Training breaks, cardio before/after strength? [Qs]

[Jevan]

Hi all,

Decided to sign up here as most of the other forums I visit don't have that great exercise sections.

Backinfo: I'm 18 years old (just turned). Been gyming for about 16 months, with an 8 month period where I was not on any protein, and was not hitting the gym with a great intensity. I've been back on the protein for the last 3 months and having more intense workouts. I am at uni 5 days a week, and so I gym it on every weekday. I'm 170cm tall, 68-69kg (+- 1kg water/food at weigh time).

My gym goal is to stay at relatively low body fat percentage while bulking up muscle mass. Once I bulk up a bit more mass, I'll hit the cardio more heavily (my diet is already quite good, but I'll make it better when I want to cut). Basically I'm not too worried about strength and its practical uses, that is secondary to my main goal of just looking good.

So, my questions:

• Is it best to do cardio before or after a strength workout for maximum muscle gain? When should I be taking the WPI (eg. before cardio but after weights)?
• Is a 5 minute warm up to get the blood pumping beneficial (I've heard from some people that warm ups can have some negative effects in some training )?
• What is a good break time between exercising the same muscle group? I ask this because I have 5 sessions of gym to load up with routines, and I could either focus on a specific group each day (with a 1 week break), or do what I'm currently doing (a pecs,tris,abs / back,shoulders,bis / legs split)

Starting in January a friend and I will be hitting the gym up hard, going on a creatine pre-trainer and WPI morning, postworkout, and night. Based on your advice, I'll post up my program for further critique.

Any help is much appreciated!

 

[huski]

Do cardio after a strength workout this gives you more energy for hitting the weights
Take WPI Right after a workout this is when your body goes into a stage of recovery and growth

5minutes warmup is plenty of time gets the blood flowing stretches out the muscles etc lessens the risk of injuries

Rest about 1-2 days between musclegroup workouts

 

[BOUNCER DAVE]

I am in red. hope it helps.

Hi all,

Decided to sign up here as most of the other forums I visit don't have that great exercise sections.

Backinfo: I'm 18 years old (just turned). Been gyming for about 16 months, with an 8 month period where I was not on any protein, and was not hitting the gym with a great intensity. I've been back on the protein for the last 3 months and having more intense workouts. I am at uni 5 days a week, and so I gym it on every weekday. I'm 170cm tall, 68-69kg (+- 1kg water/food at weigh time).

My gym goal is to stay at relatively low body fat percentage while bulking up muscle mass. Once I bulk up a bit more mass, I'll hit the cardio more heavily (my diet is already quite good, but I'll make it better when I want to cut). Basically I'm not too worried about strength and its practical uses, that is secondary to my main goal of just looking good.

So, my questions:

• Is it best to do cardio before or after a strength workout for maximum muscle gain? When should I be taking the WPI (eg. before cardio but after weights)?

cardio after wo. take your pwo shake after cardio. cardio should be done in low intensity for 25 minutes or so post workout.

• Is a 5 minute warm up to get the blood pumping beneficial (I've heard from some people that warm ups can have some negative effects in some training )?

it is , but you have to warm up muscles as well

• What is a good break time between exercising the same muscle group? I ask this because I have 5 sessions of gym to load up with routines, and I could either focus on a specific group each day (with a 1 week break), or do what I'm currently doing (a pecs,tris,abs / back,shoulders,bis / legs split)

depends on your recovery , and routine used.

Starting in January a friend and I will be hitting the gym up hard, going on a creatine pre-trainer and WPI morning, postworkout, and night. Based on your advice, I'll post up my program for further critique.

Any help is much appreciated!

 

[Golden Hurricane]

There are many different opinions, youve just got to try different ways and see what works for you. Are you training on campus? If so is there any way you can do one session (say cardio) in the morning and then another (weights) later on. The best cardio i have found is intense interval training for only 15-16 minutes. Also keep a log of your cardio efforts just like you would do for your weights. You should aim for improvement in distance covered or intensity for each session, compared to the session before, just like you would try to add say half a kilo onto your weight lifts each week to keep pushing the boundaries.

This is what I normally do, and I have protein, creatine and dextrose BEFORE and protein and dextrose AFTER both cardio and weights. Dont do cardio on an empty stomach, otherwise your sacrificing your muscle gains too. If your going to do cardio and weights together, i would still bracket my workout with some protein before and some after.

If your aim is to keep bodyfat low and build muscle, Ive found what works best for me is to limit starchy carb intake (anything like potatoes, bread, pasta, rice - not that i personally eat bread, pasta or rice though) till shortly after your workout. The rest of the meals of the day i stick to protein with every meal and fibrous carbs (broccoli, green beans, spinach - you can add others, but some of these should be included as the base.).
Give it a go and see how your body reacts.

5 minute warmup before cardio or before weights?
when your lifting do you do warmup sets - or do you just stretch and then go straight into lifting your max weight? You'll find you'll be able to lift more if you use lighter weight (say 50%) for a higher number of reps, then incrementally add weight and decrease reps till you get to say 2 working sets of the most weight you can lift for your desired rep range.

I would forego the split routine, and try to focus on one muscle group per day. Each muscle group will most likely still be repairing itself for up to 7 days afterwards. Focusing on one group also allows you to hit it harder because youre focusing your energy on it, rather than on 3 groups.

Focus on compound movements, and try to avoid putting things like chest and then triceps on consecutive days, or back and biceps etc, as they are both often used together for some exercises.

Hope this helps.

Post your routine and diet when you get sorted if you want a critique.

Cheers
H

 

[Jevan]

Thanks for the info, will respond with routine etc when exams are over!