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What is the optimal training time for a combined weight training and cardio workout?

Weight, weight, don't tell me...

  • Cardio isn't doing it for me. The diet change is working verrry slowly, but I want to lose 10 pounds. Problem is, I can't lift anything heavier than 15 pounds, so is weight training even an option? Long story short: I was born with a hole on either side of my spine around where my shoulder blades are. My father and grandfather also have this same defect. I used to do Golden Gloves boxing when I was 21, and hurt myself pretty badly by straining a muscle one day. Because of the holes, when I strain a muscle in my shoulders, it swells INTO the hole, not outward, making a squeaking noise every time I move. The pain is excruciating and it typically (in the two times I've stupidly managed to do this) takes 2-3 months to heal. Bonus: I'm allergic to painkillers of all kinds, except Darvocet, and even on that I wake at night crying from the pain when I'm "squeaking". So definitely, absolutely NO free weights larger than small dumbbells for me. The doctor said specifically that I am banned from lifting ANYTHING heavier than 15 lbs. above my head... ever. I keep hearing and reading that weight training plus cardio is the only effective workout. I've been doing hours upon hours of cardio for almost a decade now and can't seem to break a certain weight barrier. I regularly work out for up to two hours at the gym doing the elliptical, stairs, rowing machine, treadmill, stationary bike, even a few of the weight machines. I've cut back my calories, but want to build muscle in order to help break my fitness plateau. What do I do? Kettlebells? Resistance bands? Help! I'm fairly destitute, so cheaper is better (i.e. a video workout and implements are yay, classes are boo). My main goal is to avoid hurting myself and improve my overall fitness, so if you have a DIY method, even better.

  • Answer:

    It sounds like your workouts have been focused on quantity, and what you really need is quality. I have done your workouts before--I did triathlons, I did a half-Ironman, I worked out for hours and hours. But the body fat never really quit. Now I focus on quality. My workouts never take more than an hour. I do Crossfit (though right now I'm out on injury). Use the BrandX scaling, it's linked in the "Start Here" section on the sidebar. Study the exercises, start slow, and be careful with yourself. If you want really simple, you can also use http://www.simplefit.org/--Crossfit, but much simpler and with bodyweight exercises. Do you do long slow cardio or intervals? Interval training has been shown in multiple studies to be far more effective than long bouts of cardio. Interval training releases fat-burning hormones (forgot the medical term) that long cardio does not. Try http://www.trainforstrength.com/Endurance1.shtml interval training program. The workouts are very short, but they will kick your butt. Your workouts should be kicking your butt. Going at it for two hours says you're training endurance, you're not training fat burning. Finally, most of weight loss, especially fat loss, is diet. Diet diet diet. You won't learn good fitness routines from bodybuilders, but they know their shit about cutting body fat. You need a high protein, high good-fat, low-carb diet. Something like the Zone, which has a 40-30-30 carb-protein-fat calorie split, with your carbs coming primarily from low-glycemic carbs. I found it so difficult to lose weight in my triathlon days. When I started exercising again after a break and switched from my high-carb triathlon regimen to the Zone diet and starting doing high-intensity work like interval training or Crossfit, I was flabbergasted at how quickly the weight came off and the strength went up. It was amazing.

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Schroedinger, that's a good point. I'm going to try alternating running and walking 90-second intervals for 30 minutes three times a week and see how that does, then gradually work my way up from there. And small weights with lots of repetitions!!

