Carido/ strength training. How much?

Carido/ strength training. How much?		jennasourus
		Jul 07 2008 19:53
I am trying to get back on track with my fitness. In the past i have tried to run at least 5 times a week but became so involved with running that i totally cut out strength training. I feel off the wagon for a few weeks but i am now back and ready to kick some butt! I was wondering, should i do cardio 3x a week and strength 2-3x a week? When i say strength i am not going to the gym or anything, i use the fitness ball with weights and sometimes do pilaties. Does this sound like a better plan then just running alone? My arms are kinda flabby and i would love to tone them. Thanks!

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#1	melkor	Jul 07 2008 21:29
Current Best Practice is diet for fat loss, about 3 hours/week of resistance training using the strength range (<12 reps), and as much cardio as you want and have the time for. Best Practice is what will give you the optimal results, but anything at all will do something for you; it's just a question of how that something fits in with your goal. Pilates is excellent flexibility training, good for strengthening the mind/body connection, but a waste of time as far as strength training goes. If you're a raw beginner who've never trained before in your life bodyweight-based training like Pilates can be sufficient resistance to qualify as strength training, but only if you do exercises where it's physically impossible for you to complete more than 12 repetitions - I suspect you've long since passed the point where that's true for you. Mind you, flexibility and mind/body-connection are useful fitness qualities and training them can't hurt. For strength training, a commercial gym isn't necesary - all you need is resistance that sufficiently challenges your muscles. And free weights are superior to machines in every respect - less pain, more gain - so you've got the right setup already ;)
#2	jennasourus	Jul 07 2008 21:41
Thank you that was quite helpful! I am been very good with my diet, and have learned a lot about healthy eating over the past year. All i need to to concur fitness and i will be set!
#3	maryg2	Jul 07 2008 21:47
Melkor, I was going to post this exact same question and was quite happy to find it was already asked I currently work out 6 days a week (25 mins of cardio and 35 mins of strength training daily). My goal is to lose fat, tone and gain muscle. I'm 5'1", 111 lbs, 15% bodyfat. If I only do 25 mins of cardio every OTHER day and replace it with a full hour of strength training, do you think that will impede my fat loss? I have always heard that you need cardio to lose the fat but I really don't like cardio and am hoping that increasing my strength training will compensation - along with a clean diet of course. Thanks, Maryg
#4	spookychick	Jul 08 2008 00:33
"I have always heard that you need cardio to lose the fat but I really don't like cardio..." heh, me either! and no, you don't really need cardio and in fact a lot of very fit and lean and Shiny Happy People do no real cardio at all in the gym. i have started to due to my fascination with my endurance... but all ya need is weights. melkor will know best, and be far more articulate than i, but nah it certainly will not impede your fat loss due to the logic that a] cardio eats muscle b] muscle burns more calories at rest - therefore if you build more muscle and do less cardio it is so totally, like, win/win. Krista, the Mistress of stumptuous.com has a great article on this~
#5	acerria	Jul 08 2008 14:38
Original Post by melkor: Current Best Practice is diet for fat loss, about 3 hours/week of resistance training using the strength range (<12 reps), and as much cardio as you want and have the time for. For strength training, a commercial gym isn't necesary - all you need is resistance that sufficiently challenges your muscles. And free weights are superior to machines in every respect - less pain, more gain - so you've got the right setup already ;) Quick question . . . when doing strength training, do you still do 3 sets of <12 reps (ex. 3 sets of 6-8 reps), or what? Also, is it better to do the 3 sets right after each other, or to alternate between exercises/machines in a big loop?
#6	melkor	Jul 08 2008 16:26
Well, I only run when chased by wolves or when I'm "it" playing tag; and though I've gotten out my bike I've used it a grand total of - umm, 6 times since January, and I've done 4 hill sprint workouts in the past 3 months. I've also lost 60lbs since starting to count calories. There is no need to do anything but control your calorie intake to lose weight - exercise controls what is lost, but you cannot out-train your diet and the people who recommend cardio for weight loss are mostly trying to do just that. Either that or they're addicted to the endorphins from running and want to get you hooked on their drug of choice too :-P Yup - keep in mind that 3 sets is a compromise range too, just like 8-12 is. 2x15, 3x10, 5x5,10x3 - you end up with about the same volume of work but a different strength training profile. It's a general prescription that works for most trainees for most goals, but it's always good to keep in mind that you may not be part of that majority and to experiment a bit with how your body responds to the various training protocols. The HIT crowd following the Arthur Jones/Mike Menzer/Ellington Darden would disagree with me on the multiple-set method, but personally I think that the HIT Jedis are only loosely connected to reality :)
#7	belladonna69	Jul 09 2008 03:22
*"Well, I only run when chased by wolves or when I'm "it" playing tag;"* LOL!! that's hilarious cause i have the same mindset towards running! i always say that i will run for the bus and to save my life! However, my hubby's convinced me that if i want to step up my fitness game i need to get my behind in gear and start jogging a bit....wish me luck....
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