Cardio before or after Weight training

Cardio before or after Weight training

Some people wake up at 4:00am just to do their cardio. Then later in the day they do their weightlifting routine. Others do their cardio before or after their workout routine. Some run at midnight to avoid heat.

·         When is the best time to do cardio?

·         Should cardio be done near the time of weightlifting or should there be a certain amount of hours between the two?

·         Can someone add cardio to their weight training and still gain size and muscle mass?

·         Is it better to do cardio after eating, or on an empty stomach? Why?

·         What is your favorite type of cardio? (HIIT, Interval, etc...)

Cardio Exercise Now Or Then?

Cardio exercise without question is an essential part of any training routine whether it be a bodybuilding, strength training, sports training or most obviously a running workout schedule. It increases our endurance levels and is also an important factor in preventing all sorts of heart problems and diseases.

But its not as easy as just going outside and mindlessly running around for a few minutes and getting results. Its the same as weightlifting. You dont just go in a gym and start curling the heaviest weight you see using horrible form. There are many different opinions on how to properly do cardio to achieve certain goals.

What Are Your Goals? >Lose Fat >Build Muscle >Improve Energy >Other

Some of these views are totally wrong and can mislead you and instead of moving you forward will actually set you back in the wrong direction. This is why it is so important to know what certain types of cardio are doing to your body and how to do it properly. Just like weightlifting.

When Is The Best Time To Do Cardio?

There is no set time where you make the best gains to do cardio. It ranges for everyone, for example if you feel like total crap in the morning and you need an hour or two to feel fully energized, then you obviously aren’t a morning person so then don’t do it in the morning. Listen to your body, you wouldn’t pump iron if you were half-awake.

Like I said everyone’s body is different. So basically the best time for you to do your cardio exercise is when you feel it is the best time to do it, and stick to that time. But there is still more to this, there are still a few guidelines you should follow so that you don’t end up setting yourself back. These will help you understand when to perform your cardio for better results, or the results you want.

Cardio In The Morning On An Empty Stomach

First of all NO! Cardio in the morning is probably the most stupid idea I have ever heard. This isnt just my opinion but the most knowledgeable trainers and exercise experts agree that cardio in the morning on an empty stomach is not good for you body.

Well, you might ask, what if I want to burn fat? I have low glycogen stores in the morning and my energy levels are low because I don’t have carbohydrates, so then I will tap into my fat stores right? This is TOTALLY wrong. The complete opposite happens.

Let me enlighten you. Fat burn doesn’t occur during cardio exercise, but about two hours after. Instead your body will look at your tasty muscles for energy meaning. Bye bye muscles. This is a bodybuilders worst nightmare.

So unless your goal is to become scrawny and lose muscle then by all means do cardio in the morning. Its also common sense not to do it on an empty stomach.

You wont have a satisfactory amount of energy meaning decreases performance which = crappier results. And if you think about it, your body has just fasted for eight hours and it needs something to eat to refuel itself.

Not feeding your body and doing exercise is like going into war without any ammunition.

Don’t Get Me Wrong

Yes, don’t get me wrong, it isn’t that doing cardio in the morning is bad, but doing it on an empty stomach is bad unless you want to lose muscle instead of fat.

So when you wake up at 5:00 A.M at least have something light to eat and wait at least 30-45 minutes before performing your cardio. Like I said earlier if you’re a morning person and you feel best in the morning then keep doing it in the morning, just make sure you don’t do it on an empty stomach.

Cardio Workout Right Before Weightlifting?

Again this is also a HUGE NO! Not unless you don’t want good results from pumping iron, then I guess you're wasting your time in the gym if you go all out and perform cardio before your workouts.

But for a lot of people, especially women, they don’t want to gain serious mass, so then if your weight workout is relatively low intensity and doesn’t leave you feeling like you just got hit by a car, then by all means you can do cardio before your workout.

But for most of the guys, they want some serious mass, and let me tell you that the last few reps (Say the last 3-2 reps) where you struggle and sweat is where you stimulate your muscles to grow. But when you run before working out, an intense cardio workout totally or almost depletes your glycogen stores.

When weightlifting, you don’t use as much of your glycogen stores, but you still need quite a bit (This might come as a surprise to some people but its true).

So if you have no glycogen stores which is your muscles source of energy and your pushing yourself to max, the energy wont be there to push those last few grueling reps meaning a way less effective workout.

Another reason why this is such a big NO is because during a hard cardio session, protein synthesis drops low and protein breakdown goes up. During a weight lifting session, protein synthesis either goes up a little or stays the same while protein breakdown goes up.

After your cardio session while protein synthesis drops (Meaning your body’s ability to build muscle), and you hit the weights, the result will be that your bodies ability to build muscle will be impaired because of your cardio training depending on how intense your cardio was.

So Let's Make Up A Situation

Billy goes and does his intense cardio workout. After that his protein synthesis drops and muscle breakdown goes high.

He goes weightlifting and instead of his protein synthesis being normal or slightly elevated, it is very low because of his cardio session. Plus his muscles are in a state of breakdown.

