Can I do two cardio each day?

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codynlaw
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Can I do two cardio each day?

Post by codynlaw »

Hi, I'm female and at body fat of 27%, I wish to decrease body fat rate faster, is it ok for me to do two cardio session each day? For example, if I do one elliptical before work, and a running after work each day? Thank you very much!
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Boss Man
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Re: Can I do two cardio each day?

Post by Boss Man »

It would be a potential risk of overtraining, which would eventually lead to possible side effects like lethargy, depressed immune system, sleep issues etc.

You don't really need to do loads of Cardio to reduce weight and fat levels. 1lb of added muscle burns an extra 45-50 calories a day, so you should proritise the 3 key cornerstones of weightloss and I would suggest thusly.

1. Diet.

2. Weights

3. Cardio

You could do some weights before work, but don't workout on an empty stomach, it's been shown to contribute to dizzy spells in some people and logically why do a blood sugar reducing task when Bloodsugar is already low?

Fuel adequately first. You don't need to go overboard on the Carbs but around 20-30g with some Protein and a little good fat if you wish would work. 250-350 calories would suffice.

As you would be working out in the morning, cardio in the evening would be best served on an exercise, bike, becasue you won't loadbear Torso weight on the lower body and you won't be doing stuff like treadmill, elliptical and rower that require serious manipulation of one or more muscle groups.

Exerise bike work promotes cardiovascular results with minimal muscle activiation or loadbearing of weight, in comparison to many other machine based cardiovascular exercise types, so it would be less impacting on Glycogen stores and be better in terms of aiding muscle recovery, from the morning weights workout.

Obviously make sure to eat pretty quickly afterwards to stimulate Glycogen and bloodsugar recovery.

I wouldn't train every day either, get a couple of rest days in the week and split them, to avoid doing 5 days straight.

You could do an upper body lower body split, replicated 2x a week, so you're system would look something like this.

Day 1. Upper Body, (Morning), Cardio, (Evening).

Day 2. Lower Body, (Morning), Cardio, (Evening).

Day 3. Cardio (Evening)

Day 4. Day off.

Day 5. Upper Body, (Morning), Cardio, (Evening).

Day 6. Lower Body, (Morning), Cardio, (Evening).

Day 7. Day off.

Keep the Cardio to 20 minutes max, as you'll be getting some Cardiovascular activation anyway doing the weights.

I'd reccomend you keep your diet to around the 2,100-2,200 a day mark, so you've got the 1,800 sedentary female average and another 300-400 a day for burning.

As for the weights. You could do something like this for Upper Body.

3 sets Good Mornings.

3 sets Dumbell Bench Press.

3 sets Bent over Rows

3 Sets Shrugs.

All done with an 8-10 rep range.

You're getting some good Bicep work with the Rows and Tricep with the Presses, so no necessary need to tag direct stuff in there.

Lower body

3 sets of Squats.

3 Sets lunges.

3 sets Calf Raises.

1 minute of planks for Abs. You'll get some Abs activation on the upper body stuff, so no need to go direct on those days.

Same rep range for this workout also, barring the Planks obviously.

You'd be then doing 6 sets for all your muscle groups per week.

I'm assuming you've done some kind of weights work before.

If you haven't, revert to a total body format for weights. All body parts trained 2x each, using basic compound movements like those detaisl above I.E. Deadlifts, Lunges, Squats, Bent over Rows etc.

You'd then do this 3x a week. I'd reccomend on days 1, 3 and 6. of the plan I detailed above, keeping the Cardio sessions unchanged. 20 minutes in the evening on days 1,2,3, 5 and 6.

On the weights you'd use the smallest dumbells for small muscles and the next ones up for large muscles.

You would do this for about 6 weeks to adapt to weightlifting biomechanics then you could progress to the upper / lower plan I gave you i you wanted to.

This might be a bit more detailed than you were expecting, but I hope it helps. Anything you're unssure of let me know.

Good luck :).
codynlaw
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Re: Can I do two cardio each day?

Post by codynlaw »

Thank you very much for the detail information!! It is very helpful!!! I would definitely try and follow, thanks a lot!
bodyworkslubock
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Re: Can I do two cardio each day?

Post by bodyworkslubock »

Some people split their cardio work outs like 20 minutes of biking then 20 minutes of running. You have to listen to your body, you need to work hard in order to build muscle but never lose control. If you have trained hard for today, remember to rest the next day or do some light exercises like brisk walking.
dahulkinator
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Re: Can I do two cardio each day?

Post by dahulkinator »

I would not risk that, the risk of overtraining would set you back further than where you are right now. Your body adapts to change very slowly. Check out this blog: http://fiending-fitness.blogspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for some helpful information regarding aerobic/anaerobic fitness and how your body functions
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