The frequency of your workouts depends both on what you want to get out of the training and the intensity of your training.

If your interest is in developing lean muscle, you would probably train with lighter weights more frequently. Bulking up will require a more intense workout using higher weights

Four days a week with a rest day is reasonable since you're thinking of alternating your upper and lower body. But listen to your body. If you find yourself unable to lift what you were lifting in earlier workouts, then you're overtraining and need to take a few days off and let your muscles recover. Overtraining means you're breaking down muscles faster than they're building. It's perfectly all right to lower your routine to three or even two days a week if that's what it takes to let your muscles recover.

You should do cardio at least 3 times a week. Just as with weight training, how often you need to do it depends on what you do. You should change up regular cardio (a 5-mile run for instance) with longer cardio (an 8-mile run on the weekend) and short intense bursts (add in a little speedwork).

The citation below is recommended by a Mahalo user.

Source(s):
http://www.menshealth.com/powertraining/php/3day-pp-week1.php

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I am about your same height and I do quite a bit of lifting. I play football, wrestling and throw for track. For all I have to lift. What I find works best is one day of upper body and one day of lower body, but then every week, change it and do upper body and lower body in one day. This will give your body new challenges and will increase muscle gain.
When lifting, you want to make sure to challenge yourself as much as possible because that is the only way to gain muscle.
As far as cardio goes, you want to make sure to every day. Once to twice a day works great. If you are only able to do cardio once a day, try and do it in the morning because you will burn the most fat(I am assuming that that is what you are aiming for, that and muscle gain).  Make sure to take a day off. hile you are lifting, make  sure to eat and maximize protein intake.


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When you weight train, you are actually breaking down the fibers in your muscles. These "torn" fibers need time to repair so as to grow in size and strength (hence how muscles form). Rest is pivotal so you don't want to overdo it. I would say that 3-4 times a week is ample time to work on weight training. ALWAYS allow a day for recuperation. Alternating is a great idea! You work your back muscles one day you can do arm muscles the next. Switching back and forth is good to so you don't injure yourself and your muscles can develop in a healthy manner.

In terms of cardio, at least 20 minutes a day is good. Even fast paced walking is cardio but if you choose a lighter route do it for 30 minutes. Still, you can do a bunch of things for cardio, local sports classes, tae-bo, or dance being a favorable option.

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Yes, you can do more. As a rule of thumb you can work each muscle group twice a week. You can be in the gym everyday if you want to be and how you schedule your routine. What I used to do and I loved it and it work great was split circuit cycle training, three days on, one day off, three days on. I would do chest and back, then bicep and tricep, then legs and shoulders. I would do abs everyday and never did my forearms as I found that my back and arm training was well enough to get them to grow, however everyone is different and you may need to work your forearms in you find they do not respond to all the pulling and curling you are doing. I would do 15 minutes of cardio before my workout to get the heart rate going. I would traget 150 to 160 beats per minute, that really got me pumped to jump into the weights and get a good workout in. Another thing I did was every two months I would take a week off to rest and just have a break. One last thing is twice a month I would do some powerlifting moves like cleaning and deadlifts as these moves really help to grow a strong, functional muscle and also builds strong tendons which helps reduce the risk of injury. And I am one who adopts to the philosphy of weight means nothing, form and technique mean everything! It is more important to train properly and grow a strong, healthy body more so than just trying to move the most weight to impress someone or yourself. Patience is a virtue when it comes to weight training, take your time and grow consistently, soon enough you will be big enough and strong enough, don't rush it, that is when people get injured. It is worth it to find a good professional trainer to seek out advice about the fine points of form and technique, once you are comfortable and have gained a good knowledge then you can rely on your own judgment. what I can say here,, is keep the head up and the back straight and be very careful with any lateral movements, dont put unnecessary strain on the back. Good Luck!
Source(s):
self experience

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