new year, new workout..

daithi1970

Hi all,

The new year is nearly upon us, and I want to start a new training programme.. my goals are twofold: Lose the belly and lovehandles( I know, me and everybody else!) and break 20 mins for 5k - pb is 22'18 at the minute.

I have been doing purely cardio- HIIT with a steady state cardio for recovery, but I would be interested in adding weights to my routine. My preference would be for free weights, but I havent a clue where to start. I have a gym membership and have access to free and machine weights, but the advice coming from the instructors there has been minimal, at best..

I have 2 questions:
1. Should I do cardio in conjunction with a weights programme or keep them separate?
2. Should I do more weights and less cardio ( I am doing 75 mins, 3-4 times/week of cardio at the minute).

Thanks in advance for any advice offered, and happy new year to all on Boards,

daithi

RayCun

Are you running at all? You should do some more of that

daithi1970

Hi

My HIIT consists of alternating 1 min runs of 10 and 15kph on a treadmill at an incline of 1% for a period of 18-20 mins at the minute. There are no safe roads near me for running after dark-a combination of no lights,no footpaths and heavy traffic, so all my winter running is treadmill based..when there's a stretch in the evenings, i usually run a steady state 5-8km every other day. I suppose im just wondering what level of weight training to incorporate into a new programme for the new year, and specifically for the next few dark months..

daithi

RayCun

You'll get more advice on weight training from the Fitness forum if that's something you want to do, but weights aren't necessary for losing weight or improving your 5k time. If you want to be a better runner the best thing you can do is run more.
How many days a week do you run now? Do you do the minute on/off every day?

daithi1970

Hi
I am doing the hiit every other day,but am going to try to do other cardio (exercise bike at home) or bodyweight training on the days in between, if my willpower holds up, that is:p
cheers,
daithi

RayCun

To be honest, it sounds like you want a general fitness programme rather than a running training plan. 3 days of HIIT, exercise bike, bodyweight training - that's not how you train to be faster in a 5k race.
If the 5k is your goal, then you should concentrate on running as many of those exercise days as possible, most of those runs at an easy pace, and once or twice a week do something faster. Not minute on/minute off every time, but 10 x 2 minutes, 5 x 4 minutes, 2 x 10 minutes. You won't be able to run those intervals at 15kph at first, but try to get them all at the same pace, and work towards that speed.

daithi1970

..at the risk of sounding dumb..when you say 10x2 do you mean ten intervals of 2 mins at desired race pace,followed by a rest interval?
cheers,

daithi

RayCun

Yeah, that's it. You might not be able to do those intervals at race pace yet. If you're doing 5 x 4 minutes, you should at whatever speed you can maintain for all 5 intervals, rather than running at race pace for the first three and dropping off a lot in the last two.
if there's a running club near you, join them for your faster running sessions, it's much better than running on your own.