Workout Timing and Work Schedule

[Tristan Matthews]

I am 24yrs old, 5 8 and 165lbs at about 11% bf. I have ben working out hard for about three years now and Have my first "real" job. Unfortunatley it is affecting my workouts. I have read that doing cardio and working out at the same visit is counter productive. I am looking for advice on how to structure my workouts during the week. I have to be at work at 5:30am most days and cannot get to the gym until about 5pm at night.

My workout splits are:
m - shoulders
t - back
w - legs
r - day off
f - chest
sa - arms
su - day off

I do cardio 3 or four days a week

Diet is very good, could inprove a little, I am basically following the cutting "sticky"

Any suggestions would be a help. Thanks

[doby48]

You could do a few different splits...

1) Cardio before work, Lifting right after work
2) Cardio on lunch break, lifting after work
3) Cardio right after work, lifting later at night (although since you start work early you probably won't have enought time to do this with enough rest between)

If you can only make it to the gym once a day, you will still get a lot of the benefits of both lifting and Cardio but you are better off to do your lifting first followed by your cardio so you are not fatigued for lifting. On Saturday being arms day you can do your cardio in the morning and go back the the gym later for your lifting.

My split is a bit different as I like to do bis/tris on different days and I like to have two leg days so I do the follow:
MON - Chest/Tris
TUE - Quads/Abs
WED - Rest
THU - Back/Bis
FRI - Shoulders/Hams
SAT - HIIT
SUN - Rest

I do cardio on M-Tu-Th-F, sometimes I skip cardio on FRI as I do HIIT on Saturday for a few hours. However, I am a cyclist so my routine of legs 2x a week doesn't work for a lot of people.

[Tristan Matthews]

I like the w/o split, im going to stick to one leg day a week though. I have also read that there are a lot of disadvantages to doing cardio and weights in the same visit but thanks for the advice

[seanw]

This is what I do

MON - Chest/Bis
TUE - Shoulders
WED - Cardio
THU - Back/Tris
FRI - Legs
SAT - Cardio
SUN - Cardio

[Tristan Matthews]

seems to me a lot of you like to work bi's and tri's with bigger bidy parts. any feedback on how your arm workouts are after doing another workout first

[AandF6969]

IMO cardio not done on an empty stomach in the AM is worthless... youre burning calories from the meal you ate, essentially skipping a meal which is horrible for muscle maintenance/growth.

[Tristan Matthews]

that is what the majority opinion is, as for w/o splits any opinions on working bi's and tri's with other body parts.....if i did that then i could cut down to 2 days lifting(pm) and cardio(in am) two days just cardio and a day of rest.....

[justin2305]

seems to me a lot of you like to work bi's and tri's with bigger bidy parts. any feedback on how your arm workouts are after doing another workout first

i do chest/tri back/bi in my workout and normally ill do the bigger body part first then the tri or the bi but considering this i dont do my tris or my bis to 100% that day ill just get somthing in like 2 maybe 3 different exercises for my arms that day and then at the end of the week ill have just an arm day but if u want to actually work that arm group out the day of the big mucsle u could just swap chest tri chest tri etc. same with back/bis ive done that befor but i dont like it just cuz i want to consintrat on that big mucsle group the most while in the gym that day good luck with ur workouts and grats on landing ur first real job now life starts LOL

[xenithon]

IMO cardio not done on an empty stomach in the AM is worthless

Sorry, but I think that is totally incorrect. Everyone is different, and I know many people who compete, and do so without having to do AM cardio. Saying anything else is useless is like saying if you don't squat you may as well not work legs at all; if you don't deadlift you may as well skip back altogether.

Of course AM cardio works and is very effective when done right (ie. caloric intake enable it without major catabolism and muscle loss) but it is most definitely NOT the only useful form.

X

[AandF6969]

IMO cardio not done on an empty stomach in the AM is worthless... youre burning calories from the meal you ate, essentially skipping a meal which is horrible for muscle maintenance/growth.

IMO = "In my opinion"