Hello everyone,

I've been on my program about 6 weeks now. I do 3-4 days of cardio a week and 2 days of weight training. I've been doing legs and back one day and chest and arms the other day. My question is...can I do all of this on one day? Is that too hard on the body? A whole body workout for me takes about 1 hour and 15 or 20 minutes. I sort of want to do this so I can add another day of cardio (many weeks I only get 3 workouts in).

I eat cottage cheese about 45 minutes before I get to the gym and I have a protein shake immediately afterward. If I do a whole-body workout, do I need to have more protein somewhere in the middle?

I've seen that some people do several weight workouts a week. Are they only working each muscle once a week? I thought you needed that long to repare your muscle...

If it makes any difference I'm a woman and I'm not trying to bulk.

Thanks!

Well, there are different trains of though on this. I think you should list what your goals are. I'm not sure why you want to do so much cardio and so little weight training.

I would not worry about bulking since it is extremely hard for women to bulk. Here is what Rachel Cosgrove (http://www.rachelcosgrove.com/strongandfeminine.html) says about it:
A: It is extremely difficult for a female to become "big and bulky." It usually takes a great deal of chemical assistance and years and years of training. I wouldn't worry too much about becoming "big and bulky", it doesn't happen that easy... Just ask any man (who already has the hormones) how easy it is to build "bulk."

Excessive amounts of cardio can be bad because it can cause a loss of muscle. A loss of muscle will cause a person to gain weight easier. That is why Weight Watcher's people have so many problems. They lose muscle while dieting. Look at weight loss as fat loss and muscle gain. The more muscle you have, the harder it is to gain weight because muscle burns more calories than fat.

As for training, women and men should train the same way. Hormonal differences will prevent women from getting bulky. You can do full body workouts each day or split it up. Splitting them up allows greater focus per muscle group and shorter workouts. You want to keep workouts short, under 1 hour. You also want to maximize the results from the workout. So, for a full-body workout, there are certain exercises that will recruit the most muscles in the shortest amount of time:

Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press, Rows, Dips, Pullups, Shoulder Press

I would suggest breaking them up into two (near) full-body routines:
Day 1: Squat, Bench Press, Barbell Row
Day 2: Deadlift, Dips, Pullups, Shoulder Press

Doing this for 3x10 will be around a 30 - 45 minute workout, and will burn a lot of calories while adding muscle. But, don't worry, you won't get bulky!

If you are going to the gym 3 days a week, I would actually say go w/ 3 days cardio and 3 days weights. You shouldn't need more food pre or post workout, either.

I do about four body pump classes a week (total body workout with weights in a class) . I am doing fine. I just make certain to get enough protein in a day now. So far I suffer no ill effects at all, aside of feeling sore the odd days I go heavier then others. I am not bulking up or losing muscle so far. I am just hardening up a lot.

Hello everyone,

I've been on my program about 6 weeks now. I do 3-4 days of cardio a week and 2 days of weight training. I've been doing legs and back one day and chest and arms the other day. My question is...can I do all of this on one day? Is that too hard on the body? A whole body workout for me takes about 1 hour and 15 or 20 minutes. I sort of want to do this so I can add another day of cardio (many weeks I only get 3 workouts in).
Thanks!

I believe in full body workouts for everyone. I have tried splits and always drop them. I think we should do 3 full body weight workouts a week. Fit cardio in between. You don't want to bulk, neither do I, lifting weights does not cause bulk automatically. You don't have the hormones to get a good "bulk".

Weights will put form in your figure and build your metabolism for max fat loss.

Thanks for the info, kmfisher. I guess I felt like I wasn't getting enough cardio, but maybe you're right. The reason I was thinking about doing all my weight workout in one day is that I'm limited in how many times I can go to the gym (5 times most weeks).

What I'm starting to see is that I should continue doing weights twice a week but maybe add more compound excersises. I've been doing mostly isolated exercises.

My goals are to lose fat and gain muscle. I'm not sure what weight I want to get to because I've never been muscular before, so I think a number would be misleading. I'm 5'8.5", 26 years old, 145 lbs. I've lost about 8 lbs. so far and I'm thinking maybe 10-15 more, but like I said, I really am not sure about the end weight.

The mybodycomp thing says I'm about 28.5% body fat. I'd like to be closer to 20%, I think.

Great link also, thanks!

Well, there are different trains of though on this. I think you should list what your goals are. I'm not sure why you want to do so much cardio and so little weight training.

