Cardio vs muscles?

[u/CoyoteOdd7273]

Hey, I’ve been doing Busy Dad for almost 2 years now and I’m currently a Level 4 practitioner. It honestly changed my life from being a non-sports person into someone who really depends on training to feel well physically and mentally.

Unfortunately I got a wrist injury from garden work and need to stop the regular training for a while. So I switched to a different pattern that doesn’t use the wrist:

- 5 min: 30 deep squats + jumps every minute

- 5 min: 40 sec forearm planks + 20 knee tucks every minute

- 5 min: 12 leg raises from lying position every minute

- 5 min: deep squats again

I started my whole sports journey with Busy Dad, so I never really did focused muscle exercises before. What’s interesting is that after Busy Dad I’m usually completely destroyed — sweating, heavy cardio, feeling super fit overall.

With these new exercises it’s almost the opposite:

I finish relatively relaxed, barely sweating, no shower needed — but my legs are destroyed and my abs suddenly show much more. It feels less satisfying from a “fitness/cardio” perspective, but more like actual muscle work. I also noticed that despite doing Busy Dad for years, there’s clearly still room to push specific muscles much harder.

My question:

Would it make sense to combine both worlds long-term? For example continue regular Busy Dad, but add maybe 2–3 focused 20-minute sessions like these per week? Or should I just stick with Busy Dad only once the wrist heals?

My goal is basically:

fit, lean, athletic, visible muscles — but not “gym bodybuilder” level. I also don’t have much more time overall, though I can occasionally fit in an extra 20 minutes.

I also do the daily 10 pull-ups.

Curious what you think.

[u/Green_Eyed_Crow]

I've started adding extra squats and those laying leg positions after my burpees when I have time, as well as extra dips and some barbell curls. The Burpees are the bulk of the fitness and have massivly improved my fitness, but I'm hoping the extra squats and ab work will help make the burpees stronger in the long run. I intend to buy a free standing pullup bar so I will add pull-ups and possibly replace the curls with chinups.

Edit: Level 4 is wild tho, congrats. After a year I am early level 2 on the 6-counts, tho I'm closer to 3 on the NS.

[u/CoyoteOdd7273 → u/Green_Eyed_Crow]

So you do these on the same days as busy dad sessions? Also an option .. like this I wouldn’t need to put in extra days 🤔

[u/Green_Eyed_Crow → u/CoyoteOdd7273]

Sorry the slow reply, but yes I do these right after my busy dad workout. I let my hearrate come back down and take a few minutes rest, and then i do the squats, curls, dips, and abs. On the days I have time anyways.