Cardio and Protein

[spook mma]

hi everyone, new member, wanted to say great forum. you really can find a discussion forum on just about anything these days. anyhow, i had a question regarding cardio training and protein whey. currently i lift weights on thurs. and saturdays, and i follow up both of those sessions with about 25 minutes of swimming. after doing a lil research, im hearing that it's much more productive to do my cardio work on off days. my question is

1) does it make much of a difference? (i have read that it will impede muscle growth and possibly increase recovery time)

2) if i were to make cardio a seperate day, when should i take a protein supplement? should it be before cardio or after, or both?

3) what category of exercise would my ma classes fall under? when should i take protein on these days, and would it be bad to do cardio on these days?

 

[Zepp]

I can't tell you much about protein supplements, but conventional wisdom seems to be that you should alternate days with cardio and weight training workouts (at least with all the health nuts/martial artists that I know). When I do weight training (I've been meaning to get back to it) that's what I do, and it seems more effective than when I was lifting weights right after aerobic/cardio workouts.

By more effective, I mean that my strength improved faster when I alternated.

Is it a bad thing to take those protein supplements every day?

 

[Wmarden]

protein supplements are not a problem except in rare cases. But if you are getting enough food, they are probably not needed either.

As for the cardio, if you must do them on the same day, it is wisest to do the cardio last, or at least later than your primary weight session.

1. Properly applied cardio can enhance recovery. Look at what louie simmons does.

2. I mainly use protein supplements as a meal replacement or for times like during work when a decent meal is hard to get.(basically I just repeated myself) So timing is indifferent. Though I would reccomend after.

3. Martial arts classes have a variety of aerobic and anerobic demands, so the answer is it depends on the art.

 

[spook mma]

thanks for the quick replies! yeah, i guess my greatest cause for confusion is all the contradicting info that is out there. i guess ill just experiment and see what works for me best as far as cardio and lifting on seperate days goes. how can i figure out if my MA classes are more anaerobic or aerobic? one of my classes tends to really have me huffin' and puffin' from playing 'elbow tag', but we also do a lot of pad kicking, which i guess would be considered anaerobic?? also, does anyone have a good book or mag to recommend about supplementing ma training with weight training?

 

[Elfan]

Whatever you find is best for you with regaurds to weightraining is best for you regaurdless of MA training. You don't have to do a "special" routine just because you practice martial arts.

 

[ECYili]

I was trainning for triathalons and the program I was following had cardio and weightlifting together just about every day. Just like Wmarden I used protein supplements only when I couldn't get a decent meal or on days I really pushed myself and needed the extra protein for recovery.

 

[Kope]

Doing cardio after lifting is the BEST way to burn fat, as your glycogen stores are depleated and you go into fat burn mode MUCH faster than if you do it on your off days.

It can make recovery a little slower . . but if you're only lifting 2 days a week that's not too big a deal.

If you're really concerned about size and not general fitness, then drop the cardio completely, and 1 more day of lifting, and go into serious single sets of 5-8 reps of 80%+ your single max lift. Work Chest/tri's one day, back/bi's the next, and legs/shoulders the third day. Up the protein in your diet to 50% or more, drop all empty carbs and saturated fats. Do that for 3-4 months and then start doing cardio.

If size isn't as important to you as general fitness (nad in my oppinion, a martial artist shouldn't give a rats behind one way or the other, but that's just me), then keep doing the cardio after your lifting days, as it will do the most for your lean body mass.