Lots of good answers in this thread. I've been reading up on more effective weight lifting/strength training lately (real books, not the interwebz). It seems diet, sleep, and hydration are as important, if not moreso than the actual lifting. Your muscles are building during recovery and you have to treat your body nicely for it to be effective. /my 2 cents
As a variation on my question, does anyone split split weight training and cario on the same day but at different times?
I do this. I go through my weight training plan and then do cardio and "hybrid" stuff (like throwing tires and running/jumping with heavy things) for 30-40 minutes or so. It works for me. Give it a try and see how it works for thee.
I remember reading on bodybuilding.com, sorry but I don't have the reference to post so take this with a grain of salt, that a study showed greater fat loss in people who did HIIT (high intensity interval training) immediately after a lifting session as compared to people who did HIIT before lifting or much later in the day after lifting. Makes sense, lifting depletes your glycogen stores, then when you start doing HIIT, your body has to get the energy from somewhere. When you do steady state cardio, you will lose muscle mass for energy also, but other studies have shown that interval training save muscles and shifts energy burning to stored fat. So, warm up, have a lifting session, so some HIIT, burn a bunch of fat!
here's a pretty good resource on HIIT vs steady state: http://www.t-nation.com/training/regular-cardio-will-make-you-fat written by john meadows, one of the most respected names in the current bodybuilding world.
Isn't there an issue with doing cario straight after weights? Doen't it undo the gains from weight lifting? On a practical elevel it would suit me very well to do weights then straight into bag work!
Depends by what you by 'cardio' - If you're talking about zombie treadmill then no. I do about 25 mins of fast hefty bag work and floor to ceiling ball after a max of an hour of weights. Always done this as it made sense to flush out metabolites and other 'waste' products. Instead of just finishing weights and hitting the showers. Bompa's books confirm this. So I feel a tad smug at my own happy accidents
That's been up for debate for YEARS lol. Ultimately I have found that it's calories in, calories out. There's a ton of opinions on each one though so it depends on each person.
The current research/belief in bodybuilding is that if you do HIIT after weight lifting it won't affect your gains the way steady state does. If you are new to the HIIT concept, you work out at near full capacity, like sprinting for 100 meters. Then you rest for longer than you worked. Then sprint, then rest. This doesn't affect your body negatively like steady state cardio does. If you spend 25 minutes working the bag non stop, that is steady state. If you punch it as hard and as fast as you can until you fatigue, then rest for a bit longer, then do it again, then rest, and keep repeating, this is HIIT and it should help burn more stored fat while keeping your gains. And the blood flow will help flush your muscles with fresh blood and remove any waste from the destructive lifting session.
5x5 has a pretty clear progression. It's not something designed to be done forever. Deloads, more rest between sets, dropping down to 3x5, etc.
Did a lot of 5x5 when I first started lifting. I gained a lot of strength quick... if my shoulder wasn't so messed up, I'd still be using that during high calorie (bulking) cycles.
increasing or decreasing volume/intensity is usually the best way to make progress once you've stalled out: http://gregnuckols.com/2014/04/21/making-your-novice-strength-training-routine-more-effective-two-quick-tips/
Yeah, I think intensity is key with weights, or cardio or anything else in breaking through barriers. When I would hit a plateau with bench pressing for instance, I would do a lot of incline benching for the next week or 2 and I was able to lift heavier once I went back to flat bench.
i dont lift weights at the gym or anything like that, but i do lift heavy boxes and other equipment at work, varying between 50 and 100 pounds, i generally get a full workout during a 10 hour day on the job, 7 days a week, so im usually tired when i get home - i sometimes practice grappling when im tired after a long day - but on my free time when im not on MAP, i do other activities but lifting isnt one of them
That's not the same as actually lifting weights that target specific muscle groups until failure. Working to failure is pretty important. 10 hours a day is also likely hurting you more than helping due to muscle wasting... if you are doing all of this heavy lifting, but not eating enough, guess what your body starts to burn up? Yep, muscle. Do you pay attention to your form for instance? Do people watch you to make sure you aren't going to blow your back, shoulder, knee, etc etc out? These are all things that are the most important areas of lifting. I'm not at all attempting to drag you down. Much respect to what sounds like a very taxing work rate and schedule, just suggesting that you maybe try to even it out with some muscle targeting workouts.
