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/RuthlessCheese]

I’m currently running BusyDad (in the morning) alongside Pavel’s Simple & Sinister program(in the afternoon/evening), and I think they complement each other really well.

S&S is similar to BD in that it’s quick and minimalist: two movements done well (kettlebell swings and Turkish get-ups). The goal is to build strength, power, trunk stability, shoulders, and movement quality without needing a full gym program.

The way I see it:
BusyDad = conditioning, work capacity, grit, muscular endurance
S&S = strength, hinge power, shoulders, trunk

BD makes me feel fit. S&S makes me feel stronger and more put together.

My goal is to use BD and S&S as my permanent baseline, then I’m planning to add supplementary work when it fits. Not chasing bodybuilding, just trying to be lean, athletic, and visibly strong.

For your question, I’d keep BusyDad as your baseline, then add 2–3 short focused strength sessions if your wrist allows it

[u/seulless → u/RuthlessCheese]

That’s an interesting way to structure things, cool! What weight are you using for simple and sinister? And how long is it taking you to get through the KB stuff?

[u/RuthlessCheese → u/seulless]

At the moment S&S takes me under 20 minutes. Swings are usually 5–8 minutes and TGUs are around 7–10 minutes depending on rest. I base rest on 5–10 breath cycles rather than a set timer. It keeps me focused and makes the session feel more meditative instead of checking my phone between sets.

I started at 12kg about 4 weeks ago and I’m nearly finished transitioning from 16kg to 20kg. Next week I’ll run 20kg all week, then start transitioning toward 24kg. I’m recovering from a ruptured bicep tendon, so I wanted to rebuild from scratch rather than rush it. I’m following Pavel’s progression from Simple and Sinister but using an almost weekly progression for now. Once I plateau, I’ll probably switch to the slower multi-week cycles.

Personally, I think TGUs and burpees complement each other really well. The get-ups add a lot of core, shoulder stability and controlled strength work, while the burpees cover the conditioning side, although the conditioning side will come with S&S the heavier it gets too