Finally back from an amazing Stay-cation and now it’s time for us to get back to work! Hopefully you have all been using the cardio tips we discussed in the past few blogs over this time. Even with that information I know there are still a lot of questions as to how many times a week we should perform cardio, what about weights, etc…. The answer to all your questions is “Whatever works best for you.” I can give you the best program ever written to follow but if you can’t incorporate it into your daily lifestyle then it’s just a piece of paper. If you can only budget 1 hour, 3 days a week to your fitness then that is the best plan for you. It will take you significantly longer to achieve your goals and your diet best be on point but that will work for you.
Deciding your goals will also help determine how many days a week you should train. If your goal is general health or slight weight loss 3 days may be good enough for you anyways. If you are looking to add muscle mass or to drop a significant amount of weight I would suggest 5 days a week. If you are training for a half or full marathon there are training schedules that only call for 4 days a week. Let’s look at a few examples split up by goal and frequency.
General Health: (3 Days): Day 1 – 30 min cardio (high intensity), 30 min strength training
Day 2 - 60 min cardio (low intensity)
Day 3 – 30 min cardio (high intensity), 30 min strength training
(5 Days): Day 1 – 30 min cardio (high intensity), 30 min strength training
Day 2 – 60 min cardio (low intensity)
Day 3 – 15 min HIIT, (highest intensity) 45 strength training
Day 4 – 60 min cardio (medium intensity)
Day 5 – 30 min cardio (high intensity), 30 strength training
Weight Loss: (3 Days): Day 1 – 60 min cardio (low intensity)
Day 2 – 45 min cardio, (medium intensity) 30 min strength training
Day 3 – 60 min cardio (low intensity)
(5 Days): Day1 – 60 min cardio (low intensity)
Day 2 – 20 min HIIT, (highest intensity) 30 min strength training
Day 3 – 60 min cardio (low intensity)
Day 4 – 20 min HIIT, (highest intensity) 30 min strength training
Day 5 – 60 min cardio (low intensity)
Mass Gain: (3 Days): Day 1 – 45 min strength training (push muscles), 30 min cardio (low intensity)
Day 2 – 45 min strength training (pull muscles), 30 min cardio (low intensity)
Day 3 – 45 min strength training (leg muscles), 30 min cardio (low intensity)
(5 Days): Day 1 – 45 min strength training (chest), 30 min cardio (low intensity)
Day 2 – 60 min strength training (legs)
Day 3 – 45 min strength training (shoulders), 20 min HIIT
Day 4 – 60 min strength training (back)
Day 5 – 45 min strength training (arms), 30 min cardio (low intensity)
Cardio Endurance: (4 Days): Day 1 – 60 min cardio (medium intensity, medium distance)
Day 2 – 60 min cardio (low intensity, short distance)
Day 3 – 60 min cardio (medium intensity, medium distance)
Day 4 – 60 min cardio (high intensity, long distance)
These are all just generic examples of different training splits so you may have to doctor some of them to fit you or your needs completely. Please feel free to contact me if you are still having trouble figuring out what to do on a weekly basis for your workouts. We can all find a routine that works for our schedule it’s just a matter of getting out there and doing it! Build a program, follow it, and always remember to BRING IT in the gym!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment