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Balancing Weight Training, Cardio and Rest
Knowing how to balance cardio, weight training and rest can be one of the most challenging aspects of putting together your training program. The major issue you will need to take into consideration when balancing your workout routine is your primary training goal and your body type. Are you trying to lose fat? Are you focused on gaining muscle? Are trying to improve sports performance? Or are you trying to maintain what you have?
Keep in mind that every body is different and every person reacts to training in different ways. Some body types need more cardio and others are completely opposite. Only with time and consistency will you be able to tell what your body responds to the best.
Types of cardio:
Low-Intensity:
Low-intensity cardio training, such as walking or slow cycling, is very easy for your body to recover from, regardless of your body type and your goals. It will have very little negative impact on muscle gain or loss and can help you burn a few calories for fat loss.Moderate-Intensity:
Moderate-intensity cardio training, such as jogging or swimming, requires more energy both to perform and for your body to recover from. A person trying to lose fat can generally perform four to six moderate-intensity sessions per week at around 20 to 30 minutes each. A person trying to gain muscle should reduce this amount to two to three sessions per week.High-Intensity:
High Intensity Cardio is the toughest of the bunch but can actually net you the greatest and fastest results. High-intensity training is exemplified in activities such as sprinting and interval training. Basically, anything that you do as hard as you can for a short period of time could be considered high-intensity training. In fact, intense weight training with short rest periods qualifies also. See article on High Intensity Interval Training.High-intensity training is extremely effective for fat loss as it not only causes you to burn a lot of calories during the activity, it also raises your metabolism for a long time after the activity is done. This type of hard training should be done less frequently than the more moderate forms of cardio as it is much harder for your body to recover from. Keep in mind that too much cardio will cause overtraining.
Why rest has its place in training also:
Overtraining occurs when individuals try too hard to improve performance and train beyond the body's ability to recover, whether it be with weight training or cardio. Without recovery, the body is repeatedly stressed to the point where rest is no longer adequate to allow for recovery. This is called the "overtraining syndrome".
When you are lifting heavy weights your muscle fibers tear and then while you are resting through proper nutrition and sleep they get bigger and stronger (hypertrophy). If you overtrain, your muscle fibers tear and your body does not have enough time to heal the muscles before you go back into the gym and tear the fibers again. When you overtrain, your muscles can actually get weaker, you will hit a plateau and you will set yourself up for injury.
Sleep deprivation can also cause overtraining. Your muscles grow & repair while you sleep. If you do not get enough sleep your body cannot repair your torn muscle fibers in time for your next workout. Generally around 8 hours of sleep a night allows for maximum muscle recovery and allows you to have enough energy.
The typical signs of overtraining include: