Dane Fletcher is the world's most prolific bodybuilding and fitness expert and is currently the executive editor for BodybuildingToday.com. If you are looking for more bodybuilding tips or information on weight training, or supplementation, please visit www.BodybuildingToday.com, the bodybuilding and fitness authority site with hundreds of articles available FREE to help you meet your goals.
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If you’re a bodybuilder who enjoys the soreness and limp you experience following an incredible leg workout, then you probably already know the woes of trying to do intense cardio with sore legs. Many bodybuilders consider weight training and cardio training to be two separate things. In reality, since both utilize the legs, careful planning should take place to ensure your cardio doesn’t interfere with your weight training, and vice versa.
The first key to remember is that you cannot do cardio the day before you train the legs with weights. Your leg muscles and glycogen stores need to be replenished. You can’t expect a good performance on the squat rack if you went all-out just 12-24 hours earlier. Give then a rest before pushing them to the limit.
Second, you must ramp down the cardio intensity and angles in those two days following leg day. After all, DOMS, or delayed onset muscle soreness, is at its worst in the 48 hours following a workout. So after you destroy your legs on leg day, the two following days will be slow, relaxed cardio, which gives the lungs a workout, yet works around the well-worn legs.
Finally, you should take advantage of the numbness you are feeling at the conclusion of your leg weight training session, and complete a very intense cardio session directly after completing your leg routine. Same day, same session. Climb off of the calf machine and get on the stair stepper. Your legs will already be torched, so you won’t feel much of the pain. You might as well get the most possible gains out of the day’s workout by torching them at this moment.
Day 1 – Rest (no cardio)
Day 2 – Full leg workout (quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves) followed by 30 minutes interval cardio on the stepper machine.
Day 3 – Full Chest/Triceps workout, followed by 30 minutes walking on treadmill
Day 4 – Full Back/Biceps workout, followed by 30 minutes elliptical machine at low intensity
Day 5 – 30 minutes medium- to high-intensity cardio
Day 6 – Full shoulder workout, followed by 30 minutes very intense cardio
Day 7 – Rest day (no cardio)
Listen to your body. After day 7, (a full rest day), you might want another rest day. If so, keep day 1 as listed. However, if you are feeling your legs have fully recovered, then skip day 1 and go right into day 2 and train legs that day. The most important rule is to listen to your body and train legs and complete cardio with as much intensity as possible, while still giving them required rest for maximum recovery.
The Best Way to Gain Muscle Mass- 3 Secret Tips
By: Rory Wilkinson | 01/12/2008Want to find the best way to gain muscle mass? Look no further. These 3 little know tips will allow you to gain muscle mass fast, safely and effectively. If you are not incorporating even just one of these tips then you are making it hard for yourself to build muscle.
How to Get Ripped Fast- 3 Ways to Get Ripped Fast
By: Rory Wilkinson | 01/12/2008It seems like everyone has a method or an idea for building muscle. However the problem is that most of these methods and ideas simply don’t work. There are many bodybuilding myths and misconceptions out there that could be stopping your ability to gain muscle mass. Here are 5 tips, from a genuine muscle building expert that will teach you how to get ripped fast. Follow and apply these tips and techniques. Ok, let’s get started building muscle 1. If you really want to get ripped fast then you
Getting Ripped Fast- 5 Ways to Get Ripped Fast
By: Rory Wilkinson | 01/12/2008Who doesn’t want to learn how to get ripped fast? However most of the tips and advice out there about building muscle is actually slowing down your progress. Here is 5 sure fire tips for getting ripped fast.
Build Muscle Quick- 5 Ways to Build Muscle Quick
By: Rory Wilkinson | 27/11/20085 ways to build muscle quick. I dont think theres a single muscle builder out there who doesn't want to know how to build muscle quicky, safely and effectively. The problem is that most people don’t know how to. This article reveals how to build muscle quickly (even if you are a skinny hard gainer) and without spending more time at the gym.
I Want to Lose Fat and Build Muscle Simultaneously. Can I?
By: Steve Robbins | 27/11/2008The internet is loaded with sites that boast of their ability to help you “gain 20 lbs of muscle in 6 weeks” and “get ripped abs in 2 months”. Naturally people read these headlines and think “yes, this is EXACTLY what I want to do” and believe that in 2 months they will have the body they have always dreamed of. Can you do this? Really?
