I've just finished reading NROL, and have a few (nooby) questions.
I'm 38 years old and have weight trained on and off for about 20 years. Although the results have been reasonable, nothing has really worked well enough for me to stick with. I've read a lot of contradicting advise about weight training, cardio fitness and diets. NROL, in my opinion, is the only book I've read that makes sense accross the board.
My only query is, how do I work cardio into my new NROL programme. I have my own weights set up at home, and I also have an Eliptical Traininer. Last year I started doing H.I.I.T training on the elliptical. I wasn't pushing it really hard, but liked the feeling it gave me afterwards. With my new NROL prgramme, I intend to start weight training for an hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Should I still do H.I.I.T training? If so, when should I do it? The book says after my workouts, but I'm not sure I'd have the energy - H.I.I.T is pretty taxing.
I do NROL and I usually do some cardio after I lift and a longer session on my non lifting days. I hit the cardio pretty hard, and it's made a big difference in both how I feel and look.
Don't fall into the trap of "Well, I lifted yesterday, so I can't do anything today. I don't want to impede my recovery." So many guys lift one day and then practically spend the next 48 hrs. avoiding anything physical for fear that the extra movement/exercise will negate any possible gains that their body could be making. Just use common sense and you'll be fine.
Your body will adapt to the workload and you'll get some great results.
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I try to run 3 or 4 times a week (between 4 and 10 miles per run) and it depends on what NROL routine I'm currently doing. At the moment I'm doing Hypertrophy 2 so I don't running on my inbetween days apart from the day after legs which I always rest. I never do weights on my long run day - just too knackered.
I know the book says the best time to do cardio is right after weights, and I do sometimes manage that, but I find that my favourite time to run is first thing in the morning, and I like to do weights late afternoon / early evening.
If you're eating adequately and giving yourself enough recovery time, you should be good whether it's same day or not. You'd want a day off entirely (not to be lazy, have normal activity, but a day to rest the body from heavy exertion) at least once a week… but otherwise gauge your energy levels and your workouts (are they still high, are your workouts starting to suck and you stop making gains) and take it from there. Some people can handle more than others, and a lot of that is based on eating. If you're trying to lose, it'll be harder, but if you're maintaining and looking for fitness and/or body recomp, you really should be ok to just listen to your body.
If you're eating adequately and giving yourself enough recovery time, you should be good whether it's same day or not. You'd want a day off entirely (not to be lazy, have normal activity, but a day to rest the body from heavy exertion) at least once a week… but otherwise gauge your energy levels and your workouts (are they still high, are your workouts starting to suck and you stop making gains) and take it from there. Some people can handle more than others, and a lot of that is based on eating. If you're trying to lose, it'll be harder, but if you're maintaining and looking for fitness and/or body recomp, you really should be ok to just listen to your body.
I agree. I do NROL on T/Th, swimming and/or cycling M/W/F/S, with one full day off on the weekend. But I would never be able to keep up that level of activity in a serious deficit. I eat and have strong workouts.
I wouldn't recommend HIIT right after lifting. Cardio right after a workout is great if it's lower intensity, but keep HIIT to non-lifting days. This is actually mentioned in the book. It says that endurance training (aerobic exercise such as low intensity cardio) should not be combined with anaerobic training (weight training) because the former will prevail. The two ways they present to combat that problem are...1) to do steady state cardio PWO or 2) do HIIT on off days.
I am not finished with the book yet, but almost there, and I definitely remember reading that . Can't wait to start.
"Lifter #4's" workout in NROL (p.199) suggests doing the metabolic overdrive intervals (p.87) immediately after lifting. I am not "lifter # 4" but i do them anyway bc i like them... well like might not be the word but it gets results. i also jog in the evenings because it clears my head and helps me to explore my strange new environment (moved to japan). but if you like doing your cardio routine i don't think you should quit it just bc you have added lifting. thats just my $.02
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NROL and Cardio Question
. Can't wait to start.
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