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Training

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Posted by: boxing2004

Hello everyone another female newbie here... need help!

I was wondering if there is a trainer out there that can help me with my training. I just started lifting weights... I have been doing just cardio for years. I currently train 2 times a day. I do 45 min cardio in the a.m. and in the evening I do a 10 min cardio warmup, train 2 body parts a day not real heavy and then finish with 30 min cardio. I just reduced my cardio from 2 hours a day low intensity 6 days a week to 1 hour 15 min a day split in 2, high intensity 5 days a week. I am trying to gain a little more muscle on my upper body and keep my lower tone. My lower body is easy for me to build. I am afraid that by reducing my cardio so much I will gain weight. Can someone please help me. I know I shouldn't have to do so much cardio. Why is that there are so many people that do cardio 2-3 days a week and stay lean and I am doing cardio 6 days a week 2 times a day. I am 5' 3" and weigh 112lbs. I hold good muscle and I eat clean. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Posted by: camarosuper6

Well, from first glance IMO, it seems your doing too much cardio. Twice a day, 5 or 6 days a week is pretty killer.

Workout out with weights being your primary workout, and ADDING cardio to your routine is a much more solid approach to leaning out and adding muscle.

Many people, including myself, advocate HIIT for cardio. HIIT stand for High Intensity Interval Training. You can do a search and find some good ideas for what you can do, but its pretty much whatever kind of cardio you want or enjoy the most. Start off with a 20 minute time span, and go from low intensity, to med intensity, to high intensity. Basically you are changing the intenstiy level every so often (a good rule of thumb is every 1 to 2 minutes.) Cardio doesnt neccesarily need to be very long. Short, high intense cardio ( and I mean HIGH intensity) sessions of 20 to 30 minutes, 2 to 3 times a week will really do wonders to shed fat with a good strength training program.

Bodybuilding will add muscle to your frame, which will naturally increase your metabolism, and help you lose fat much more effeciently than cardio alone. The added muscle will give you a nice shapely figure, if you keep your bodyfat in reasonable percentages. Oh, and dont worry about getting huge or bulky like some rumors may have it. Working out with weights will NOT get your freaky looking or manly. If anything, it will improve your physique, aid your health and defintely help you keep off bodyfat.

You can do a search for many types of routines, or check the online journal section, as there are many women with great knowledge and experience, and have the solid figures to show for it!

A very basic good split would be
3 -4 days of weight training, addressing all the major muscle groups
3-4 days of cardio, either at least 8 to 12 hours after weight training, or on off days.
Make sure you get a good couple days rest too.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask anything!

Posted by: boxing2004

Thank you for the help. I will try the HIIT and cut my duration. Would it hurt me to do cardio in the a.m and a short session after weights in the evening? Should I just do cardio in the a.m.? I plan on taking off sat and sun to rest.

Posted by: CowPimp

Don't worry about cutting down on cardio. Weight training not only burns more calories than doing cardio, but it has a massive effect on your metabolism. Your metabolism increases as you add muscle mass. Also, it does not sound like you are overweight at all.

Posted by: camarosuper6

Well, one HIIT cardio session a day is well enough for me, seeing I'm usually exhausted when its over!

But experiment and see where you get your best results.

It wont HURT you, per se, to do cardio after workouts, but I firmly believe to preserve as much muscle as possible, after a good weigh training session, getting straight to your protein shake and start your body recovering is the best thing to do.

Save cardio for when your fresh.

Posted by: boxing2004

I am trying my best not to worry about cutting the cardio but it is hard. Thank you for the support. I weigh 112lbs and I am 5' 3". I would say I am tone but I do carry muscle. My legs build the easiest so I don't train hard with weights. I want to build my upper only. Any suggestions!!

Posted by: boxing2004

I will start with 2 sessions and see what happens. I am making myself drink plenty of protein shakes... I am already tired of them. I can't eat as much protein I need so the protein shakes makes it easier. Thank you for all your help. You have been a huge help.

Posted by: CowPimp

I will offer you my standard beginner training program. It is to be done every other day or 3 days per week. It is a full body workout. If you do it every other day, you could even reduce the volume a little bit. As well, be sure to change up your workouts frequently through the use of different exercises, rep ranges, splits, tempos, and various other training methods. Here ya go:

Full Squats 3 x 8-12
Romanian Deadlifts 3 x 8-12
Deadlifts 3 x 8-12
Wide Chinups 3 x 8-12 (Or as many as you can do)

Bench Press 3 x 8-12
Military Press 3 x 8-12

Bicycle Crunches 3 x Near Failure
Reverse Crunches 3 x Near Failure

Posted by: boxing2004

Thank you so much. I will start it tomorrow and let you know how I do. Do you think I will be able to keep my weight down with this program? What about the cardio?

Posted by: CowPimp

Quote:

Originally Posted by boxing2004

Thank you so much. I will start it tomorrow and let you know how I do. Do you think I will be able to keep my weight down with this program? What about the cardio?

Not if you want to add msucle mass. Scales suck. They tell you nothing. According to scales, I am obese. However, I have approximately 13.5% bodyfat right now. I wouldn't call that obese.

Posted by: boxing2004

That is true, scales are not correct. You have very low bodyfat. Do you do any cardio?

Posted by: CowPimp

Quote:

Originally Posted by boxing2004

That is true, scales are not correct. You have very low bodyfat. Do you do any cardio?

Yes, I play basketball 3 days per week. Before I was playing basketball I used to go jogging 2 days per week. I will probably reduce this amount when I start bulking again.

Posted by: boxing2004

Well, that is good cardio. When you bulk up do you gain a lot of bodyfat?

Posted by: CowPimp

Quote:

Originally Posted by boxing2004

Well, that is good cardio. When you bulk up do you gain a lot of bodyfat?

If you use a see-food diet, then you will. However, I managed to never surpass 15% bodyfat or so on a diet that was not strict at all. If you do a lean bulk, then you will gain something like 75-85% muscle.

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