Muscle Building Secrets- 3 Muscle Building Secrets You Must Know
By: Rory Wilkinson | 26/11/2008Discover the true muscle building secrets. Including some of the common misconceptions about muscle building that is holding you back from getting your ideal body.
Get Big Biceps- 5 Simple Ways to Get Big Biceps
By: Rory Wilkinson | 26/11/2008Discover 5 simple steps to get big biceps. Big biceps are one of mans most prized possessions and one we spend so much time on but yet most men have very little to show for it. This article looks at 5 big misconceptions out there about bicep building and how you can avoid them to get the "guns" you want.
Get Bigger Muscles- 7 Ways to Get Bigger Muscles Fast
By: Rory Wilkinson | 25/11/2008What weight lifter out there doesn't want to get bigger muscles? However with all the rubbish advice, flashy products that don't work and misconceptions out there most people aren't reaching their goals. These 7 tips and techniques will allow anyone to get bigger muscles quickly and safely...
Bench, Deadlift, & Squats: Tips for Perfecting the Big Three
By: Dane Fletcher | 19/08/2008 | BodybuildingEvery bodybuilder knows that the “Big Three” exercises – Bench press, deadlifts, and squats – are the key to making gains in muscle mass and strength. Let’s check out a few tips and ideas for making the most of these exercises, and doing it safely.
Testosterone and Memory Loss
By: Dane Fletcher | 19/08/2008 | WellnessThe benefits of testosterone are many. The user gains strength and muscle mass. Body fat levels drop, and sexual thirst rises. The user feels energetic, strong, happy, positive, and above all, young. Testosterone is perfect, right? Maybe not.
Evaluating Biceps Potential
By: Dane Fletcher | 14/08/2008 | BodybuildingIt’s long been considered that the gap between the biceps and the elbow joint could be measured to determine ones potential for success in competitive bodybuilding. The great champions always seemed to have full biceps heads, which flowed, neatly into the elbow joints. If they possess this attribute, it meant their muscle bellies flowed equally well in the other parts of the body. Their calves, quads, and pecs would tie in just as gracefully.
Hamstrings: Supersetting for Sick Leg Muscle
By: Dane Fletcher | 14/08/2008 | BodybuildingThe hamstrings, or the leg biceps, are the small muscle group located on the back of the thighs. Since these muscles are hidden from sight in most bodybuilding poses (at least the ones we see from the front), they are often overlooked in training. Admittedly, there are only a few exercises that directly hit them. Toss in the fact that they cannot grow very much (except in a few genetic freaks) and that they show minimal shape or definition until contest conditioning is achieved.
Effects of Illegal Anabolic Steroids on the Liver
By: Dane Fletcher | 13/08/2008 | BodybuildingWhen the liver is facing additional stress and work due to the presence of anabolic steroids, it releases compounds called SGOT and SGPT. When the damage stops being incurred, it stops releasing these two chemicals. Standard blood screens detect the levels of SGOT and SGPT, and those are the readings that doctors use to analyze just how much damage is being incurred by the liver.
Deadlifting Safety
By: Dane Fletcher | 13/08/2008 | BodybuildingThe lower back is a very weak area in some people, so care should be taken too properly warm up to minimize the chance of injury. Use higher-rep work on deadlifts once per month to ensure many slow-twitch fibers are recruited, so maximum back growth is stimulated. Good luck, and be safe!
Calf Raise Variants to Help Meet Your Needs
By: Dane Fletcher | 13/08/2008 | BodybuildingAs a result of this lack of attention and very often, lack of available equipment, many bodybuilders build calves, which are lacking development in all areas. This can be fixed, of course, using a few exercises to isolate those poor areas.
Biceps Concentration Curls for Height and Detail
By: Dane Fletcher | 28/07/2008 | BodybuildingThe biceps are perhaps the most popular body part to train. Very rarely will you meet a new trainer in the gym who doesn’t pay adequate attention to biceps training. Despite this propensity to train them, there aren’t a lot of great biceps sets in gyms. One would think that the most popular body part would be the most developed.