So basically you don’t want your body’s ability to build/repair muscle (Protein synthesis) to be impaired right after a weight workout.

Again, Don’t Get Me Wrong

Yes, don’t get me wrong again, what I just explained above is doing cardio right before your workout or even an hour before your workout. But it is all right if you do your cardio exercise then your weightlifting program after if you give yourself an adequate amount of time to recover and replenish your glycogen stores.

But in between you must have the proper nutrition to stop protein breakdown and increase muscle synthesis before you hit the weights. Plus you have to replenish your muscles glycogen stores.

Still though, your performance in the weight room may suffer even though you have given yourself enough rest and nutrition, so it is best if you do your weight lifting before anything else to make sure that you lift to your full potential.

Also if you do an intense cardio session and eat hamburgers and fries then 6 hours later do your cardio session, it just wont cut it. Another thing is if your cardio workout is relatively short and low/very low intensity then its all right to hit the weights right after.

Cardio Right After Weights?

Doing cardio right after weights is way better than doing it before weights. The reason being is that weight lifting doesnt deplete your glycogen stores as bad as it does in cardio workouts depending on how intense you go.

So you still will have some of your glycogen stores left meaning that you can still get an alright cardio session. But for a more effective cardio session right after a workout, I recommend waiting at least 2 hours even more (If you have the time to do this) before doing your cardio.

In between this time it is important you replenish your glycogen stores quickly, and stop protein breakdown as fast as possible. But if you dont have the time it is still alright to do it right after weights. Just be prepared to have a less effective cardio session.

For Best Results!

For best results in your cardio training, try to do schedule your sessions separate from your weightlifting program. So if you lift weights 4 times a week, then do running on the other three days that youre not lifting weights.

Just remember try to schedule your cardio session as far away as possible from your leg lifting schedule, because running on super sore tired legs basically sucks. Doing cardio on separate days than weight lifting ensures that you have the proper energy to perform your best in either your cardio or lifting session.

If you cannot then do your cardio after your workouts at least. You also have to do cardio after weights if you have 4-5 cardio sessions and are a serious weight lifter.

Remember you get the best gains when you have the most energy.

 The Most Effective Cardio Exercise

There is no "Most Effective Cardio Exercise." Just like how there is no best way to workout. It all depends on your goal and what you want to do. Still stuck? Let me help you a little.

Basically There Are Four Main Goals Which People Want Are:

1. To have massive muscles and let nothing get in the way of letting you lose it but still maintaining a balance between cardio and weight lifting.
2. To be well rounded meaning being fit and still have muscle and strength.
3. To be extremely fit in the cardio system which is your only goal, and you dont care about gaining muscle (Distance running or marathon running).
4. To lose weight.

Here are a few ways of doing each goal

1. Gaining Huge Muscle

• HIIT (High intensity interval training)

HIIT combines the use of all out intervals and periods of lower intensity periods. Dont worry, if you are well fed and energized, these sessions last for only 20-30 minutes at the max, in that time you wont use up enough of your energy that you will have to tap into your muscle stores.

• The Good Old Run

Run at most for 3 days a week for 30-45 minutes and you wont lose any muscle if your well fed and energized.

2. To Be Well Rounded
(Cardio Fitness + Decent Muscle & Strength)

• I would not recommend high intensity interval training (HIIT) because if you want to be quite fit in the cardio system, HIIT doesn’t cut it, sorry boys and girls.

Doing cardio 4-5 times a week for 45-60 minutes will make you have great cardio gains. Your endurance will be quite noticeable and you might lose a bit of muscle. But if you do weights, you will be stronger and bigger (Just don't expect to be the next Ronnie Coleman).

• Biking, stair-master, elliptical, etc. are also good ways of increasing cardio fitness.

3. To Be Extremely Fit
(Long Distance Running & Marathon Runners)

• This isn’t for muscle gainers, over time you will lose a significant amount of muscle. It is more geared only towards long distance or marathon runners.
• You must run 5-7 times a week.
• Sessions range from 6 mile runs to 18 mile runs.
• The only exercise is running.

1.     Fat Loss       

• High intensity interval training (HIIT). This is great for burning fat since you run at the fat burn level for the lower intensity periods and burn more calories in the high intensity levels.
• Running, biking, elliptical etc. These are great for losing weight. If you’re overweight, slowly work your way up. For fat loss, exercise at the fat burning zone. For beginners run 3-4 times a week for 20-30 minutes. Gradually work your way up to 4-5 times a week for 30-60 minutes.
• Remember any type of cardio activity will burn fat. You just have to be consistent and you will shed the pounds. Many people give up because they aren’t seeing results, but really a month isn’t enough to see huge results.

Don’t listen to the commercials where you can lose 60 pounds in a month. DON'T EVEN BELIEVE IN THAT CRAP. There are NO shortcuts!!

The only way is to follow a consistent and well planned exercise routine. Some people shed the pounds fast and others slow because everyone has different bodies

GOOD LUCK WHATEVER YOU MIGHT DO!