Splitting my cardio - Good idea? Bad idea?

[Karmacharger]

My training program includes three days a week of full body training (lower weights/higher reps) and five hours of cardio a week. I'm trying to lose weight right now.

 

I'm nearing the end of my first week and will have only managed four hours including the cardio I plan to do when the gym opens.

 

I tried to get my hour in after doing all my weights yesterday but had no energy left after 24 minutes. I was trying to do 2 minutes fast 2 minutes moderate for the whole session. Before doing weights I had warmed up with 15 minutes on the treadmill.

 

My question:

 

Is there any harm in breaking up my cardio and doing 30 minutes before my weights and 30 minutes after? Or, should I strive to do all 60 minutes in one shot?

 

I'm thinking of doing my weights in the morning and my cardio at night but that is pretty risky since I'm more of a morning person and my gym is much less full in the morning. It's a totally zoo after work.

 

Thoughts? Advice?

 

Thanks!

[beforewisdom]

How you do your cardio depends on what you want from it.

 

If you goal is to lose weight it doesn't matter how you slice it up, only the total energy expenditure ( assuming you keep your intake under control ) matters. It isn't how much you do at one time that matters, but how much you move overall.

 

If you are training for endurance or heart health the amount of time per session matters more.

[thendanisays]

i know you said you're trying to lose weight, but if youre losing all your energy halfway through your cardio--you're probably not eating enough to support this kind of training. i made the same mistake when i started to try and lose weight, i did it in a way so that i was contantly drained. did it work? yes. but it was definaltely not the best way to do it.

try adding a piece of fruit about a half hour before your workout before you start splitting up the cardio (as someone who's spilt up her cardio-i can tell you, if you do it in one block--you'll actually do it. but if you split it up, it's a lot harder to force yourself to do the second half)

[Guest]

I don't see the cardio hurting all that much. I never did a whole day of cardio when I was a lifter but I did warm up every day(thats 7 days a week for me) with 1hr of cardio and my maxes still shot up. I did a couple hours of speed work a week(plymetrics/sprints) and that worked my heart but was almost more like doing olympic lifts with a high heart rate.

[cubby2112]

I wouldn't think there is any harm in splitting it up. As beforewisdom said, if you just want to lose weight, total energy expenditure is most important. If you want to get aerobically fit, you probably shouldn't go less than twenty minutes at a time.

[Karmacharger]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I'm still trying to make sure I'm getting enough calories. I'm keeping a food journal but I think I need to start tracking my calories better.

 

Yesterday, I had a pretty good breakfast (yeast-free toast with sugar free pbj, 1/2 cup tofu w/ 2 cups veggies: collards, kale, carrots) waited an hour and a half and then hit the gym. It took me about 40 minutes to get through my weights and then I crashed mid-way through my cardio... Maybe I should bring some juice or something. It always takes me a while to figure out how much/little I should be eating when I start training again.

 

Today, I split my cardio between the treadmill and the elliptical machine and managed to get a full hour in.

 

I'm trying to respect my body's limits as I'm ramping up but I also don't want to be wussy about it.

[BethL]

Hello People,

 

Right now I am training to lose more bodyfat, so I am focusing on HIIT 3 times a week and of course supersetting my weight lifting (6 day split). I still do traditional cardio 3/4 times a week too.

 

Really my workouts are not a problem, it is finding the right nutritional formula without having to eat a bunch of Soy processed products.[/b]

 

I truely believe that at least 80% of success come from your food program.

[Marcina]

I like doing HIITs too but they leave me totally wiped the next day! I'm not in the best cardiovascular shape.. I lived with second hand smoke for 20 years

[BethL]

Hi Marcina,

 

Yeah some days I workout so hard I get so relaxed a couple hours later, that I can just want to sit around and do nothing.

 

Sorry about the second hand smoke, I smoked myself off and on, but will never smoke again. Too many people I know are getting sick from it now. I am grateful that our lungs can clean themself if there is no damage. I hope you are free from the smoke now.