Hey all.
Do any of you seasoned people know if it’s okay to run/cardio maybe 20 min in am and then workout for hypertrophy in the pm? I’m just concerned about overtraining…and I want ample rest in the PM to recover. Thanks.
I would put the weight training in the AM, and put cardio in the PM.
Doing the weights in the morning will boost your metabolism throughout the day.
As long as you’re; eating enough/clean, getting enough sleep, using proper supplementation (i.e. fish oil, PWO shake, multivitamin) I wouldn’t worry about overtraining at all.
I think you will find this approach to be very common. It’s great to develop insulin sensitivity.
thanks…i’m just going to have to look up what you mean by insulin sensitivity…I’m pretty ignorant about these things.
Again…thanks, and good training.
Yes it is great.
Better to split up your cardio and training. You wont be cutting into your lifting energy and your giving yourself two windows of burning extra k/cals off. For sure read up on insulin sensitivity, read up on everything for that matter. You might want to read the Cardio Roundtables I and II.
As far as lifting in the AM, yes it is great and will boost your metab. for the day but so will cardio to a point. Also I would suggest lifting when it is best for you. When you will hit it the hardest. If that is PM then do it in the PM.
For me I perfer AM. I have tried both but simply get a better w/o in in the morning. The biggest thing is that you do it, no matter what time it is.
Phill
What are your goals, Dude? Are you using aerobic exercises for cardio-respiratory fitness, weight loss, or endurance training? Are you on a specific diet? What type of aerobic exercise(s) do you do? Running, biking, rowing, elliptical, or a combination of these of some sort?
Mike
Right on Phill…work out no matter what time…no doubt.
Mkman…I’ll spare the boring details…I’ve gained about 20-25 pounds in the last 6 months (I was really skinny before…lots of cardio/martial arts…stopped all of that and concentrated on strength/hypertrophy)…endurance was good…no longer too good. Now, here I am at about 170 lbs, wanting to use cardio to work on endurance and just burning x-tra cals. so that the size I continue to gain is lean muscle and not fat…I’m taking up boxing now (another combat art…maybe one of the most real)…and endurance is obviously essential…diet is pretty random though (I eat what I feel like although no sweets/chips/soda/sprot drinks, etc)…although I’m consuming about 2200/day and about 180g of protien/day. I’m just considering running about 3-5 miles 3x/week from the train to my home.
Dang, I guess I’m did the boring details after all huh? My bad.
Good training to all.
Jason
That’s a good start since it gives you some direction with working out. Personally, I try not to do cardio and weights on the same day but sometimes when I’m in a crunch I do. I do the cardio in the morning. On awakening, I take an oral temp and heart rate and then drink a full glass of water with whatever fat-loss stack I’m on that week. 45 minutes to one hour afterwards, I do the cardio, drinking a full glass of very cold water during the workout. Now, since you are going for endurance, you may want to treat your morning run as a posterior lower body workout. This means taking a whey protein/glucose/creatine shake immediately afterwards. Why? Your level of intensity breaks down muscle and you want to replenish it as soon as possible. I have yet to meet a distance runner who doesn’t look like an AIDS patient so you KNOW there’s a lot of muscle catabolism going on there. About one and half hours after the shake, eat a regular breakfast, one high in protein and low glycemic index carbs. This restores protein levels and glycogen stores, too, for the long run.
Take some “glucose partioning agents” with the whey shake (selenium, chromium, and CLA) and a mult-vitamin/vitamin C/B-complex/and vitamin E with the regular breakfast to help fight inflammation and free radical damage.
After lunch, treat the rest of your day as if preparing for a normal work-out. This should include pro-steroids (if you can still get them) and plenty of calories. Although it is not ideal to do cardio and weights on the same day, I think this is a fairly good approach which I do use myself when needed…
Mike
Good ideas here for sure. I train in MMA, and for my time and $$$, there’s no better cardio than interval training! 25 minutes of that will leave you gasping for air! It also helps you in the ring so much better than a 3-5 mile jog will. Interval sprints on tread, stairmasters, or elliptical trainers will really do wonders for you.
