Reader question - "Is running with dumbbells a good workout?"

Let's start out the week with another great reader question. Thanks so much to those of you who are taking the time to send in your queries!

Hey Kim....

I read your blog post stating, "Dumbbells and Treadmills go hand in hand."
Can you actually use a small amount of weight (5-8 lbs) on the treadmill?
I've though of that so many times mainly because I wanted get a workout and run at the same time.

So again I ask..can one really have some 5-8 dumbbells and run (or walk fast) on the treadmills and it's ok?

Patrick

Thanks for the question, Patrick!
I'd love to clear up a little bit of the confusion...

When I said that dumbbells and treadmills go hand in hand, it was just a cute way of summarizing that strength training and cardiovascular work should both be used for fat loss. And I wanted to emphasize the point that strength training is essential for fat loss because so many people think that cardio is the best way to shed excess fat.

So, really, my confusing little anecdote was a shortened version of... "strength training and cardio need to both be used as training methods if you want to get results".
Make sense?

As far as grabbing little dumbbells while on the treadmill - I'm not a fan.

This is simply because:

a) 5, 8, or even 10 pound weights will do nothing for you. I don't know anything about your level of strength, your height/weight/ability/etc... but since you are a man, those piddly weights are way too light to give your muscles any challenge. Even without meeting you, there's no doubt in my mind about that.

b) There aren't very many high quality exercises that you can do while walking on a treadmill. I can think of bicep curls (waste of time), front raise or lateral raise (not the best shoulder exercises I can come up with), and maybe overhead press (but wouldn't you want to do that exercise while standing still so that you can lift as much as possible for the chosen rep range?)...

In my opinion, keep the weights separate from the cardio.


OR!!


Make a cardio/metabolic workout out of your weight training!

• Link some bodyweight exercises together and perform your reps in circuit fashion with no rest in between

• Put some dumbbell/barbell/kettlebell/bodyweight exercises back-to-back and do each exercise as much as possible for a specified amount of time before immediately moving onto the next.

• Perform intervals with bodyweight exercises... for example, do pushups for an intense exercise (as many as you can in 20-30 seconds), then do jumping jacks for an easy exercise (or for "active rest")... and keep alternating between the intense and the active rest for a certain number of rounds.
  

Those are just some basic ideas as to how one might perform a weight training workout in a metabolic way. In other words, any of these general examples will provide you a really great source of resistance training AND cardio together! Hope that helps :)


Good luck!
Kim


**Remember!! Any other fitness/nutrition questions can be directed to kim@deliberatemovement.com