Scooby

I've been trainign for a couple of months and find that I'm exercising around 5-6 times per week. My objective to be very fit with a good physique, similar to that of an army physical training instructor.

I need advice on splits / routine, together with recommendation on whether
anyone follows a heavy cardio training and weight training routing.
(all routing preceeded by warm up and stretch)

I was doing
day 1 - 40 minutes cardio + 50 minutes upper body WT (weight training)
day 2 - 40 minutes cardio + 50 minutes upper lower WT (weight training)
day 3 - 50 minutes cardio
day 4 - no training
day 5 - 40 minutes cardio + 50 minutes upper body WT (weight training)
day 6 - 40 minutes cardio + 50 minutes upper lower WT (weight training)
day 7 - 50 minutes cardio

but found that I was getting very drained and was not improving much on strength.
so I changed to
(all preceded by 5 minute warmup and stretch)
day 1 - 40 minutes WT (upper body) + 10 mins warm down
day 2 - 40 minutes WT (lower body) + 20 mins cardio
day 3 - 45-50 minutes cardio
day 4 off
day 5 - 40 minutes WT (upper body) + 20 mins cardio
day 6 - 40 minutes WT (lower body) + 10 minutes warm down
day 7 - 45-50 minutes cardio

My strength is increasing but my cardio performance doesn't appear to be getting any better. I'm training around 5-7 pm.

Other
==========
Eating 3-4 times/day, nothing after 8pm.
Diet = Low glycemic index foods / balanced / plenty of protein and healthy oils/vegetables
Some complex carbs / wholegrain cerials / fruit
Proteins taken = egg whites / grillen chicken breast / oily fish / skimmed milk / some red meat (limited quantity).
Liquids=Milk, and lots of filtered water.
Sleep 8 hours
Stress = low


My work is flexible and I was considering spliting the routines into WT 4 times per week and Cardio 4 times per week but at different times.
Has anyone had success combining good cardio vasucular and weight training ?
I seem to remember that Phil Hill, (from 20 years ago) used to do both but haven't got any old mags on his routine.

Any suggestions appreicated
Shane

ONE SMART COOKIE

Drop the cardio(shock horror )

Use the german volume approach 10sets 10 reps,training upperbody one day then lower the next then have 1-2 days off and repeat,pick one exercise per bodypart,do a set then have 5-10 deep breaths then next set,breaths,set and continue till all 10 sets are done,have 2 mins rest between exercises then hit the next bodypart,you should aim to finish a workout in 30-40 mins,use the same weight for all sets and you should not be able to do all 10 reps by about set 5 when you can up the weight.do for no more than 3-4 weeks then take a full week off and repeat,you`ll know you`ve had a workout because by the end of it you`ll be breathing like a freight train and heart rate will be through the roof.

hackskii

Yah bro drop the cardio for now, sounds like you are overtraining.
When ever you feel tired all the time and you are not getting stronger, this is a good indication of overtraining.