I would not worry about bulking since it is extremely hard for women to bulk. Here is what Rachel Cosgrove (http://www.rachelcosgrove.com/strongandfeminine.html) says about it:


Excessive amounts of cardio can be bad because it can cause a loss of muscle. A loss of muscle will cause a person to gain weight easier. That is why Weight Watcher's people have so many problems. They lose muscle while dieting. Look at weight loss as fat loss and muscle gain. The more muscle you have, the harder it is to gain weight because muscle burns more calories than fat.

As for training, women and men should train the same way. Hormonal differences will prevent women from getting bulky. You can do full body workouts each day or split it up. Splitting them up allows greater focus per muscle group and shorter workouts. You want to keep workouts short, under 1 hour. You also want to maximize the results from the workout. So, for a full-body workout, there are certain exercises that will recruit the most muscles in the shortest amount of time:

Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press, Rows, Dips, Pullups, Shoulder Press

I would suggest breaking them up into two (near) full-body routines:
Day 1: Squat, Bench Press, Barbell Row
Day 2: Deadlift, Dips, Pullups, Shoulder Press

Doing this for 3x10 will be around a 30 - 45 minute workout, and will burn a lot of calories while adding muscle. But, don't worry, you won't get bulky!

If you are going to the gym 3 days a week, I would actually say go w/ 3 days cardio and 3 days weights. You shouldn't need more food pre or post workout, either.

Does this body pump incorporate cardio as well? I looked at bodypump.com, but I'm not sure I totally understand it?

I do about four body pump classes a week (total body workout with weights in a class) . I am doing fine. I just make certain to get enough protein in a day now. So far I suffer no ill effects at all, aside of feeling sore the odd days I go heavier then others. I am not bulking up or losing muscle so far. I am just hardening up a lot.

It does give a good cardio workout due to the high reps and the speed you have to do them at. There is no running or jumping, if that is what you are asking. I have been doing body pump for about 6-7 weeks now, and notice I am getting much harder. I have not been weighing myself, but the clothes are fitting better, and I have more then doubled my weights I use in class.

Body Training Systems has designed body pump, and several other workouts that I do. I will never have reason to get on a treadmill again, since I find the classes to be more effective then anything I can do on my own.

It is worth checking out if your gym has the classes available.

Does this body pump incorporate cardio as well? I looked at bodypump.com, but I'm not sure I totally understand it?

My goals are to lose fat and gain muscle. I'm not sure what weight I want to get to because I've never been muscular before, so I think a number would be misleading. I'm 5'8.5", 26 years old, 145 lbs. I've lost about 8 lbs. so far and I'm thinking maybe 10-15 more, but like I said, I really am not sure about the end weight.

You are right in regards to final weight. I started out at 145 lbs. and said I want to get to 165 lbs. I am now at 160 lbs. and like I told my wife last night, I think I might set my goal at 175 lbs. Even though I have added 15 lbs. it is hard to tell. I know my chest, thighs, biceps and waist are bigger, but I still look skinny. I can't imagine what I would look like if I started cutting for more definition.

Just to help keep yourself motivated, pick a targeted weight as a goal. Make it realistic and shoot for that weight. You can always change the goal when you realize that it is either too high or too low. But having a target goal gives you something to strive for. Not having one makes it a little harder to keep focused and to anticipate results.

:gl:

My goals are to lose fat and gain muscle. I'm not sure what weight I want to get to because I've never been muscular before, so I think a number would be misleading. I'm 5'8.5", 26 years old, 145 lbs. I've lost about 8 lbs. so far and I'm thinking maybe 10-15 more, but like I said, I really am not sure about the end weight.

The mybodycomp thing says I'm about 28.5% body fat. I'd like to be closer to 20%, I think.

Well, the goals for weight vary from person to person. The good news is that muscle is about 5 times denser than fat. So, if you put on 5 lbs muscle and lose 5 lbs fat, you will look smaller.

I remember this girl in high school who was like 5'4" tall and very small. She liked when people would guess her weight because she was pretty fit and musclarly dense. People would guess 100ish, but she weight almost 130. Didn't look it at all.

I would have your body fat checked at a gym. Then, you can gauge how much fat you need to lose to get to a certain %, or how much muscle to gain and fat to lose to hit it.

The best combination of muscle loss and fat gain is 1:1. So, if you weigh 145, every 1.45 lbs of fat lost and every 1.45 lbs of muscle gained is a 1% body fat reduction. I think if you went 1:1 or 2:1 for fat loss to muscle gain, you would be pretty happy. Something like 8-10 lbs of fat loss and 4-5 lbs of muscle gain. At almost 5'9" tall and 145 that is what I would recommend. You already already skinny, and really could just use a little muscle gain and fat loss. Essentially, this what people refer to as "toning", although I hate that word.

The added muscle will make it harder to put on fat in the future because muscle requires a lot more calories per day than fat to operate.