Cardio and strength training

Pandasarecool

Question, can I JUST do 15 minutes of strength training every other day, and only a little cardio, and still lose weight and get toned? I hate cardio, my diary is open, feel free to check it out.

wellbert

I doubt you're really going to get any strength results doing 15 minutes of it, unless you're doing 1x3 sets of 1RMs with no rest.

but weight loss comes from diet
not really so much from exercise

Pandasarecool

I doubt you're really going to get any strength results doing 15 minutes of it, unless you're doing 1x3 sets of 1RMs with no rest.

but weight loss comes from diet
not really so much from exercise

Here is what I do:

30 squats
20 lunges
30 leg lifts each leg
30 crunches
30 reverse crunches
20 second plank
3 sets 10 reps weight lifts (8 lbs)
3 sets 10 reps Bicep curls (8 lbs)
12 push ups
3 sets 10 reps Tricep kickbacks
Stretch


Is this enough?

Pandasarecool

PS I am 5'8" 134 pounds 18 yr. old female.

wellbert

It's borderline cardio, but if you really want to do strength training (and don't want to do weights) you should look into a program like 'You are your own gym' by Mark Lauren.

Pandasarecool

It's borderline cardio, but if you really want to do strength training (and don't want to do weights) you should look into a program like 'You are your own gym' by Mark Lauren.

So you are saying that what I am doing is usueless?

wellbert

It's borderline cardio, but if you really want to do strength training (and don't want to do weights) you should look into a program like 'You are your own gym' by Mark Lauren.

So you are saying that what I am doing is usueless?

Useless- no. But it stopped being strength training after about the third or fourth time you did it.

The body has an amazing ability to adapt, and you have to push it harder every time to 'train.'

Pandasarecool

It's borderline cardio, but if you really want to do strength training (and don't want to do weights) you should look into a program like 'You are your own gym' by Mark Lauren.

So you are saying that what I am doing is usueless?

Useless- no. But it stopped being strength training after about the third or fourth time you did it.

Why?

wellbert

It's borderline cardio, but if you really want to do strength training (and don't want to do weights) you should look into a program like 'You are your own gym' by Mark Lauren.

So you are saying that what I am doing is usueless?

Useless- no. But it stopped being strength training after about the third or fourth time you did it.

Why?

Because the body adapts, and then you're no longer overloading it, so it has nothing to adapt to. It's just doing something it's good at. Otherwise people that walk a couple miles a day would have gigantic muscular legs, yeah?

Week 1, body weight squats are good, assuming you're coming out of an injury or sedentary lifestyle. Most people can squat a naked bar (45lbs) but should be familiar with the movement first.

By 90 days or so, you should be doing them with 135+lbs

BeantownSooner

I doubt you're really going to get any strength results doing 15 minutes of it, unless you're doing 1x3 sets of 1RMs with no rest.

but weight loss comes from diet
not really so much from exercise

Here is what I do:

30 squats
20 lunges
30 leg lifts each leg
30 crunches
30 reverse crunches
20 second plank
3 sets 10 reps weight lifts (8 lbs)
3 sets 10 reps Bicep curls (8 lbs)
12 push ups
3 sets 10 reps Tricep kickbacks
Stretch


Is this enough?

Perhaps you take this program and do 3-4 full rounds of it with very minimal rest (30-60 sec) between sets 3-4 times a week. The other 2 days go for a 30 - 60 minute walk. Doing this the "strength" program will actually feel like a Cardio workout as you should be constantly moving. Between sets do a longer break of 2-3 minutes so you can recover for the next one.

As the other poster is mentioning at some point your body will adapt to what you're doing but this should push that out a bit longer. Also, once 30 squats are easy push for more....40...50...60, etc. Do the same for the other exercises.

Or look into a program such as Insanity which is cardio and strength (body weight based) but you'd never know you were really doing cardio as it's fast paced squats, lunges, a gazillion types of push ups, abs, explosive moves.

