2879: Weekly Cardio & Strength Sessions & What’s Right For You? & Strong To The Core: Where Movement Starts by Eric Leija

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[00:00:24] So, press play on Good Sleep tonight, because a good tomorrow starts with a good night's sleep. Just search for Good Sleep in your podcast app, and be sure to pick the one from Optimal Living Daily. This is Optimal Health Daily, weekly cardio and strength sessions, and what's right for you, and Strength To The Core, Where Movement Starts, both by Eric Leija of ericleija.com, and I'm Dr. Neal.

[00:00:51] Welcome back to Optimal Health Daily, where I act as your narrator of the best health and fitness blogs, all for free. I cover fitness, nutrition, stress management, weight management, and lots more. Kind of like an audio book, but from a bunch of different authors. And then on Fridays, I answer your questions right here on the show. Now remember, I have two posts for you, so let's get right to it now and start optimizing your life.

[00:01:19] Weekly Cardio and Strength Sessions, and What's Right for You, by Eric Leija of ericleija.com. If you're new to working out, one of the first questions you probably have is how often you should be exercising each week. Whether your goal is to get stronger, shed fat, or drastically improve your fitness levels, the first step is planning out your weekly sessions so you can stay consistent with your hard work.

[00:01:43] While there isn't necessarily a one-size-fits-all formula when it comes to a workout schedule, there's a general number that you should aim for when you're just starting out if you want to get stronger, maintain lean muscle, and shed fat. Here's how you should plan on breaking up your cardio and strength training sessions each week. How many weekly strength training sessions should I do? Studies show that strength training just once a week doesn't seem to improve the body all that much.

[00:02:10] And while lifting weights twice a week showed more improvement than just lifting once a week, the body actually shows tremendous gains by strength training at least three times a week. By increasing your strength sessions from two to three times a week, you'll see 12% more muscle gain and possibly 13% more fat loss. When you're planning out your strength sessions, be sure to give your body a rest day in between each workout so your muscles can fully recover. The gains you make don't actually happen in the gym.

[00:02:39] They happen when you're resting. So planning two back-to-back heavy leg sessions isn't a good idea. Give yourself at least a day for those muscle groups to recover before hitting them again. Although three strength sessions each week is a great place to start, that doesn't mean you can't do more. Once you're feeling strong enough and you're improving, add in more sessions throughout the week. How many weekly cardio sessions should I do? This all depends on what your goals are.

[00:03:06] If you're trying to lose weight and shed fat, you want to be in a calorie deficit, meaning eat less calories every day than you're expending. And doing cardio regularly will help you reach that goal. Doing cardio three to five times a week for 30 minutes or more at a time is a great way to speed up fat loss. If you're doing cardio and strength training on the same day, it's best to do your weightlifting first and then finish off with cardio. What you do for cardio though is entirely up to you.

[00:03:33] You can either choose LIS or low-intensity sustained state exercises like going for a distance run or a rigorous hike or high-intensity interval training or HIIT, such as a circuit class at your gym or a Tabata-style workout. Both are effective and excellent ways to improve your cardiovascular health. No matter what you decide, make sure you choose something you actually enjoy doing. If you hate high-intensity interval training classes, don't take them.

[00:04:03] If you despise running, don't even bother lacing up those running shoes. Consistency is the most important rule when it comes to improving your fitness and getting stronger. If you hate doing it, you won't do it. So choose whatever cardio you know you will actually complete. Strong to the Core, Where Movement Starts by Eric Lea of ericlea.com When you hear about having a strong core,

[00:04:32] you might think of six-packs and men's health magazine covers. No disrespect to those shirtless celebrities, but they're probably fooling a lot of people into thinking that washboard abs automatically equate to a strong core. In reality, there are actually a few good reasons to focus on working your core, as opposed to only trying to look good on the beach. It's essential for having proper movement, good posture, and preventing injuries. Specifically, your core protects your spine.

[00:05:00] To start, let's understand what exactly the core is. Beyond the, frankly overrated, rectus abdominis, it's also comprised of the transverse abdominals, multifittus, diaphragm, and pelvic floor. A strong core will help keep your spine braced and neutral. Simply put, your spine is in a braced, neutral position when your head, shoulders, ribcage, and pelvis are in alignment. Though some dynamic movements, such as the snatch or muscle-up,

[00:05:29] require spinal extension or flexion, the beginning and end of any movement requires a braced, neutral spine. On a more basic level, closed kinetic chain movements, compound movements in which your hands or feet remain fixed to a stationary object, all require a braced, neutral spine. These exercises are the essentials of functional fitness, and all of them require a strong core. Consider the following examples and how they apply in other areas of life outside the gym. The push-up

[00:05:58] The push-up is an upper body exercise requiring you to plant your hands on a stationary surface and use your triceps, biceps, deltoids, and pectoralis muscles to push off until your arms are fully extended. A braced core is required for the duration of the exercise. Day-to-day, something as simple as opening a door or pushing a shopping cart requires the same movement pattern as a push-up. The squat

[00:06:24] The squat is a lower body exercise during which your feet remain planted on the ground, while weight is affixed to your back, think back squat, your shoulders, think front squat, or overhead, think overhead squat. A weak core will cause you to open your kinetic chain and allow your spine to roll forward, which is a recipe for injury. More commonly, walking upstairs or crouching down to pick up a coin are both slight variations of this same movement pattern.