Unicorn on the cob

yea, as it's often said, you lose weight when calories in With your birth defect, kettleballs are a no, too. I would focus on body weight exercises, like pushups, pullups, etc. Are these okay? Ask your doc. If these are okay, try looking at http://www.crossfit.com/. All of the crossfit routines are mainly body weight based. Also, try interval training. 2 hours on the elliptical is monotonous. If you want to turbo charge your metabolism, run like hell for 30 seconds, the jog for 30 seconds, etc. This was a huge boost for me. I got a better work out in 15 minutes than an hour on the stationary bike. You might also try seriously training for something, like a marathon.>

unexpected

I do interval training. I do, say, 10 minutes sprinting as hard as I can on the elliptical, then 20 minutes of stationary bike, then 10 on the rowing machine... I vary resistance and time on each machine as I go through the gym and never do the same workout twice. But that's not really interval training. If you have an exertion scale of 1-10, interval training is sustaining levels 8-10 levels of exertion for a period of time, then resting--and you can't sustain a level 10 exertion for 10 minutes. You need to shorten the intervals. As it is you're just doing hard cardio. You have to think of it has a whole bunch of sprints. "Sprinting" does not happen for ten minutes straight.

schroedinger

Run swimming by your doctor. There are strokes that are fairly low stress on your shoulders (though flexibility is important) but will give the rest of your muscles a pretty good workout. You'll need to read up on it though, as there are plenty of other strokes that put lots of force on your shoulders. You can really build up your leg muscles if you do kick-only swimming, as well, but that gets exhausting quickly.

Benjy

God don't do CrossFit with a birth defect like that! Are you nuts? You have asthma, an allergy to painkillers, and a really crazy-sounding birth defect that can cause you serious pain with any heavy shoulder work. This is not the kind of thing that you should mess around with. The only crossfit workout days I do that don't involve me lifting more than 15 pounds over my head are the days I run. Seriously, people are just warning against handstand pushups? What about overhead squats, presses, pullups, cleans... Frankly I cannot imagine a less suitable workout routine for someone with your particular limitations. You should really find a qualified trainer (physical therapist?) of some sort to help you work with your limitations to set up a program. This will probably not be easy because qualified trainers can be pretty damn hard to find. But really, those last 10 pounds are not worth the kind of pain you describe.

ch1x0r

If you try crossfit, you should keep in mind: doing handstand-pushups will likely be the exact same as lifting weight over your head, just upside down.

creasy boy

Okay, argh, I do interval training. I do, say, 10 minutes sprinting as hard as I can on the elliptical, then 20 minutes of stationary bike, then 10 on the rowing machine... I vary resistance and time on each machine as I go through the gym and never do the same workout twice. As far as my injury stuff goes, I just can't do ANYTHING that might strain a muscle in my upper back or shoulders. I think I am going to try the crossfit and the interval training links listed here... and I'm doing FitDay now, so I'm watching what I eat, for sure. I wish I could do Atkins, but to be honest, my BF is repulsed by meat and if I did that he'd never touch me with a 10 foot pole. Besides, I'm sure I would gain it all back... yeah, last 10 lbs. is a pain, for sure. I was quite a bit thinner last year, but that was because I was depressed after my divorce and wasn't eating. Then I fell in love and gained the honeymoon weight, pretty much! Oh well. Can't have it all, can we?

Unicorn on the cob

Note: resistance bands or kettle-bells won't make a difference; you can strain muscles with resistance, whether with dumbells, kettle-bells, or resistance bands. The form the resistance takes doesn't matter. What matters is which muscles you're straining.

creasy boy

Yeah, if I were you I would get a clear idea of what exactly you can't do. You can't strain the muscles near your spine between your shoulder blades? The traps? The rhomboids? I don't think deltoids (shoulder muscles) touch the spine, but don't take my word for it. Are you allowed to lift a box of books and carry it upstairs? If for example the "trapezius" muscle is the one that falls into the hole, then you can do all kinds of weightlifting for other parts of your body. You can do back extensions with weight, to strengthen your lower back. Squats for your quads, glutes and lower back. Pullups for your lats and biceps (although pullups also slightly affect the back of your shoulder, but I don't think they affect the muscle between the shoulder blades near the spine.) Dips will strengthen your triceps, chest and front shoulders. You can do situps with weight, or "L-pullups" where do you do pull-ups with your legs straight out horizontal. Anyway I would ask a sports doctor which exercises are safe, and then maybe ask a couple of body-builders as well. Body-builders always know which exercises affect exactly which muscles.

creasy boy

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