# How many days a week?



## Cinder (Feb 20, 2011)

I was wondering how many days a week I should do cardio and how many days a week I should do strength training/yoga and similar. I know you're supposed to have a rest day but other than that, what should I be shooting for?

I will admit that I generally prefer cardio over strength building exercises. Not because I think it's better but just because I like it better. I also prefer jogging/running over most other cardio exercises. 

The reason I ask is because I've been having trouble finding a happy medium. I've plateaued (weight loss) so I figured I should be getting more exercise, but I've been running on sidewalks and I've been getting pain in my legs and sometimes my ankles. Nothing intolerable but just enough to be annoying. 

What do you guys think? Any help would be appreciated.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

I always do cardio 3 times a week and then I do yoga/pilates stretching and muscle toning every other day.


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## Roperchick (Feb 1, 2010)

well army wise we do pt at least 5 times a week. we switch every day between Cardio/muscle failure (so your muscle toning.yoda) not really a set thing, one run day we do distance, one we do sprints, and if we have a third well do things like swimming or Insanity.
then the muscle failure days we switch and do upper body (arms/shoulders back) one day an then lower body (abs and legs) the next.

if running on sidewalks/concrete hurts, try an eliptical (if you have one or access to one) or a bike. 

i usually do 6 days of PT (just to keep it even)


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## BarrelWannabe (Feb 8, 2011)

Op, HOW are you running? Are you landing midfoot and bringing your leg up in the direction of your hamstrings? What kind of arch do you have to your foot?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Running is now a science? Tell us more..!


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## Cinder (Feb 20, 2011)

> Op, HOW are you running? Are you landing midfoot and bringing your leg up in the direction of your hamstrings? What kind of arch do you have to your foot?


I try to make an effort to land midfoot as I heard landing on your heels is bad. 

I don't think I bring my leg up in the direction of my hamstrings, should I start doing that? 

I've researched a bit about arches and can't decide if I have high or normal arches. Here's a picture: 

(I apologize in advance for my ugly foot :lol: This is my left foot if that makes a difference, and the angle of the photo was weird so I rotated the photo 90 degrees):


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Wait.. pain in legs and ankles? (Sorry didn't see that before)

What part of your legs? You may need inserts. Do you slam your foot down when you run or are you light on your feet?


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## BarrelWannabe (Feb 8, 2011)

Its not necessarily a science, but a form. If you have a vertical posture, land midfoot directly under your body and bring your legs toward your hamstrings, you use less energy. If you land with your heel and use the ball of your foot, not only is it hard on your ankle, but you use more energy by allowing yourself to lean forward and having to use your legs to drive yourself forward rather than maintaining horizontal momentum. Also if you swing your legs out rather than "pulling" them upward, that increases the energy needed to maintain your pace.

The arch in your foot applies to how your ankle and heel fall when running. If you have flat feet, or little to no arch, your feet will pronate inward and can cause discomfort or injury to the feet and ankles and impair your running stride.
If you have high arches, your feet and ankles pronate outward and can cause injury and affect your stride. 

I asked that, because depending on the OP's arch in her foot, she may not have the correct support for her feet. Also try some hips strengthening exercises and stretches. A lot of problems that runners encounter stem from hips that aren't as strong as the legs.

Edit: It looks like you might have a slightly high arch but you can either Google pictures of a high arched foot, or find a reputable sports goods store/athletic shoe store and a salesman should be able to assess your foot and help you find a shoe that is both correctly fitted and comfortable.

As for the leg pain, are you stretching and allowing your legs to warm up? I would do a really good 5 minute stretch for each leg and a warm up of increasing speed for another ten. 
Remember, warm up, peak performance, cool down. The warm up and cool down are very important parts of a workout. Without either, sustaining an injury is at a far great percentage than with w/u, c/d.


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## Cinder (Feb 20, 2011)

> Wait.. pain in legs and ankles? (Sorry didn't see that before)
> 
> What part of your legs? You may need inserts. Do you slam your foot down when you run or are you light on your feet?