[00:06:54] The deadlift The deadlift is another functional movement that can only be accomplished safely with a braced neutral spine. As you lift the weight from the ground, a strong core supports your spine and protects it from shearing forces and serious potential injury. Aside from putting heavy plates on a barbell, picking up a box or moving furniture are both similar to the deadlift. If you're still not convinced on the importance of a strong core and functional movement, check out the research.

[00:07:23] One recent study of 433 firefighters revealed that injury rates were reduced by 42% through regimen of core strengthening and functional movement enhancement. Am I keeping a braced core? One way to see if your core is braced and neutral is with Kelly Start's two-hand rule. 1. Position your right-hand palm down in the center of your sternum. The sternum is the center of your ribcage.

[00:07:49] 2. Position your left hand, also palm down, at the top of your pelvic bone, which is 2-3 inches below your belly button. And 3. If both hands are parallel, your spine is in a neutral position. You just listened to the posts titled Weekly Cardio and Strength Sessions and What's Right for You and Strong to the Core, Where Movement Starts, both by Eric Lea of ericlea.com.

[00:08:19] And I'll be right back with my commentary. When was the last time you checked if your insurance still fits your needs? With Insurance Pro Agencies powered by VIU by Hub, find the right coverage in minutes. Visit topratedquotes.com or text RATES to 855-665-0829 to get personalized auto, homeowners, renters, condo,

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[00:09:14] Texting RATES means you will receive information and occasional promotional messages. Message and data rates may apply. You can reply STOP to opt out at any time. Überlass deine gesunde Ernährung und die Gains nicht nur deinem Bauchgefühl. Denn bei der Ernährung gaukelt uns unser innerer Schweinehund manchmal ganz schön was vor. Sag stattdessen Hallo zu deinem neuen Coach, Yasio. Yasio ist die meistgenutzte Ernährungs-App Europas, made in Germany. Egal ob Massephase oder ein bisschen Abnehmen.

[00:09:43] Tracke Kalorien, Proteine, Carbs, Fette, Bewegung und Intervallfasten. Und mit den Tasty-Rezepten bist du ready für deine Ziele. Let's go! So, lade die Yasio-App jetzt herunter. Dr. Neil here for my commentary. There was so much great advice that Eric shared with us in these two fantastic posts. But instead of me repeating some of this information, I want to focus on one thing. Something that I see folks doing wrong all the time in the gym. Eric mentioned that if you're going to do weightlifting or resistance training

[00:10:12] on the same day as you're doing cardio or in the same session, really, when you're at the gym, what you'd want to do is your weightlifting or resistance training first, then do your cardio after. And I see people doing this backwards in the gym all the time. They'll start with cardio, then they'll hit the weight room. You don't want to do that. I don't know if you've ever experienced this, but if you try, let's say, jogging a mile first and then go and try and do some push-ups.

[00:10:41] What you'll find is you won't be able to do as many push-ups as you normally could. Your body is already kind of wiped out. And without getting too deep in the weeds here, I don't want to make things too complicated for you, but this all has to do with how our body metabolizes fuel. What we're learning is if you do some resistance training or some weightlifting before your cardio, what you're going to do is you're going to burn off some of that really quick energy when you do that resistance training.

[00:11:10] Some of those fuel stores that are perfect for quick energy like our sugar stores. When we're doing cardio, we don't really use that system all that much. We don't use short-term fuel when we go jogging or bicycling or rowing, for example. Instead, our body likes to turn to more concentrated sources of fuel, like fat. So if you do your weightlifting first, you're going to burn off some of that short-term energy, that sugar, and then when you go hop on the treadmill afterwards or the bike or the rowing machine,

[00:11:40] you're actually going to force your body to turn to burning fat faster. It's pretty amazing. And what we're finding is you won't feel as fatigued when you hop on that treadmill or the bike after the resistance training. And that's, again, because your body is using a different energy system. Now, I usually recommend doing resistance training and cardio during the same session for more advanced folks, folks that have been active for a little while. I don't usually recommend it for beginners.

[00:12:08] But again, the advantage of doing resistance training first and then your cardio after would be the potential to burn more fat. All right, that'll do it for me for today. I hope you have a great rest of your day, and I'll see you back here tomorrow as usual, where your optimal life awaits. Thank you.