cardio at day/weights at night? - Page 2

beginner in working out, but how is lifting weights and then swimming laps right after for about 30 min? if this is done every other day, will it help in the same way the OP wanted to, build muscle while burning some fat? what's better, running or swimming? thanks, and sorry if this is completely off

thefir,

what you want to do is exactly what I do. First I'll give you a breakdown of my workout, then I'll tell you how I "eased" into it:

Lifting Days:

Sun - off
Mon - Chest/Shoulders
Tues - Legs
Wed- off
Thurs - Back
Fri - Biceps/Triceps
Sat - off

Running Days:

Sun - Long-ass run day (6 to 20, depending on where I am in marathon training (today i ran 11)
Mon - off
Tues - Short run day (3 - 4 miles)
Wed - Medium run day (4 - 8 miles, depending on training week)
Thurs - Short run day
Fri - off
Saturday - Medium run day, faster pace.

This has been a lot of hard work, but I haven't burnt out by it. This workout is all-consuming, however. I've had to sacrifice a lot but it's really helped. I started at ~260 in March, today I'm at 209.

How would I approach this:

1) First, fix your diet. If your diet sucks, then no amount of training is going to help you. I tried that last year (running and lifting a lot), but my diet was terrible and lost 5 lb the whole year. This year has been much better.

2) Look at your diet again, and really make sure you're eating right.

3) Seriously, diet. Get the hint?

4) Do the lifting program first. Especially for a beginner, lifting hurts a lot more. The first time you do squats, you feel like you have been butt-raped. It's not easy to run on those types of legs.

5) Slowly incorporate the running. You don't tell us about your running fitness level. If you've never run before, I recommend the Couch to 5K plan.

6) Stretch a lot. I use a foam roller, and I really like it a lot (though I know others are going to disagree, and say it doesn't do anything, for me it works). I like Ice baths, I've gotten a few massages, I just try to take care of myself.

Things I tried that didn't work out so well:

1) It's really hard to go heavy on squats and then keep running. I do squats, but don't go above 225. I can do heavier, but it kills the legs to much for the runs.

2) Sprinting. I really wanted to a sprint day or two. I've done two or three, but I a good sprint day kills your groins and hamstrings and makes running long distances no fun.

Once I complete the marathon, I plan on scaling down and running only on my off days. I'm also going to focus on getting faster (only shorter distances), so I can do more sprinting etc.

That said, I like my two-a-days- I really feel like they kick started my metabolism, and those days really keep me on track eating wise.

Best of Luck!

Sheesh. Running/cardio in AM gets metabolism going, which is in part why it helps to do it in the morning. Your fuel burning/fat burning runs longer since it is more on througout the day. When you sleep it pretty much shuts off. So if you run at night... it's good, but not as good for fat loss as morning running. I'd suggest lose fat first, THEN do muscle buildling. Diet is key to both. If you are dead serious then find the "velocity diet" and do it for 2 to 4 weeks. You'll be where you want in 4 weeks, guarenteed.

Look up what metabolism actually is...

Just going from what I've read from various sources -

Best time to do cardio is either first thing in the AM before breakfast (before lifting weights if you do a cardio/weight workout in the AM). Like a previous poster said, your body burns its glycogen stores in the evening when you're sleeping, and doing cardio in the AM before you eat forces the body to burn the fat stores as fuel. I read that maintaining a a 70%-75% Maximum heart rate while cardio is the best for fat burning.

If you do your workouts in the PM, I would do weights first to try to deplete your muscle glycogen. Then do your cardio after weights as your body will be forced to utilize the fat reserves as fuel.

Basically, muscle glycogen is the first choice the body uses for fuel. Once that starts running low, the next source is fat.

My routine is to complete a combined resistance/cardio workout on M, W, F and extended cardio workouts on T, Th, and S. My M, W, F weight routine takes 45 min to an hour, followed by one hour of cardio. My extended cardio sessions on T, Th, and S go for one hour and 45 minutes. Try to mix your specific exercises up, to keep your body guessing and maintain the efficiency of your workouts!

The timing of my workouts varies based on my schedule for the day. I don't really think it matters when you do it...just do it!

When I run long distances, I usually will try and peg the last 400meters or so at a 75% sprint pace. Of course I won't last, but I try to burn out my legs at the end of every run go as long as I can and at least finish strong. When I run short runs (for me, 2-3 miles), I try and pick something out about 100meters in front at go at it hard... then run a little slower than a jog for about 50 meters to recoup, then get back up to normal jog speed. I try and do this about 2 times per mile. By the end of all my runs, I try to get to the point where my legs are visibly shaking and it is hard to stand.