Strength Training vs. Cardio for Fitness

Here is an excerpt from the fitness newsletter 
(adrenaline fitness nyc) of one of my colleagues, Julia Derek:

Ask Julia – How much strength-training vs. cardio should I do to stay fit?

Q: I’m a 44-year-old male who wants to know how much weight, how often, and how strenuously I should be lifting (upper/lower body, etc.) versus how much aerobics I should be partaking in (hours per day, days per week), and how much stretching/yoga type work should I be doing just to stay healthy. My goal, as I am sure is many others’, is not to bulk up or to lose weight, but to stay fit and maintain muscle mass.

A: Let’s start with weight-training (strength-training). Assuming that the man in question is healthy with no limitations (no injuries or diseases), I recommend that he weight-trains for forty-five minutes to an hour two-three times a week. Since his goal is to stay fit and not bulk up, he should stick to 12-20 repetitions each set and do three sets per exercise. The reason I’m not giving an exact number of reps per set is because some people just build muscle easier than others and if our subject is one of those, he should stick to 18-20 reps while someone who has a hard time developing muscle (older women in particular) should aim for 12 reps per set. In terms of how much weight he should use, approach it this way: you know you’re using the right amount of weight if you find it difficult to lift/pull/push by the third or second to last repetition. The last repetition should be very hard but not impossible to move.
I’m a big believer in intense workouts; therefore, I recommend that you don’t rest more than one minute between each set (30 seconds is better). Just make sure you’re in control of the exercise/weight and not it of you. As long as you’re in control, you can go as quickly as you wish. Count each repetition out loud to avoid holding your breath throughout the set. A good way to weight train is to alternate between upper and lower body exercises, i.e. instead of resting between each set of push-ups, do a set of hamstring curls. This way you’ll be doing equal amounts of upper and lower body exercises. Also strive to incorporate a couple of full-body exercises such as wood chops and squats with military presses.

Just because a person looks slender doesn’t mean he or she’s healthy. I’ve encountered skinny people who turned out to be fat when I measured their body fat percentage and “bigger” people who were quite lean. So I will use body fat percentages as my guideline when giving recommendations for aerobic training (cardio).

If it’s low (8-12 %), it’s enough if he does two-three sessions of 30-45 minutes of cardio a week. One session can consist of a brisk walk in the park. Another can be the elliptical machine while the third can be a bike ride. It doesn’t even be all on one chunk; for example, he can break up the walking in three smaller walks in one day.

If his body percentage is between 12-15 %, he definitely wants to do three sessions of cardio per week, maybe even add ten minutes of cardio after one or two weight training sessions.

If his body fat percentage is more than 15 % he should be doing three sessions weekly and follow each weight-training session with 15-20 minutes of cardio because he definitely wants to lower his body fat to below 15. (A healthy body fat range for women under 45 is 17-23 %.) He also wants to make sure that he weight trains for an hour three – not two times – a week, as weight training becomes more and more important the older a person is. In other words, a 23-year-old hasn’t yet begun to lose muscle, so the focus of his or her workouts should be on cardio. A 44-year-old on the other hand needs to replenish the muscle mass he’s been losing since age 25; thus weight-training becomes more important for him.

A great way to loosen up tight body areas before each workout is to foam roll them. Follow this with dynamic full-body stretches, meaning, don’t hold each stretch but move your body gently in different directions while stretching. The focus should be on the tight body parts. It’s a good habit to stretch your tight body parts statically for a few minutes after both strength and cardio workouts.

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I especially love problem-solving, whether it’s helping women defeat issues plaguing them for years, helping a busy executive find practical ways to get heart healthy, or providing tips to help you reverse diabetes. That’s why I’m on a constant quest to expand my knowledge by staying on top of the latest research.

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