I have what I hope is a simple question. I have heard and read that it is best to do your cardio after you lift vs. before. Can someone tell me why this is? I have not yet heard why it is better to do it after.
Thanks.
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Thread: Why do cardio AFTER lifting?
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03-29-2010, 07:59 AM #1
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Why do cardio AFTER lifting?
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03-29-2010, 08:01 AM #2
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depends on your goal.
I do cardio after because I want to be fresh to lift heavy.
My wife does it before because she wants to have more energy to give to cardio and is not concerned about lifting heavy.
there is no wrong or right time, in my opinoin.The mind leads the body...get your head right and the body will follow
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03-29-2010, 08:04 AM #3
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03-29-2010, 08:07 AM #4
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03-29-2010, 08:13 AM #5
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I do both. I do 10 minute pre workout to get the blood moving, but not enough to mess with my energy for lifting. If I am not completely gased from lifting I will do 20-30 minutes after with no problem, like above poster said. Just depends on how you feel that day, just make sure your lifts don't suffer from a burn out cardio session.
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03-29-2010, 08:19 AM #6
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I'm not an expert, but I've always tried to fit my cardio in before I lift.
I do 15-30 mins of high heart rate cardio to warm up, stretch out, and get the blood flowing before I lift. If you're sweating when you start lifting, you're generally going to stay sweating and at a higher than average heartrate while you lift, and therefore burn more calories, which is great for me being a big endomorph. I do see some guys hop on an elliptical after they lift, and I've tried it before, but I never have the same energy after a hard workout than before.
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03-29-2010, 08:22 AM #7
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03-29-2010, 08:30 AM #8
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03-29-2010, 09:45 AM #9
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If your primary goal is weight control, then the vast majority is going to focus around your diet, not the timing of your cardio. If you're eating at or below maintenance, you're not going to bulk up no matter when you lift or run.
Like others have said, I do my cardio after I lift so that I don't burn up my energy stores before lifting. If I ran first, I wouldn't feel "fresh" going into the weight room. Yes, I've also found that light cardio can help with DOMS, though I do mine the day after my leg day to help relieve the tightness.
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03-29-2010, 09:49 AM #10
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03-29-2010, 10:03 AM #11
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03-29-2010, 10:05 AM #12
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03-29-2010, 10:11 AM #13
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03-29-2010, 10:28 AM #14
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03-29-2010, 10:29 AM #15
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Right now, my main goal is to lose body fat. I carry it around the guy and on my back primarily.
I know my diet isn't perfect but it isn't all that bad either. And even if I do eat very clean, I can gain fat. I have a extremely slow metabolic rate. Where most people can lift with the intensity that I do and keep their body fat low, i can not. I have to do a good bit of cardio also to keep my body fat down. I hate it but this is the way my body works I guess.A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. Thomas Jefferson
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03-29-2010, 10:35 AM #16
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03-29-2010, 10:51 AM #17
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03-29-2010, 10:53 AM #18
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03-29-2010, 10:54 AM #19
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03-29-2010, 10:54 AM #20
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03-29-2010, 11:13 AM #21
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One reason is that you've already had your heart rate up and if you've been lifting hard, you're heart rate has been elevated to a consistently high level... cardio after helps you keep it up for longer. (No double entendre intended ) My heart rate watch reads between 68 BPM and 72 BPM but when I'm lifting I see 114 to as high as 144 BPM. The norm is in the high 120s to low 130s. This is what I'm doing now... cardio after lifting but, this lifting/cardio cycle is almost over.
I also sometimes do cardio for 20 minutes prior to lifting as a warm up to get my blood pumping faster. Which is in my plan for the upcoming weeks.
Other times I'll do 40 minutes of cardio on cardio only days and not do any cardio work on lifting days. Which is how I was doing it 2 months ago.
Sometimes I bike outdoors, other times I'll do the stationary bike, the elliptical with the ski poles, then the stair master, and other times I'll do the treadmill.
