Posted on 23rd Nov 2009 @ 11:55 PM

This seems like a fairly simple question, but it has a very complex answer due to its ambiguous nature. The first aspect to take into account is the goal of the individual whether it be building muscle or Fat Loss. Those trying to lose fat may be restricted from certain cardio activities due to the shape they’re in. For building muscle, the individual’s goals again determine the proper course of action. A bodybuilder or powerlifter will perform different exercises than an athlete on a team will.

Someone trying to lose fat

Cardio is very important here, but not the trudging along on the treadmill or bike at the same pace for hours type of cardio. To burn fat more efficiently and reap more cardio vascular benefits go with an interval workout. This incorporates alternating between a hard pace and a normal pace, taking your body out of its comfort zone and leaving one with a heightened metabolism for many more hours than keeping the same normal pace throughout. The workout can also be done in a shorter amount of time with intervals. There are many articles out there regarding HIIT.

My favorite cardio exercise is swimming because it engages all the muscles in the body when using the four strokes – freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly. Swimming is the ultimate full body workout that melts fat right off the body and gives great tone and definition to muscles. There is also little to no impact on joints, so those that suffer from sore knees from running have an even better alternative.

Now it’s time for the lifters

As I stated previously, team sport athletes will need different exercises to maximize their performance than other lifters. This will vary from sport to sport and even by position. For bodybuilders, you cannot give a blanket statement on what the best exercise is for them to perform because you have a strong point in your workout and unless you are Jay Cutler, you have a weakness in your physique that needs to be addressed. If the “best exercise” targets your best muscle group, then it’s tough luck improving your weakness.

This is why the best exercise needs to be broken down to muscle group. A few of these are obvious such as the best for deltoids is the shrug, best for legs is the squat, deadlift rules for the back and for shoulders, presses like the Arnold press work best. As far as chest goes, most would say that the bench press is the hands down winner, but I disagree. I prefer pushups because of the versatility they offer with all of the variations that exist to target different parts of the chest and keep your workout fresh. We all know there are tons of different curls to work on biceps, but the variation that makes the most sense to perform is the standing barbell curl. This is the most functional curl out there because if you are going to be required to lift something in daily life, this motion most closely emulates what you will be doing.

My favorite exercise for triceps is the dumbbell extension on a bench. This really isolates the triceps and doing it with dumbbells throws another element into the mix by making the muscles stabilize as well. If you are looking for a great compound exercise to work multiple muscle groups the best are the dumbbell squat with a curl to an overhead press or a squat followed by a clean and press. The drawback to these is not being able to use as much weight as normal for the squat, but doing them slowly will provide a good challenge.

Lifting is better suited for the afternoon however. If you are pushing yourself hard in the gym, you’ll be pretty tired after lifting and not really feel like doing a whole lot afterwards, so doing this in the morning handicaps the rest of your day. Lifting in the afternoon beats lifting at night because it gives more adequate time to feed your muscles by having a carb/protein meal right after and then more protein a few hours later.

When is the best time to do cardio?

Luckily, this is an easier question to answer. Doing cardio in the morning is best because most people have more energy for it then, you can enjoy the higher metabolism during the rest of the day, and I always feel better after cardio so doing it in the morning makes me feel better the rest of the day. Cardio in the morning is great for someone trying to lose weight because fat stores are most susceptible now because little to no eating has taken place early in the morning so glycogen levels are low. Getting it done early also removes the chance of making up excuses for not doing it later.