No time for cardio !

[tonym]

Hi guys

I am able to get to the gym 4 times a week
monday
wednesday
thursday
saturday

I do a split programme of 2 body parts per day,and over the 4 days I cover all muscles.

However I rarely get time to do cardio and often weeks go by without any

I was thinking I might start doing say a 15 min run at the end of each workout

my questions are
A) would this be wise
B) could I lose any fat doing such a small amount
C) would my general fitness improve doing such a small amount
D) and is it cool to do it straight after a hard weight session


regards

Tony

[standAPART]

Doesn't matter how long cardio is....the real question is "how intense?"
Shorter bouts of high intense are great and 15 minutes is more than enough time to gain cardio benfits.

[Blaze]

standapart is right. Intensty is what matters. Unfortunately though it's going to be hard to go intense enough after a long grueling workout with weights

[.V.]

It's better than nothing. Go for it and good luck. Intensity is giving it all you've got...if you give it all you have left after weights - then it's intense.

[tim_mcf]

Here's a workout entitled "No Excuses" by Ross Enamait:

1 minute burpees, 1 minute pullups, 1 minute squats, 1 minute pushups
45 sec. burpees, 45 sec. pullups, 45 sec. squats, 45 sec. pushups
30 sec. burpees, 30 sec. pullups, 30 sec. squats, 30 sec. pushups
15 sec. burpees, 15 sec. pullups, 15 sec. squats, 15 sec. pushups.

That's 8 minutes, and it's PLENTY.

[gymgirl]

Originally Posted by tim_mcf

Here's a workout entitled "No Excuses" by Ross Enamait:

1 minute burpees, 1 minute pullups, 1 minute squats, 1 minute pushups
45 sec. burpees, 45 sec. pullups, 45 sec. squats, 45 sec. pushups
30 sec. burpees, 30 sec. pullups, 30 sec. squats, 30 sec. pushups
15 sec. burpees, 15 sec. pullups, 15 sec. squats, 15 sec. pushups.

That's 8 minutes, and it's PLENTY.

ugh burpees! that looks like a good one. i think we should just call you tim_mcburpee from now on.

[.V.]

So Tim, are you mad at him or something? I did a toned down version of that for like 15 minutes with up to one minute breathers thrown in - it kicked my butt bad.

But yeah, you are right - it's a good one and doesn't take long.

So sure, do your cardio...do it for 15 minutes (or 8, or 10, or whatever), put all you've got left after your workout into it.

[tim_mcf]

Just trying to make the point that there's no such thing as "no time for cardio". Calling that workout "No Excuses" is perfect. 8 minutes of Tabata whatever would work really well too.

[Down_Under]

Guerilla Cardio works wonders too. Just 12 minutes is all it takes. Although doing it after a long stretch of no cardio, you'd probably expirence the following symptons : Light headedness, nausea, trouble breathing/short of breath, profuse sweating, lack of energy and a burning sensation in your legs. More symptons that you may expirence within the following 12-48hours, tightness in limbs, trouble walking. :

But Hey thats the result of hard work

[Merrida]

When working on intensity, one thing I'd recommend is interval training, for two reasons: One because you don't regularly do cardio, and two, because you're doing limited-time cardio (which is absolutely fine), try to do "waves" by using guerilla or tabata. True you'll wanna die afterwards but it'll prove over the short AND especially long course, that you'll get better results than trying to do 45 minutes of steady (gulp) "THRZ" cardio for "fat loss." (agh).

Don't just hop on something (or go for a RUN full out) trying to do 20 minutes straight of high intensity. Wave it, up and down.

[Blaze]

Originally Posted by a_welch503

Intensity is giving it all you've got...if you give it all you have left after weights - then it's intense.

Good point welch! I might steal that sometime.


Yeah...burpees have kicked my butt before...they'll do it again. And guerilla cardio is excellent. The last time I did it, my heart was thumping full speed 45 minutes after I was done. And I was just sitting in my room on the computer...it was crazy. IT SUCKS! But it feels good! ...you know what that means*evil grin*

[JMike]

another option is to change your routine and use one of the days as more cardio oriented day. So using light weights targeting all your body with high reps. That way you can include the best of both worlds.

Mike

[Merrida]

Do circuit training. Do timed sets instead of counting reps.

I never really figured that one out,...not having time for cardio. With HIIT for example, we're talking 20 minutes. With 168 hours in a week, it just seems that finding 20 minutes 3 times a week for cardio shouldn't be that challenging.

And yes I live in the real world with family and work to consider, and that includes traveling (not just to and from work, but for clients I train in their homes, some an hour each way). I train CEO's of companies who fly all over the world on a regular basis but never miss a session. If they can find a way to "schedule it in".....I think the "average joe" (which represents probably 95% of us here? If that's fair to say....).....can "find" a way.

Ditch the idea of needing to do an hour at a go,...and make it quality over quantity.

[Danno]

Originally Posted by tim_mcf

Here's a workout entitled "No Excuses" by Ross Enamait:

1 minute burpees, 1 minute pullups, 1 minute squats, 1 minute pushups
45 sec. burpees, 45 sec. pullups, 45 sec. squats, 45 sec. pushups
30 sec. burpees, 30 sec. pullups, 30 sec. squats, 30 sec. pushups
15 sec. burpees, 15 sec. pullups, 15 sec. squats, 15 sec. pushups.

That's 8 minutes, and it's PLENTY.

How in the heck do you do pullups for a minute? I can only eek out 4 with fresh arms....and that takes about 20 secs.

BTW, I think you meant 10 minutes, not 8....but point taken.

[Merrida]

Originally Posted by Danno

How in the heck do you do pullups for a minute? I can only eek out 4 with fresh arms....and that takes about 20 secs.

Do assisted pull-ups to get 60 seconds in of pull-ups.