Even if you threw some minor intervals of 10-15 min AFTER your AM lift, you’ll prob notice a big difference in your body fat after a month or so. It helped me get pretty damn lean in a hurry!
Awesome words…my gratitude to all of you for your help. I’m actually at a loss for words…all I can say is thanks a million.
In my personal experience and experience with other trainees, this is a great approach.
Several years ago, I had stopped training for over a year (got into drinkin’ and a little marry-jane too frequently). I ended up gaining about 30 lbs of beer and pizza gut. One day, I just flipped the switch man. I started hitting the gym 8 times per week. I lifted five nights per week and ran 5 miles three mornings per week. I took Saturday and Sunday off religiously to recover.
I dropped five pounds of blubber per week until I hit 185, then I dropped the morning routine and started building my muscle back up very slowly. I put on an average of five pounds of muscle per month without any supplementation aside from protein. This was Pre-Biotest (seven years ago). I stalled out at about 210 and have maintained that off and on for the last 6 years. [Note: I did drop to 203 once to start a cycle of Mag-10 and gained 13 pounds in less than three weeks. My bf% went up very slightly.]
It all started by running in the morning and lifting at night.
My two cents ~ jackzepplin…
I’ve been training for rugby and have to to cardio pretty much 5x a week, and I lift three times a week. DrStu recommended I do a lot of sprint work, and run no more than 2 miless at once (6 min miles though). Although I can’t quite run 6min miles, around 7:30 right now, I have noticed a massive increase in my on field endurance when I combined the 2mile running w/ interval sprint training later in the day. The way I look at is if you’re not training to be a distance runner why do soo much distance?? Obviously different things work for different people. But definitely do interval sprint training (the running man articles should give you a good idea of what to do), and some short fast distance (2 miles in 12 mins for example).
With your goals in mind of building endurance and muscle, that is a though one. I would suggest trying an HIIT style of run to the train. It wont give you quite as much endurance but is more of an anabolic activity then your steady state running and will still build you VO2 max up, as well as being breat @ limiting fat gain during a bulk.
You might give it a try, full out sprints for 30 secs. followed by 60 secs. of fast walking for recovery.
Keep us posted on your results and good luck.
Phill
Oh and by the way if you are really wanting to keep the fat off closer attention to your diet is going to be your best bet. I am sure you realize this though.
To the people that do cardio after a weight training workout for extra fat loss: What is your pre/during/post workout nutrition like?
Do you consume a PW drink like most people or do you take like half of what you normally would consume. I’m trying to drop fat for summer and looking for the fastest way to do it.
Currently I’m going to be doing a bastardized form of meltdown training 3-4 days a week in the morning and 3 sessions of HIIT intervals or 400M sprints on non weight days(Usually in the morning).
Man…this is great. I just finished a 6-week cycle today…and now it’s time to mix it up some and change the routine. I’ll definately do the sprints everyone seems to suggest. I’m going to get some good food going…it’s tough to keep the 5-6 meal a day thing when at work…but I’ve read enough here and other places to get a decent idea…(DOH, now I gotta learn to cook!!). As long as I don’t fall into the catabolic spiral I’ll be stoked.
jason
Leth- If I workout, it’s always 1st thing in the AM…so I take nothing but some caffeine before my workout…right after the workout (45-60min) I’ll so the cardio (15-30 min) and then within 10 min or so I’ll have a PW shake. Usually a special PW mix from protein factory, with some fruit blended in…maybe some honey too.
mkmangold, welcome to meeting your first distance runner who does not look like an AIDS patient. I just ran the Caesar Rodney Half-Marathon in Wilmington, Delaware last Sunday at 6’6", 370 pounds. :>
Oh yeah…anyone know how many sprints would be a good beginning? Like 1 min sprint then 30 sec rest…and keep doing that how many times?..until I collapse?? j/k
Although the interval training will become a part of the rotation at times, too.
peace and good training.
Jason
Darn…my previous post was answered before, I think…major brain fart, my apologies…
Phill suggested the 60 sec run then 30 sec rest…anyone have any ideas on how many times that should be done?? Until I collapse? j/k.
Peace and good training.
Jason