Depending on your goals and your body type, the answers to all these questions will be different and ever changing. There is much science to back up the answers to these questions that I will save for a later day. The focus at hand, instead, is the importance of lifting heavy no matter your goals. Of course the volume of heavy lifting will change based on your goals, but it should be included at one point or another.
I personally try to lift heavy about once a week, making sure to hit my major muscle groups of legs, back, chest, and core. Lifting heavy will rev up your metabolism, strengthen connective tissue, and provide your body the opportunity for progression (just to name a few).
I like to include a HIIT series at the end of this workout to increase my heart rate up and burn some extra calories. If you have the time and are feeling like a champ, try the BONUS HIIT too!
"Lift HEAVY" workout:
5 minute warm up
- Perform the first set as a warm up set at about 60-80% of the weight you are going to use for your heavier 3 sets.
- Perform 12-15 reps on the first set and then increase the weight and do 8-10 reps on the remaining 3 sets.
- Perform the 2 exercises listed back to back with little rest in between.
Barbell Squat
DB Bench press
Lat Pulldown
Barbell Deadlift
Incline DB Bench
Decline weigted situp
Bent over Barbell Row
Decline leg raises
1 leg spasov squat
DB bicep curl to shoulder press
4 minute HIIT- Burpees with a jump (no pushup)
8 rounds of: 20 seconds on, 10 second recover
BONUS
4 minute HIIT- Squat Jacks
8 rounds of: 20 seconds on, 10 second recover
Now Enjoy the Swoll!
This is a great question; so many people wonder this same thing. From what I have studied, as a general rule it is best to do your weight lifting first before cardio. The argument for this is mainly due to the energy pathways we use for these different exercises. Weight lifting mostly use the ATP-CP system. This system supplies about 10 seconds of energy. Beyond that amount of time our body will then move into anaerobic metabolism or glycolysis to produce energy. Anaerobic metabolism or glycolysis will only last for a couple minutes. Any exercise going longer than that needs oxygen to make energy, requiring our aerobic energy system. For this reason it is best to weight lift first. If we do cardio first, we exhaust those other two systems (ATP-PC & anaerobic/glycolysis), which we use during weight lifting. They need to be fresh in order to provide a better opportunity for muscle growth. So to sum it up, weight lifting first before doing cardio will increase your muscle growth and workout intensity, thus increasing your calorie burn and boosting your metabolism.
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