It radiates from my knees all the way down to my ankles. Most of the time it's just an ache kind of thing, but I ran at about 4 pm (doing much less than usual) and then VERY lightly with the dog again at 8pm. My legs were hurting when I was coming home from my twenty minute walk/run at 4 pm and were feeling better by 8, but they still hurt now.

There's been a few times where it _really_ hurt but I just waited and it went away. 

I've never had this problem before, either. 

I'm not really sure about that...I just kind of run how I run? I'm used to it. But I wouldn't say that I'm light on my feet, I guess I might slam them down possibly.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Alright that makes sense.

I think it's probably straining your leg muscles. Do you do any sort of warmup before you go running?


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## Cinder (Feb 20, 2011)

> Alright that makes sense.
> 
> I think it's probably straining your leg muscles. Do you do any sort of warmup before you go running?


I try to walk for three-five minutes before I run, that's it.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

If I were you I would stretch slowly before running or any other exercises. It truly makes a difference. I get a lot less achey and better results when I have a nice stretching warmup. Slow and drawn out so your muscles have time to open up and stretch out.


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## Cinder (Feb 20, 2011)

> If I were you I would stretch slowly before running or any other exercises. It truly makes a difference. I get a lot less achey and better results when I have a nice stretching warmup. Slow and drawn out so your muscles have time to open up and stretch out.


Okay, I'll do that from now on. I didn't think it would make a difference but hearing that, I think it could definitely help.


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## Roperchick (Feb 1, 2010)

the thing about stretching...you dont reallly want to "stretch" your muscles before because thats what leads to muscle failure. so the best thing to do is a warm up. jog in place for a few minutes do a few lunges just to limber up.


as for the pain is it more muscle pain or bone pain? muscle pain could just be sore muscles from working out....bone pain sounds like shin splints...if its bone pain i would suggest you do an alternative cardio for a few weeks and see if the pain lessens.


oh and P.S. i good thing to do before running...google Army. PRT Preperation drills. they do a good job of warming up all your muscles. abdominals, shoulders, legs, etc. 
running is a full body thing besides what people think. you use alot of core muscles (abs) and arm/shoulder muscles running as well so its good to get a full body warmup


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Roperchick said:


> the thing about stretching...you dont reallly want to "stretch" your muscles before because thats what leads to muscle failure. so the best thing to do is a warm up. jog in place for a few minutes do a few lunges just to limber up.


Really? I know if you do it wrong then you can hurt your muscles more than help them.


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## Roperchick (Feb 1, 2010)

idk. its what our squad leader told us. hes a huge work out buff and he said if you do alot of stretching before a run its actuallly worse for you...so doing things like jog in place, or the preperation drills we do for PRT is better....


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## Tennessee (Dec 7, 2008)

What my Petty Officers have us do is VERY light stretching before we run to get our blood flowing and open up the joints a little. But honestly, the majority of our stretching is done after our PT session.


As for me, I run everyday (I know you are supposed to have a rest day, but I'm getting ready for bootcamp here people...I gotta work hard) with one day being a very light day, and do strength every other day.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Roperchick said:


> idk. its what our squad leader told us. hes a huge work out buff and he said if you do alot of stretching before a run its actuallly worse for you...so doing things like jog in place, or the preperation drills we do for PRT is better....





Tennessee said:


> What my Petty Officers have us do is VERY light stretching before we run to get our blood flowing and open up the joints a little. But honestly, the majority of our stretching is done after our PT session.


Yeah that's what I do, Tennessee..

I've been told stretching is bad but from my experience it truly helps me. It helps to loosen my lower back muscles before I work them. If I don't stretch then it really strains them.

I do it very slowly and stay stretched for long periods of time. 

Just with everything you do to your body, be careful.


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## Roperchick (Feb 1, 2010)

there like a fine line between over stretching and limbering up. you dont want to just walk outside and start out cold but if you do too much stretching youll be doing moe harm than good.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Yep I can agree with that!  Sorry I'm pretty stubborn ahaha


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## Cinder (Feb 20, 2011)

Thanks for your replies, everyone!

I've tried what you've suggested and I now ache a lot less after I run.


