Weight training vs Cardio

[Fiddleman 4,376]

Fiddleman' date=' if you want more calories, yes the Met-Rx Meal Replacement shake is pretty darn good and has the Protein plus a few more carbs than a typical shake. My wife drinks them and they are not bad at all. You could also try slathering some PB on those energy squares, I like them with PB2 but I get plenty of calories so I don't need the full fledged nut butters.

Also, I have to disagree on the single muscle group isolation. Yes it can help you but only if you have the energy to add it in, I wouldn't replace anything you're doing with bicep curls. It will make you look good but for pure athletic performance I would stick with compound lifts, which as I understand it crossfit does this. Compound lifts are giving you the most bang for your buck. You would not, for instance, do leg extensions over squats, bicep curls over pull ups, ham string curls over deadlifts.....if you had limited time and energy to workout. And you did say you had limited time and energy. Just my opinion. I would say with your current program, the one thing I'd be trying to do is figure out is how to get in a little more nutrition.

The ONLY thing I'd think about taking out is the HIIT running. You're pretty much doing HIIT with the crossfit. HIIT is highly intense and you're body can only stand so much of it. Perhaps reduce it to one session of HIIT running every other week.[/quote']

Thank you very much for your feedback. What you say makes so much sense. I love the cross fit for the intensity and the way it is changing my upper body physique and really improving strength / mobility. Lower body is getting much more muscular too ( probably from all the squats), but were never atrophic like the upper body was from all the running. I get a rush after every cross fit workout not unlike one would get from running a personal best in a 5k, 10k or longer distances that you guys excel at like 1/2 and marathon. The endorphins are a-flowing.

Only downfall is the muscle and ligament soreness after every session ( sticks around for 2-3 days). I am really taking a lot of Omega 3 to help with it, but also need to do ibuprofen on occasion. Rolling out my back on the foam roller is a godsend. A really great outcome from building upper body strength is my back is no longer killing me for reasons unrelated to exercise. I think it is because my core is properly supporting my back now. My shoulders are back and lined up with my hips and it feels so good to walk around with a happy back. Yay! No more NSAIDs for that! Huge victory there.

By the way, I did go out of my way today to try a met-rx big100 bar and those are really tasty and, well, huge! 420 calories per bar with 32 g of Protein. Loved it, but am only going to be eating these if they are not going to interfere with maintaining my current weight. It gave me an extra 200 calories over a standard low carb Protein Bar. Ok with me because that still leaves my current daily calories (1300) at a good deficit for where I want to get my daily calories at (1800).

[CBT 450]

A couple thing are coming up for me. One is that it sounds like you are overtraining. You've been managing a lot of inflammation for about a month. I get it. I go through periods of overtraining. Usually I'm chasing endorphin and adrenaline and feel like I can fly until I'm sore everywhere.

Second thing. Cardio and resistance training schedules are so personal. Some of it is how you and feel some is science. I really encourage you to listen to your body.

I dance for cardio an hour three days a week. Some weeks way more if there are jams (dance equivalent to marathons). Think 11 kinds of movement blended with martial arts all in an hour. It's crazy fun. The best part is each routine has three levels. If I'm injured I will dance level 1. I mostly dance level 3. This can be an issue for retaining lean muscle mass. It's a lot of burn. Still I build a lot of core muscle and leg muscle.

I do not go more than 24 hours between resistance training sessions. Forty eight at the most if I need to recover.

I work out in a very nice club that promotes all the trends in fitness. What I know is that the PT have clients on a mix of straight up resistance training and Crossfit. I do cross fit once or twice a week at the most. Because I crazy dance and that is my love. If I did Crossfit two-three days a week at 45-50 minutes, I'd be overtraining and I'd have to drop one of my dance classes. I think you love crossfit and you could consider changing your running schedule. Crossfit is so explosive

I mix it up and I have great results. I'm not tired or hitting the wall. It's finding that training sweet spot for your body. This is what works for me. No" shoulds" and all I "want to".

Life is good. Sleeved life is awesome. Good luck!

[NewSetOfCurves 1,553]

I know the science behind this stuff can be frustrating and confusing, and sometimes contradicting. This is what I know from the literature I have read over the years:

You are right...too much cardio will lean out your muscle mass. If the weight you lift is too light, you will also lean out your muscles. If you truly want to up your mass, you need to up the amount you are lifting (less reps in each set; each set should end in failure). DO NOT work out the same muscles more than once a week! They need to recover so that they can build mass! Come up with a weekly routine: Monday--biceps and triceps; Tuesdays--chest and back; Wednesdays--legs; Thursdays--shoulders....etc. Stick with the same regimen for a month, then change the exercises. Your muscles have what we like to call muscle memory. They get used to the movements and they need to be shocked.

All that being said, calories and quality of calories need to be considered. a MINIMUM of 1 gram of protien per your body weight. On days that you are lifting, you should definitely up the calories. Someone in a previous post commented about protien shakes...YES! Go for it! There are shakes for pre and post workouts. Prosource.net yields the best prices in supplements...better than GNC (well, almost anybody's price is better than GNC) and Vitamin shoppe. When I was a fitness addict, Muscle and Fitness magazine was my bible. They ALWAYS offer great tips and advice on lifting, nutrition, and the newest technologies offered in the supplement world.

I hope this helps. If you ever have any questions I have tons of info and tips in this head of mine. Don't hesitate to ask

[Matthew 27]

We all built different...and caloric intake is different. I have done nothing but weight lifting for size and strength....which is a cardio effort if you put in the hours and weights. However, I have done no cardio specific exercises since surgery. I'd prefer a slow burn and maintain...and hopefully grow muscle. It has worked well for me, as I've seen steady gains in weight loss and strength increase. This may change down the line, but I don't want to loss the weight too fast. It will come from the caloric restriction. Likely, when I finally plateau for a while I'll change to a cross fit routine to shock my body a bit. But as I said...we all have different needs and goals. Best of luck to you.

[aroundhky 1,174]

Fiddleman, if you want more calories, yes the Met-Rx Meal Replacement shake is pretty darn good and has the Protein plus a few more carbs than a typical shake. My wife drinks them and they are not bad at all. You could also try slathering some PB on those energy squares, I like them with PB2 but I get plenty of calories so I don't need the full fledged nut butters.

Also, I have to disagree on the single muscle group isolation. Yes it can help you but only if you have the energy to add it in, I wouldn't replace anything you're doing with bicep curls. It will make you look good but for pure athletic performance I would stick with compound lifts, which as I understand it crossfit does this. Compound lifts are giving you the most bang for your buck. You would not, for instance, do leg extensions over squats, bicep curls over pull ups, ham string curls over deadlifts.....if you had limited time and energy to workout.

Preach on Butter! I love me compound lifts, deadlifts, dips, military presses, pullups, etc! Effective AND very efficient lifts.