Confused: build muscle;lose fat; Drop Cardio?

[sweetonion]

Maybe I've just bought into the myth that the more cardio the better...so I was told to drop cardio to no more than 4 times a week doing HIIT 3x and throwing in a steady state cardio 1x and trying to avoid doing cardio the same day I lift or least do it in the morning before breakfast and allowing 6-8 hrs. before heading back to lift....I was hoping maybe Lady C or someone with some experience on this could help! :confused:

[cursor]

Cardio will burn fat, but it'll also burn lean body mass. You'll certainly want to create a balance between the cardio and weight lifting. Add in a responsible nutrition plan and you're good to go. What are you currently doing in each of the three arenas?

[sweetonion]

Example:

Typical diet

Meal one: 3 eggs (1 yolk, 2 whites), 1/2 c. oatmeal w/splenda and cinnamon
Meal two: 1 can tuna on whole wheat pita bread (1tbsp lite mayo, 1 tbsp relish); apple
Meal Three: (post workout)Fruit and nuts OR soy protein smoothie made w/ 1 cup skim milk, 5 strawberries,1/4 blueberries, 2 scoops soy protein and ice cubes
Meal Four: chicken or fish w/ beans
Meal Five: cottage cheese blended w/ low carb, hi protein yogurt

WORKOUT:
Monday: AM HIIT cardio(6:00); PM Upper Body (2:00)
Tuesday: Lower BOdy
Wednesday: AM HIIT cardio; PM Upper Body
Thursday:AM HIIT cardio
Friday: Lower BOdy
Saturday/ SUnday: choose one as rest day and the other I do steady state Cardio for 30 min.

Any help you give would be appreciated!!

[Lady C]

Oh here is my input -- I think that you might be overtraining. How long have you been doing the upper/lower body workout? If it has been about 2 months, then I would switch the workout to a three day split. I personally think that you are doing too much cardio and not enough muscle building. I would drop your cardio down significantly. Try this
M - Chest / shoulders
T - Cardio (30 min max)
W - Back / triceps
H - Cardio (30 min max)
F - Legs / biceps
Sa - Cardio (as long as you want)
Su - Nothing

You are going to feel like you didn't do enough. Your body will adjust.

How many calories are you intaking? Are you sure it is enough? It looks pretty clean. I would concentrate on eating veggies in 4 of your 5 meals. I don't see many. Drop one serving of fruit. Switch around your meals such that the soy smoothie is right after your workout and then meal one is 1-2 hours after that. Your timing of the meals is extremely important to gaining lean muscle. Your last meal of the day can be another shake but make sure you have fiber and good fats in it (I use flax seed meal or oat bran). You are probably not getting enough good fats.

[sweetonion]

Thanks for the input...I guess it's just hard for me to grasp that I can actually get rid of this ugly fat and cellulite with such short cardio! Given it is intense, I think I've just been brain washed! I've been doing upper/Lower splits just recently because I got frusrated with my old routine--which looked much like the one you laid out EXCEPT--I would jog on the treadmill for 20 min; lift weights ; then go back and do another 20 min on the elliptical or stationary bike; then do abs---I was in the gym for 2 hrs. solid BUT, I never lost weight just got thicker. I understand now that this was just all wrong, but could you explain to me how damaging this was to my efforts....I did this for two months straight and no changes. It would really help to know that I just wasn't training smart and that nothing is wrong with me that I could workout that hard but still stay this way. Your thoughts?

[Lady C]

You were also overtraining. Diet is more important than what and how much activity you do. Keep it up and give feedback. Also check out Laura's journal once and a while (she's back from a long break) She works out hard but not long.

[cursor]

How taxing are the weights that you lift. Could you give an example of both your upper-body and lower-body routines? Include number of sets/reps and some rating for difficulty (how hard those last reps are for you to complete). Since you're doing your weightlifting at 2:00 PM, that would be between meals 3 and 4?

Give these threads a read-through:

Slimming Down
Workout Timing and Diet Tactics
Workout day vs nonWorkout day

[sweetonion]

My routine looks like this;

Upper BOdy
2 shoulder, 2 Back, 2 Chest, 1 tricep, 1 bicep Exercises
3 sets, 8-10 reps w/ the last two reps a struggle to maintain good form and completion
12-15 lb dumbells for shoulders, triceps, and biceps
15-20 lb dumbells for Back and Chest

Lower Body
Walking Lunges (w/15 lb dumbell)
Seated Leg curls
Leg Extensions
Leg Press
Calf Raises
Abductor & Adductor machines
Rep range b/t 12-15; not sure how much weight exactly, just know it burns like hell; THe walking lunges kick my *ss! I have to take about two minutes to recover because I walk from one of the room to the next 2X.

My legs are my problem area....cellulite everywhere...I don't understand it because my abs are visible and I'm a small girl....My clavicle is pronounced, no double chin, shoulders are balanced...just my legs are horrendous....In Louisiana it's a horrible punishment to have to wear pants year round because my legs are so gross...you wouldn't even know I worked out...it's depressing!

ABS: decline situp, hanging knee raises, bicycles ( My abs are not a problem area; they are very defined and are the only part of my body that I'm super proud of!)

I'd also like to add that I have been taking just soy protein after my workout....would it be more beneficial to take whey instead?