Pandasarecool

It's borderline cardio, but if you really want to do strength training (and don't want to do weights) you should look into a program like 'You are your own gym' by Mark Lauren.

So you are saying that what I am doing is usueless?

Useless- no. But it stopped being strength training after about the third or fourth time you did it.

Why?

Because the body adapts, and then you're no longer overloading it, so it has nothing to adapt to. It's just doing something it's good at.

Week 1, body weight squats are good, assuming you're coming out of an injury or sedentary lifestyle. Most people can squat a naked bar (45lbs) but should be familiar with the movement first.

By 90 days or so, you should be doing them with 135+lbs

All I have access to are 5 lb. and 3 lb. free weights...

Pandasarecool

Any ideas as to anything I can do?

wellbert

It's borderline cardio, but if you really want to do strength training (and don't want to do weights) you should look into a program like 'You are your own gym' by Mark Lauren.

So you are saying that what I am doing is usueless?

Useless- no. But it stopped being strength training after about the third or fourth time you did it.

Why?

Because the body adapts, and then you're no longer overloading it, so it has nothing to adapt to. It's just doing something it's good at.

Week 1, body weight squats are good, assuming you're coming out of an injury or sedentary lifestyle. Most people can squat a naked bar (45lbs) but should be familiar with the movement first.

By 90 days or so, you should be doing them with 135+lbs

All I have access to are 5 lb. and 3 lb. free weights...

I assumed as much. That's why I suggested the You are Your Own Gym program by Mark Lauren. He has a lot of clever workouts that can use your body weight and a few props to overload your muscles.

ilovedeadlifts

you can make tons of progress without cardio

but strength training for 15 minutes isn't going to get much done.
you should be spending 5-10 minutes warming up...so that doesn't leave much time

workouts should be around 45-60 minutes, IMO.

BeantownSooner

Any ideas as to anything I can do?

On the weight question, look into getting some resistance bands. Come in all types of "weights" (i.e. thicker bands are "heavier"). They're a lot more economical than getting a bunch of free weights. You can typically find a start kit at most sporting goods stores such as Sports Authority and ****'s Sporting Goods for $30-$40. Then add more bands in the future as you get stronger.

Pandasarecool

you can make tons of progress without cardio

but strength training for 15 minutes isn't going to get much done.
you should be spending 5-10 minutes warming up...so that doesn't leave much time

workouts should be around 45-60 minutes, IMO.

actually, the 15 minutes does NOT include my 5-10 minute warm up. And I actually am seeing progress, I can see muscles in my arms and legs and belly, and I am not quite as flabby. I also work as a bus person at a pizza resteraunt 3 times a week, so I lift some heavy things then, especially when its busy. Do you think this counts as some exercise?

Determinednoob

you can make tons of progress without cardio

but strength training for 15 minutes isn't going to get much done.
you should be spending 5-10 minutes warming up...so that doesn't leave much time

workouts should be around 45-60 minutes, IMO.

actually, the 15 minutes does NOT include my 5-10 minute warm up. And I actually am seeing progress, I can see muscles in my arms and legs and belly, and I am not quite as flabby. I also work as a bus person at a pizza resteraunt 3 times a week, so I lift some heavy things then, especially when its busy. Do you think this counts as some exercise?

The change in appearance probably has something to do with fat loss also.

Jynus

you can make tons of progress without cardio

but strength training for 15 minutes isn't going to get much done.
you should be spending 5-10 minutes warming up...so that doesn't leave much time

workouts should be around 45-60 minutes, IMO.

actually, the 15 minutes does NOT include my 5-10 minute warm up. And I actually am seeing progress, I can see muscles in my arms and legs and belly, and I am not quite as flabby. I also work as a bus person at a pizza resteraunt 3 times a week, so I lift some heavy things then, especially when its busy. Do you think this counts as some exercise?

no more then carrying your groceries counts...

when it comes to resistance training, the idea is to push your muscles to place they havn't been before. if you're doing the same crap every week, you're missing the point of strength training.