Question on Lifting/Carido Routine.

[RadioActive]

Well I have saved up a good amount of money and I just got my weight set (15-30lbs.) Will go back later this week to pick up 35-50. Right now I am just doing cardio about 5 times a week. I have no idea if that is to little or to much I have no idea. But now that I am gonig to start my strength training I am curious how many times a week i should be lifting weights and doing cardio. I know that doing both coupled with a diet is the best idea and I'm doing that but I wanted to know kinda if one can do TO MUCH cardio and TO MUCH lifting.

This is what I figure. Workout 5 times a week. That would be 1 mile a day from monday to friday. And lift 3 times a week. Monday/wensnday/friday. Of course as I lose weight I will be doing more than 1 mile as well as going up in weights as i lift. Another concern is I am not sure if I should tone up or gain muscle mass. I only ask cause I know each one has a different lifting routine. BTW I 6'3-370lbs. any tips and advice yall can give me would be very helpful. I need to know how many times a week to lift so that I do not hurt my body.

 

[Jynus]

toning up and gaining muscle mass are the same thing in terms of muscle really. A "toned" muscle really just means that you build it up and lowered your body fat enough to see it. In proper terms, if you're trying to lose fat while preserving your muscle mass you're "toning". If you're trying to gain fat and musclemass you're "gaining mass". The only real difference between the 2 is diet. Eating more than you burn a day? you're gaining muscle mass and fat. eating less than you burn in a day? You're losing muscle mass and fat.

and the lifting "routine" for either for the most part is identical. That nonsense you read about "lower weight, more reps for toning" is a HUGE myth that has zero basis in reality. The only difference between a losing weight and gaining weight resistance routine is the losing weight one _may_ have slightly less volume. but in terms of weight and reps, it's still heavy and low.

Listen to your body, it's the best indicator as to whats going on with your body. any "sharp" pain, and you stop, asap. a general soreness or numbness though and you should be ok, but it can be a grey area as to what kind of "sore" you have. If it's sore and swelling, then also stop asap and RICE it. As for how often you resistance train, I would honestly only go 2x/week the first few weeks. Trust me, you're going to feel like crap the first couple weeks, every part of your body will ache as it tries new movements out. And you also NEED REST when you resistance train. So if you're doing full body workouts, that means at absolute bare minimum, 48 hours between workouts. so no more than 3x/week max. The way around this is to do a "split" where you only focus on one part of your body in any given day. A very basic split would be upper and lower body 2x/week. that gives you 4 workouts without doing too much in any given week with lotsa opportunity to rest..

 

[RadioActive]

toning up and gaining muscle mass are the same thing in terms of muscle really. A "toned" muscle really just means that you build it up and lowered your body fat enough to see it. In proper terms, if you're trying to lose fat while preserving your muscle mass you're "toning". If you're trying to gain fat and musclemass you're "gaining mass". The only real difference between the 2 is diet. Eating more than you burn a day? you're gaining muscle mass and fat. eating less than you burn in a day? You're losing muscle mass and fat.

and the lifting "routine" for either for the most part is identical. That nonsense you read about "lower weight, more reps for toning" is a HUGE myth that has zero basis in reality. The only difference between a losing weight and gaining weight resistance routine is the losing weight one _may_ have slightly less volume. but in terms of weight and reps, it's still heavy and low.

Listen to your body, it's the best indicator as to whats going on with your body. any "sharp" pain, and you stop, asap. a general soreness or numbness though and you should be ok, but it can be a grey area as to what kind of "sore" you have. If it's sore and swelling, then also stop asap and RICE it. As for how often you resistance train, I would honestly only go 2x/week the first few weeks. Trust me, you're going to feel like crap the first couple weeks, every part of your body will ache as it tries new movements out. And you also NEED REST when you resistance train. So if you're doing full body workouts, that means at absolute bare minimum, 48 hours between workouts. so no more than 3x/week max. The way around this is to do a "split" where you only focus on one part of your body in any given day. A very basic split would be upper and lower body 2x/week. that gives you 4 workouts without doing too much in any given week with lotsa opportunity to rest..

My god this was wonderful info! I have always been that to toning and building mass are completely different. Thanks for the heads up on that! I'll be sure to get plenty of rest and start on a 2 a week process of Lower/upper twice a week. Thanks again

 

[KaraCooks]

I have always been that to toning and building mass are completely different.

Yeah. What Jynus said. "Toning" ... the way most personal trainers use the word ... is a concept that doesn't exist. It's something they made up to reassure women who get all squidgy about not wanting to "bulk up". Somehow the concept got put out there that women can lift weights to "tone" their muscles - and it's all just BS. You don't bulk unless you're working to bulk - lifting hard and eating properly to build muscle.

Like Jynus said, either you're building/preserving muscle or you're not. Period. The only difference is diet.

As far as how often, you definitely need to allow a rest period of at a minimum 24 hours and better 48 between hard weight lifting sets. I personally aim for 5x a week of working out: I do 2x weights (full body workouts each time) and 3x cardio of some kind (right now I'm training to run a 5k).

I find that this works for me and that now that I'm into the routine some, I don't ache as much after my workouts. I do get that lovely stretchy "worked the muscle" feeling the next day, but not true pain. Just an indication that I've moved my body ... which is something I have come to enjoy.

 

[RadioActive]

Yeah. What Jynus said. "Toning" ... the way most personal trainers use the word ... is a concept that doesn't exist. It's something they made up to reassure women who get all squidgy about not wanting to "bulk up". Somehow the concept got put out there that women can lift weights to "tone" their muscles - and it's all just BS. You don't bulk unless you're working to bulk - lifting hard and eating properly to build muscle.

Like Jynus said, either you're building/preserving muscle or you're not. Period. The only difference is diet.

As far as how often, you definitely need to allow a rest period of at a minimum 24 hours and better 48 between hard weight lifting sets. I personally aim for 5x a week of working out: I do 2x weights (full body workouts each time) and 3x cardio of some kind (right now I'm training to run a 5k).

I find that this works for me and that now that I'm into the routine some, I don't ache as much after my workouts. I do get that lovely stretchy "worked the muscle" feeling the next day, but not true pain. Just an indication that I've moved my body ... which is something I have come to enjoy.

Thanks kara you have def. been a huge help to me here! Let me ask you a question though. With enough protein is it possible to build muscle and lose fat at the same time. My goal weight is looking to be around 230-220. I dont want to look a flabby 230 but a lean 230, if you get what I mean. but I find it hard to get 1gram per body weight cause i weigh so much lol. Right now I walk/jog 1 mile a day and do upper/lower 2 times a week. hopefully putting weights in will help me lose.