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## chasingfireflies (Jul 27, 2012)

When I started running I went to a running shoe store where they gave me feedback on my running form and then suggested shoes to help. It turns out I was landing on the outside of my foot which was causing strain in my knees. I bought some shoes they recommended after trying on about 10 pair and then they gave me a few running tips. It was priceless. I 'only' spent $115.oo on my running shoes (which I only wear to run) and it's made all the difference since. It wasn't scientific by any means...but I have to say the right shoes made a difference for me. Just a thought if you haven't tried that yet.


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## CowboysDream (Nov 12, 2011)

I am not sure if you mentioned whether you do long distance or sprints. But if you plateau'd perhaps you could try some HIIT. I heard a lot of people getting over their plateau's with this.

How to Lose Fat with Cardio: Long Duration Cardio vs HIIT | StrongLifts.com this is a pretty good link. It describes what I mean by HIIT and the pros and cons of long duration running vs HIIT


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

Jogging (based on 40 years of it): I know some people swear by stretching first. If I stretch first, I set myself up for injury. Most of the studies I've seen indicate that stretching before a jog increases the chance of injury for the majority of people. Stretching after a run usually is considered better.

For me, I find riding a horse after jogging stretches me out better than any stretches I've ever tried.

When my knees start to ache, it usually means it is time for new shoes. I've been using Nike Air Pegasus since they were just Nike Pegasus. You can sometimes find someone in a sports store who will give good advice, but you also sometimes run into someone who will recommend whatever shoe it is the store needs to get rid of...

I figured it out backwards. After trying a variety of shoes, I found I did well with the Pegasus - and that told me what type of shoe I need.

Stride: Find a grassy place where you can run barefoot. Run barefoot. After a few minutes, you'll be running in the way that minimizes impact damage to your body. If my knees ache & my shoes are OK, then it means I've been trying to go faster than my body is ready for. That changes my stride (longer and more force). After a horse related injury, I've gone 3 years without jogging and am now trying to get back in shape at 54. The 6 minute mile I could do at 49 is now more like an 8 minute mile. But if I try to improve too quickly, my joints will get hurt. I don't know if I will ever get back to a 6 minute mile, but I'd bet IN TIME I can get down to around 6:30. Listen to your body.

Strength training: Good stuff, but it is easy to push too far too fast. I've tried gyms. I've tried weight sets.

I'm past the age of attracting girls by flexing my biceps. Heck, even if they came, I wouldn't know what to do with them! I'm more interested in strength training as a way to be ready to do work or sports. For me, lower weights and higher repetitions gives me better fitness than heavy weights. Push-ups, dips, pull-ups, crunches - OK, I don't do crunches because I *hate* them - but you get the idea...you can do a lot with almost no equipment.

I've tried using heavy weights in the past, but I found it far too easy to injure myself. Weight machines help reduce injuries, but they don't prepare you well for real world sports & work.

How often? Listen to your body. Age plays a big role. In your teens, twice a day may be possible. In your 30s, daily - at least, I know I was able to run 6+ times a week without problem. In my 50s, it is more like every other day. From what I've read, a lot of guys in their 70s find they do better (run faster, lift more) if they limit themselves to 2/week.

Exercise for weight loss: It helps, but it isn't a cure all. I've struggled with fat my entire life. I've concluded that I will never look like Arnold in his prime. I'll never have 6-pack abs. I suppose I could, but it would require a level of dieting combined with a level of exercise that just isn't worth it to me.

Three years without running has run my weight up to 180. It is starting to come down. I suspect I can get back down to 165 without fanaticism. It will take at least a year, but I think i can get there. Beyond that, I would have to behave in ways that would have negative impact on the rest of my life. I figure at 54 I ought to be able to eat some ice cream once in a while. About 1/month, my family likes to go out to eat - and I want to go with them. It boils down to figuring out the right balance for your life and goals, and then accepting yourself as you are at that point.

All IMHO. Good luck as you press on!


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## Cinder (Feb 20, 2011)

Thanks for the post bsms, all good advice and good input!


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