Advice about cardio routine?

C

chibwack

0
Hey, over the last year I've gained a decent amount of weight into my belly, and need to get rid of it as soon as I get back to university at the end of this week. a friend gave me an idea of a routine I should try to follow, what do you think?

M/W/F:
Stretch
Weights for 30-45 Minutes
Stretch
Interval Cardio (30 minutes minimum)
3 Minutes Fast Walk
One Minute Slow Jog
One Minute Fast Run (Sprint when in better shape)
One Minute Slow Jog
One Minute Walk
Repeat 5x
One minute cool down
Stretch

I've already got a diet all layed out for once I get away from mom's cooking for the last time lol. but I'm mostly just wondering if this interval training might be too much to do every day as opposed to the 3/week I'm thinking of right now. for some reason I've always had it in my head that I need to work out 5x a week for quickest results despite the common knowledge that rest is needed. is cardio the same as weight training in that way? I want to build muscle as well, but the belly is first priority right now. I've never had one hang over my belt until about 4 months ago and I hate it!
 
You need to warm up before doing weights, stretching before exercise is not worth the hassel IMO (but if it helps you, stick with it). You do need to warm up before stretching though.

Mild cardio like jogging for 10 mins, 10 mins on the bike or similar is a fair enough warm up, ideally 20 mins = warm up, then do your weights.

Your interval stuff seems fine, very quick workut though- have you thought about doing more? you could benefit from doing more then running, its a small workout but again, if it works for you stick with it. Interval training is fine to do every day if the above is all your doing. I would advise at least one rest day a week though with any form of exercise bar walking.
If you were spending an hour or more working out on cardio I'd say take 2 rest days a week, if you were doing 2 hours a day I'd say every other day (2-3 rest days a week). If you feel you need more rest, take more rest.

If you feel fatigued alot, take more rest days- its your body and you know it best. If your new to exercise you will get tierd early on, don't worry, you will improve and be able to take on more as you workout more. Listen to your body not your head, work out when enough is enough. It can be hard at times to confuse boredom with fatigue- keep your workouts new and fresh to help prevent this happening. In addition to various gym machines there are classes, marathons or charity runs/cycles or even triathelete competitions you could sign up for.
 
Thanks that helps alot. I put the stretching in mostly because I'm one of those guys who gets stiff very quickly if I don't. At the moment I can barely grab my ankles for example. But anyways, I'm thinking then that maybe I'll put in something like 15 or 20 minutes on the treadmill before the weights, and then carry on as planned.
As far as the weight lifting goes, the 30-45 was just a guess, it really depends how the workout goes I guess. After a couple weeks I'll maybe switch from 3 to 4 days and put a little split routine in that part or something.
Thanks for the advice!
 
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