Mix and match or focus?

[lhargrave89]

Amab (any pronouns), 47, work g in general fitness / stamina / longevity not gains. I'm very much a casual, not a lifestyle gym goer. Low-T and mental health issues limit motivation

I'm trying to move from 2 gym sessions per week to 3, with the goal of improving core fitness so I have a better quality of life especially as I age.

Normally I'll do 1 - 1 1/2 hrs of cardio on stepper and cycle then do a 40-50 minute session on machines doing press, curls, lat pull, triceps etc.

I often find that I'm out of energy when I get to the machines, so should I do 2 cardio focused days and one on machines, or reduce cardio a bit so I have the energy for afterwards? I'm thinking of maybe 10 mins cardio to warm up then machines on those days.

 

[zerokdegree]

@lhargrave89 Depends on your fitness goals. I would recommend that if you're going to use the machines that you warm up those specific muscles you're going to target rather than doing a warmup that doesn't hit them at all. Use some bands or do some light weight for 15-20 reps per set making sure you're not coming close to failure. It makes zero sense to warmup on the bike or stairs if you're going to workout back.

If you're goals are to improve your cardio then just work on cardio. If you're looking for general fitness then just cardio is fine. If you're looking to pack on muscle then resistance training is going to be what you want.

Everyone has motivation issues when they go. You're not the only one who feels that way. I'm not a huge fan of waking up at 5:30 in the morning so I can get to the gym by 6:15 but on the days I don't I feel worse. Don't use your lack of motivation as an excuse to feel bad.

 

[lhargrave89]

@zerokdegree Excellent that all makes sense.

I mainly do some muscles cos as a trucker it sometimes comes in handy, plus keeps the muscles leaner to burn fat better I believe.

Thanks!

 

[zerokdegree]

@lhargrave89 That's about 70% right, close enough.

 

[dawn16]

@lhargrave89 It’s recommended that you do maybe 5 mins on the treadmill to warm up then do weight training. Save the cardio for after your workout! I would would also say doing 20-30 minutes max of cardio a day would suffice.

 

[lhargrave89]

@dawn16 Cheers! I thought of at least some cardio just to get the heart rate up a bit. And of course I do stretching beforehand as well.

My job and other commitments makes daily workouts difficult, but I'm trying to build up a better schedule.

 

[dawn16]

@lhargrave89 Pick up some heavy weights that will get your heart rate up. It’s good to stretch every day even on your rest days. I’m not sure which is better before after workouts.

 

[amn]

@lhargrave89 Doing both on the same day is fine, and it may help you get more total work done. Doing weights first will probably feel better overall. I suggest you figure out ways to get gradually more training done. I think doing 3 days of lifting w/ 30 minutes of cardio tacked on at the end would be a great way to keep cardio the same, and layer in more resistance training.

90 minutes / week of cardio is certainly a ton better than nothing, and you could get noticeably more benefits by increasing it to 150+ minutes per week. So if you can make the time, slowly adding even 5-10 minutes per week to your weekly total could work well for you.

Training your upper body with weights once a week is a great start. I would urge you to increase this to twice a week, and including the lower body. Since you're doing Press and Lat Pulls, you don't need triceps and curls as much as you could use a couple of sets of leg press, or split squats, or lunges, or deadlifts.

e.g. A program could look like the following. (everything in the 5-10, 8-12 or 10-15 rep range, probably, taken 2-3 reps from failure (2-3 RIR) )

Day 1

• 2-3 sets of Leg Press
  
• 2-3 sets of Machine Press
• 2-3 sets of Lat Pulls
• 25 - 30 minutes of cardio

Day 2

• 2-3 sets of Machine Press (or overhead press, or pec deck flye)
• 2-3 sets of Seated Cable Row
• 2-3 sets of Curls
• 2-3 sets of Triceps
• 25-30 minutes of cardio

Day 3

- 2-3 sets of Deadlift (or leg curls)

- 2-3 sets of Incline Machine Press

- 2-3 sets of Split Squats (bodyweight or dumbbell)

- 25-30 minutes of cardio (cardio may feel harder on this day, but that's ok, just adjust the speed or tension to make it produce the same relative effort

 

[lhargrave89]

@amn That looks a great routine, I'll certainly give some of that a try.

Currently Im doing 3 sessions per week (unless i finish work really late) and do 90mins cardio on each day, plus my weights session once per week after that. I was thinking of cutting 1 cardio session and doing just weights on that day.

I would like to do more sessions but I have other commitments plus I can easily go too hard and burn out, which I definitely don't want to do.

 

[amn]

@lhargrave89 Oh I see,

I misunderstood. You were doing more cardio than I realized. 90x3 is a really good amount of cardio side. If you try the lifting, like I described, temporarily reducing the total cardio would be reasonable.

I would amend the cardio to say something like:

"35-50 minutes of conditioning at the end of each session. And as time allows work that back up to an hour or more per session "

With the above lifting routine and 3x50minutes you're meeting the physical activity guidelines. More of either is likely better, but you have your bases covered.

One note about cardio intensity: make sure it's hard enough but not too hard. With this volume of cardio you should be getting better over time (more calories/unit time, higher average wattage, more miles /unit time, whatever the metric you have). Often described as a 5-6 out of 10 RPE (rate of perceived exertion), which is described as "more boring than hard", or with a talk test "can speak in a short sentence, but cannot carry on a long conversation (or sing!)". Sometimes people start kind of hard, and then just lock in to the same mph on the machine, or zone out, and forget to make it difficult enough. On the other end of the spectrum is making the conditioning too hard (lots of HIIT training). HIIT is something you can do if you want, but it probably doesn't need to be more than 20-25% of the total weekly volume.

All the best

 

[lhargrave89]

@amn Thanks for all the advice!

Yeah on all exercises I see what I can do at maximum, then 5-10 kg (if weight) or a couple of 'clicks' off the cardio machine, then try to sustain for longer. I found that I wasn't enjoying working out at max especially because my shoulders hurt after weights and I couldn't sleep comfortably. So dropping just to say 90% I can do more and don't over exert.

Its nice to hit goals or set a new PB but sometimes its best to be sensible and back it off a little.

 

[amn]

@lhargrave89 FWIW - Maxing out does come with a cost (slightly more injury risk, and exponential fatigue cost with diminishing stimulus to cause adaptations). And the injury risk of maxing might be slightly higher if you're maxing in the 1-5 rep range. I would urge you to use proximities to failure, and proxy calculations to figure out your estimated maximums. https://www.rpecalculator.com/ is a simple tool you can use for lifts.

For cardio, you can do sprints, but you could also just trend how your steady state RPE 6 cardio is improving over time. If you can run, cycle, elliptical, or row erg further in the same amount of time, with the same relative effort, that's a PB too!

 

[mikeb34]

@lhargrave89 Def split them up. Resistance train ABA, BAB whole body, and on between days do your cardio.

Is possible to cram, but you'll find it works a lot better if you don't.

There are some hybrid programs that prioritize "metabolic conditioning" in a circuit type format, but that's not the same dynamic.

 

[lhargrave89]

@mikeb34 I just looked into ABA BAB, that's not a bad idea at all. Thanks!