Briefer, more intense work outs?

[Anonymous]

Is 20 minutes of weights for diff body parts and 20 to 30 min of intense cardio 4 times a week and then one day of just weights better than an hour 4 times a week of a blend of mixed cardio ranging from mild to intense?

Updates

+1 y

I want to tone. Lose a little weight but not a lot I'm not overweight

[funkadelic5]

what the !@#$ was that unreadable wall of text

lift 3 times a week 3 sets per exercise to failure

your main movements are bench press, deadlift, squat, chinup

chuck in some legxercises for calves possibly

you don't need cardio, in fact its probably going to hurt your muscle growth

[WeaponZero]

Yes because it includes weights. Any training regimen that recognizes the importance of resistance training will be greatly superior to one that is entirely cardio based.

[WeaponZero]

If I had even 1% of a penny for every time a woman looking to get "toned" fell for some fitness fad I'd be a rich man by now.

[Asker]

It isn't a fad. I just want to make my thighs and hips a little tighter, and my stomach as well. I usually do 20-40 minutes of intense cardio, a combination of treadmill/bike/stairmaster/elliptical, switching off the days on these machines. I do it at an intense speed for most of the time. It makes me sweat a lot. Then I do the weights. I do the hip abductor, adductor, leg curl, various ones for the arms and chest, torso, abs, butt. I do like 4 to 5 of these machines, not the same one every day

[WeaponZero]

My trainer has a plan he makes all of his female clients go through:

Month one - Strictly weightlifting, no cardio. Heavy duty weightlifting. Your goal this month is to build as much raw explosive strength as you can. You won't see a whole lot in the way of visible gains here but the strength gains will optimize your strength level for later phases.

[WeaponZero]

Month two: Switch from using weights to using resistance bands. Start doing circuit style weightlifting instead of strength training like you were before. By that I mean you will do circuit training. It combines a cardio workout and a resistance workout in one. You will only do this three days a week in the beginning. As your body adjusts start integrating steady cardio on your off days.

[WeaponZero]

Month three: go back to weights. Use lighter weights and higher reps and focus mainly on cardio.

[WeaponZero]

If you're confused on what circuit training is, basically, it's when you chain various exercises together without rest. It's typically done with lighter weights and in timed sets rather than counting reps. Example:

30 seconds dumbbell rows, then immediately switch to 30 seconds bicep curls, then immediately 30 seconds overhead presses, then immediately 30 seconds chest presses, then immediately 30 seconds squats, then immediately 30 seconds calf raises. That's just an example.

[WeaponZero]

He got this plan off of a website that basically lays out fitness model Jamie Eason's training plan. That's how she trains.

[kheserthorpe]

Yes and no.

What's your goal?

[WeaponZero]

your favorite word. "Tone."

[WeaponZero]

I recall you once saying that whenever a woman says that word, it's clear she has absolutely no idea about anything when it comes to fitness. That's paraphrasing, of course.

[kheserthorpe]

If you want to tone, you need to lift heavy a few times a week.

You could lift heavy 2-3 times and do steady cardio other days.