Help with workout routine: All at once or spread out over the day?

[toadstool]

Let's say I work out 2.5 hours a day. Of that time, it's like this:

45-60 minutes of moderate to intense cardio

30-45 minutes of strength training (different body parts on different days, so I do entire body once each week)

20-30 minutes of stretching/yoga

20 minutes of karate practice


I am not training for a particular event (so my cardio doesn't have to come first), though I do kind of like to alternate. Some days I do weight lifting first, so I'm fresh... other days I do cardio first... it also depends on which body part I am concentrating on that day and how I am doing my cardio (elliptical, running, biking, etc.).

How would you split this up? Would you do it all at once? (I have a home gym, so commute to gym is non-issue.) Or would you break it up throughout the day... say, cardio in morning, stretching in afternoon, and weights in evening?

All at once is a lot more convenient... I always feel the need to shower after I workout.... plus it would avoid multiple warm-ups and cool-downs. On the other hand... seems like doing it all at once is a set-up for injury. Any thoughts? Thanks!!

[GTChick01]

Personally I prefer splitting mine up. I get up and do cardio from 6:00-7:00am and then go back to the gym at night (5:30-6:30pm) to do weights. Yeah it's a pain in the butt to take 2 showers, but I fill like I'm getting a complete workout by splitting them up. Otherwise I'm usually too tired to complete both at the same time. Plus, working out in the AM helps to jump start your metabolism.

[Blue Plastic Straw]

Pretty much all sports scientists agree that workouts should be performed in the following order:
1. Coordination/skills
2. Speed
3. Strength
4. Endurance

If you can handle it, you should do it all at once, karate first, then weights, then cardio with yoga/stretching as a cool-down. As long as you're physically fit enough to handle a 2.5 hour workout, there isn't any reason not to do it all at once.

[zoebird]

for m e, it depends upon focus.

ok, for instance, my husband's focus is gaining lean muscle mass. so, his focus is weight training. he does his weights first (after a 10 minute cardio workout), and then he does his running after (30-45 minutes depending upon the day, his particular energy levels, the difficulty of his weight training work out that day, etc), and then after that, he does about 15-20 minutes of yoga. Since the focus is lean muscle, he does muscle first, then leanness via cardio, then stretching/yoga to support overall balance, flexibility, and health.

in my case, i focus on yoga. so, any cardio or weights that i do, i do for the purpose of fun/look/leanness. i spread mine out throughout the day, because i can. The only thing that i go 'full out' on is yoga--the rest is about 80%.

so, for me it works like this: 30 minutes moderate cardio--30 minutes yoga. later on, more yoga, and then later on, maybe more cardio, but then definately yoga after. on weights days, i do weights (30 minutes), cardio (30 minutes), and then supportive yoga (to stretch out and balance)--about 15-30 minutes. then, latter in the day i'll do more yoga to work on yoga.

so, it really depends upon what you want. If you want to emphasize lean-ness,c ardio vascular health, etc, then focus on cardio. If you want to emphasize muscle development and strength, then focus on weights. If you want to focus on flexibility and and muscle balance (and cardio too, actually), then focus on yoga.

up to you--whatever you want! :)