Gym - cardio and building muscle?
Question:
I'm going to the gym 3 times a week (Mon, Wed, Fri) with the occasional extra day depending on work.
My goal is to lose some weight, not much, about 5-7 kgs (13 pounds?) and build some muscle.
I do 20-30 minutes of cardio, then weights, then finish with another 20 -30 of cardio.
Cardio is usually bike and/or treadles I think they are called. (Like a treadmill but with two 'planks' for each leg that move up and down as you step)
I believe with weights that the best way is to use heavy weight with low reps. Currently I'm doing 4 sets of 10, 9, 8 & 7, every main muscle like arms, chest, shoulders, legs, etc.
So, is this ok? Is a day inbetween sufficient time for the muscles to rest/rebuild? Is the cardio too much/little?
Thanks heaps.
Answers:
To lose weight you should be doing more reps with lighter weights. This helps to burn a little more fat during your workouts. It also sounds like you are doing more cardio that you need to... like an hour a day? You could cut down to 30 minutes 4 times a week and achieve similar results. You should lift weights before cardio.
What the previous answer says about it being impossible to gain muscle and lose weight at the same time is COMPLETELY UNTRUE. The secret to gaining muscle is protein intake. You can still lose body fat (and therefore weight) while lifting weights and gaining muscle. You just need to take in enough protein to support your muscle gains but be eating less than your daily maintenance caloric needs (the amount of calories your body needs to maintain your weight).
Your routine should depend on your goal. If you really want to put on a lot of muscle work every muscle group 1 or 2 times a week using the 4 set rep numbers you are using now, with only 1 or 2 cardio days. By muscle groups I mean:
Monday:Biceps, Triceps
Tues: Rest
Wed: Legs, Back
THurs: Rest
Fri: Chest, Shoulders
Sat: Cardio, Abs
Sun: Rest or Start over again
To build muscle eat a lot of protein and try to gain healthy lean mass. Unfortunately you will probably gain some fat weight too.
If you are trying to lose weight you will have to eat less and do cardio 4-5 times a week, for about 45 minutes.
You cannot build muscle and lose weight at the same time. One requires over eating the other involves under eating.
That routine sounds OK, at least to me. I assume your reps are to failure... so by the time you have done 7 reps you absolutely cannot lift an 8th one by reason that you really didn't quite lift the 7th.
Instead of the cardio warm up, I add a warm up set of 15 reps with light weights ... to each muscle group. Then I do 45 minutes of cardio on completion... or alternatively on the days in between workouts, depending on how I feel. This means that all my "energy" is available for lifting.
You are prolly doing the same routine every session... whereas I do a 4 day cycle concentrating on different muscle groups.. it means I only do triceps for example, once or twice a week but they really get a caning because I do four different exercises on triceps... that is 4 x 4 sets of different exercises plus a warm up set. Personally I really feel that difference.
You do not say how long have you been going to the gym. In order to lose some weight you should revise your diet as well.
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