The ISSA taught us that you're body will always, eventually, get used to whatever stress you put in under, if you want to keep gaining you need to mix it up.... in this case, keep gaining in cardiovascular health.Last edited by acwild; 03-29-2010 at 11:20 AM.
Taught by Dr. Squat himself back in the late 90s
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03-29-2010, 11:19 AM #22
Doing cardio for fat loss requires you to burn off muscle glycogen BEFORE dipping into fat stores
Why not do this with the lifting FIRST
that way you have less glycogen to burn off and the first 20 minutes of your cardio aren't wasted buring just muscle sugar
plus, you lift better when your muscles are full of glycogen
IE.. 5 mins of "warmup cardio" is a good idea, especially if it's a heavy leg day
then lift, then finish up with the real 'effort cardio'
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03-29-2010, 11:25 AM #23
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03-29-2010, 11:29 AM #24
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03-29-2010, 11:32 AM #25
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03-29-2010, 11:34 AM #26
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03-29-2010, 11:35 AM #27
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03-29-2010, 11:55 AM #28
I hadn't ever really considered it from that angle before. Perhaps I'm doing it backwards then. light cardio before, lift, heavy cardio afterward. Light cardio to me is a brisk walk (about a mile or so). Heavy cardio to me is 30 minutes on the elliptical (~400 cal workout). But it never occurred to me that I was sabotaging my lifting by sapping their energy beforehand.
To me I always approached it with the mindset - the muscle will build based on their workload independent of activities. So for me doing cardio then lifting was simply a way to consume more calories. Maybe by switching it around I might do it more efficiently.
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03-29-2010, 12:50 PM #29
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Damn dude, I wish I had you commenting on my thread here:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=123260741
It started out about eating candy bars but.. half way through I was trying to explain how once glycogen levels were depleted that your muscle tissue moves on to burn fat stores in order to re-synthesize ATP/CP at the cellular level for energy, which is what my physiology text book states.
I was slammed for using the word "depleted" (I guess I should have used "reduced") told that "your little weight lifting does not burn fat", that your muscles do not synthesize (burn) ATP/CP, even that hGH has nothing to do with muscle growth. (I told my college professor that and he said "what the hell does hGH do then?)
Also that the body does not respond to strenuous activity level (eg Post Workout) by releasing hGH into the bloodstream. That insulin does not suppress that 15 to 20 minute post workout hGH spike... even though that's in my physiology text book.
They kept posting another study saying that the study concludes that hGH does not spike and that hGH has nothing to do with muscle growth. Even though the writer of the article and study was asked "are you saying that hGH doesn't make muscle grow?" He replied "no". I posted that comment from him and all I got was "brotacular", and "broscience" and "premise=fail" along with "I still don't know what you're trying to say".
Insulin does of course have anabolic properties, that's why pros mess with their insulin levels, and hGH of course has anabolic properties that's why pros inject hGH and of course muscle burns fat once glycogen levels are greatly reduced in order to keep re-synthesizing ATP/CP at the cellular level for energy.
But after all the "brotacula" and "broscience" comments and then the negative rep hit, I just let the thread go.
Sorry for the rant and bit of a hijack.
Anyways... yes, back to the point... muscle burns fat and cardio helps.Taught by Dr. Squat himself back in the late 90s
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03-29-2010, 03:23 PM #30
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OK, that makes sense. Thank you.
[QUOTE=KLR650;469494801 Light cardio to me is a brisk walk (about a mile or so). Heavy cardio to me is 30 minutes on the elliptical (~400 cal workout). But it never occurred to me that I was sabotaging my lifting by sapping their energy beforehand.
[/QUOTE]
Light cardio to me is 30 minutes on the elliptical burning 600 calories. Heavy cardio to me is 3 hours on the elliptical burning 3500 calories or riding my bike 70 miles in one day. I lost 160 pounds doing the 3 hours of elliptical every night for 9 months. It worked. But it also burned off just about every bit of muscle I had before that. I started lifting after I got down to about 150 pounds. I now weigh 190. I have gotten fat again, and I promised myself that I wouldn't do that.A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. Thomas Jefferson
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