im using the 5 min warm up 30 min weight training followed by a 30 min cardio session method at trying to lose weight.. and im get results..slowly...but surely..
because the first 30 min of ur workout, ur body burn sugars and carbs and the second 30 min burns fat, and the last 30 min u burn muscle right?
so say my weight training routine lasts about 45 min.. shud i still do 30 min cardio after that or cut it down? im confused about this whole system please help!
1) it is true that doing weights before cardio is the recommended order, this is to make sure that glycogen is available for muscle work, this is especially true if weight training is intense
2) the idea that your body switches to burning fat once you've been working out for 20-30 minutes is true -> but you would have had to have been working out 'aerobically' (i.e. continous non-stop movement involving large muscle groups i.e. legs) and your weight training probably does not qualify, so don't expect to be mostly burning fat from minute 1 of your follow-on cardio session
3) optimal overall workouts are probably no longer than 60 minutes in length, beyond that you're proably tired and the 'law of diminishing returns' applies. Mind you I doubt that you are endangering your muscles to any serious degree - you are still primarily deriving energy from a combination of carbs and fat, but if you would like to work out for more than 60 minutes per day and you have the option, you will get better results if you work out 60 minutes in the morning and have a 2nd workout in the evening with the extra time
I should point out that knowing this does not stop me from doing 1.5 and 2 hour workouts when it suits me for social or logistical reasons, or indeed for doing my cardio workout before the weights workout because that's how somebody has time-tabled classes. There's a difference between knowing these rules and guidelines and following them to the letter...!
