironman next year". I test progress along the way, e.g. maybe once a month I will see if I am swimming any faster, or my cycle FTP is better. But I never worry about day to day or week to metrics. Far too much variance. And in any case it jut isn't optimal even if it was safe. I am a bad swimmer and trying to improve that the most but I don't look at the numbers every session because a typically swim is to training to be better has little to do with time. However, now and then I will do a 2250yd (more or less half ironman distance) all out swim as a benchmark.Doing the same thing over an over again with no goal or feeling of progression leads to exactly zero fun.
At least 4 different cardio machines with at least 3 variables to play with and pursue is not going to leave you injured. You don't have to try beat your 100% best every time.
Go in, start light and breezy and then start building up
You have actually illustrated my point nicely (cardio need strength...). Thank you.
Saved me having to type out a really long, referenced post.
You have actually illustrated my point nicely (cardio need strength...). Thank you.
Saved me having to type out a really long, referenced post.
I never disagreed with you because I have never said that it isn't a good idea to do strength exercises. You seemed to want to disagree with something I posted but then never presented any kind of argument beyond cardio doesn't transfer between sports, which is easily disproved.
Interesting... You seem to be disagreeing with something I didn't actually say.
Very interesting.
Good luck to the OP regardless of the path he/she chooses: the most important thing is starting!
Thanks for all the info guys
I am still going to focus on the cardio primarily in the gym, but I will find a good body weight routine to follow, squats, lunges etc, more specific to cycling.
I am still going to focus on the cardio primarily in the gym, but I will find a good body weight routine to follow, squats, lunges etc, more specific to cycling.