Post workout Cardio

**DoOKiE245** · 05-22-2003, 12:52 PM

hey guys i've been cutting up for around 4 months now and I'm probably around 12%Bf. BUt have also lost a decent amount of muscle. I want to get down to around 7-8% by summer then start bulking again. I was doing cardio in the morning taking a whey shake 30min before, but one of the trainers in my gym said that I should do cardio after I lift. If I do cardio after I lift should I take my whey shake before or after the cardio? I am also on Glutamine. When should I take this if I were to do cardio right after I lift. PLease help. Thanks!

**Trickybastard** · 05-22-2003, 01:36 PM

You shouldn't do cardio after you lift... do it in the morning like you were. After working out, you're body will start to become catabolic if you work it too long, so doing cardio will actually make you lose more mucle.

Have a shake first thing in the morning, do your cardio, then have a good high protein meal.

If you want to cut more, lower your carbs a bit more until you find what works for you... Remember, to lose weight, you have to take in less calories that you burn. Take a few days and write down what you are eating and how many calories each is. You're probably under estimating your cals. Make sure you're eating lots of protein tho. I'd say atleast 1.5g per lb of body weight.

**invincible** · 05-22-2003, 03:08 PM

Are there any studies to back up what you're saying mate?

Only, I've been doing HIIT cardio after my workouts for many weeks now and don't have a problem with it. Mind you, I usually have a banana or sports drink straight after my weights before I begin cardio.

Anybody else have any arguments against (or for) post-workout cardio??

Cheers!

**bigdaddyslim777** · 05-22-2003, 11:48 PM

Hey whats up dude? I usually do cardio after lifting aswell, about 3- 4 times a week. Im trying to cut aswell, it seems to be working. Now you said you are losing muscle? Are you eating you weight in protein? I know its hard, but i have been getting alot of protein from supplements like Whey, and ISOpure, I also eat alot of tuna and boiled eggs. I can tell you one thing the days that I really load up on protein I can see a big difference in my mass and definition of muscle. Now glutamine I was taking that before i work out 2.5 grams and then 2.5 grams after i worked out. But now since reading this issue of flex, i started taking 5 grams before i work out and 5 grams after. I will have to wait and tell you how that works though. I just started that. But deff eat alot of protein dude. Like take your shake in the morning maybe with some boiled eggs and just try to stick with the protein. Also drink alot of water to filter yourself out. It is a good idea to write down what you eat, like the guy said. I agree. Good luck dude, this is just what works for me. I am no pro, just a 17 year old who has been dead serious about lifting the past few months. Peace

**Trickybastard** · 05-23-2003, 07:27 AM

Originally posted by invincible
Are there any studies to back up what you're saying mate?

Only, I've been doing HIIT cardio after my workouts for many weeks now and don't have a problem with it. Mind you, I usually have a banana or sports drink straight after my weights before I begin cardio.

Anybody else have any arguments against (or for) post-workout cardio??

Cheers!

Yeah I've read several studies on it actually... just don't have any to quote right now... mostly its common knowledge though. More than an hour -75 min of working out is not recommended. So if you work out an hour, then cardio for 30-40 min, you're looking at nearly 2 hrs. You will successfully lose weight, but some of that will be muscle.
All pros do their cardio first thing in the morning...

**supersatellite** · 05-23-2003, 10:26 AM

Originally posted by Trickybastard
Yeah I've read several studies on it actually... just don't have any to quote right now... mostly its common knowledge though. More than an hour -75 min of working out is not recommended. So if you work out an hour, then cardio for 30-40 min, you're looking at nearly 2 hrs. You will successfully lose weight, but some of that will be muscle.
All pros do their cardio first thing in the morning...

Noone here said they do over an hour working out and then 30-40 mins cardio. Anyway I do cardio 3 times a week after working out and it is certainly helping me gain muscle while keeping the fat off. I workout for about 40 mins at most keeping rest times to about a minute inbetween sets and I do 20 mins cardio

**Trickybastard** · 05-23-2003, 10:46 AM

If you're "cutting", you need to do more than 20 min of cardio...
in that time you're only burning 150-250 cals. If you're going to do it so that its worth while, you should be burning 5-700cals in your cardio session.

**fsheva** · 05-23-2003, 11:37 AM

Originally posted by Trickybastard
You shouldn't do cardio after you lift...

Bump.
At least have a protein shake before and after the workout, before going into cardio. But it's still not recommended to do them one after another.
There's a sticky in the nutrition section, called "morning cardio" I believe. If I remember correctly it may have some information.

**fsheva** · 05-23-2003, 11:43 AM

p.s. Look into HIIT or max-ot cardio. They are shorter and more intense cardio sessions that are very effective.

**DawgPound** · 05-23-2003, 09:17 PM

I've heard it is ok to do 20-30 min of light cardio after lifting, but you should have a protein shake after lifting and before the cardio. Yeah, your lifting workout should be b/w 45-60min. I had done this earlier and I noticed my bodyfat went down w/ minimal muscle loss. As long as you eat within like an 1-1.5 hr of finishing your workout, I would think you would be fine.

I know a lot of guys here are advocates of HIIT, and I'm sure it is effective, but it can be useful to try different things to see how your body responds.

**Wheelies** · 05-24-2003, 09:11 AM

Tricky bastard is right, do not do cardio after working out, that is a definite muscle killer. However you can definitly get a good cardio session in under 20 minutes, Max OT recommends 16 minutes actually, of course it is a very high intensity session that has to go up in intensity every time you do it. After doing weight training, you need to take in nutrients to aid in recovery, your muscles are starving for them, and then your gonna go do another 30 minutes of cardio, makes no sense. And people that do long drawn out sessions of cardio before working out are, well I just dont get it, why would you put all of your intensity into cardio versus muscle building, it just doesnt add up.

**Pylades** · 05-24-2003, 09:55 AM

A good strategy would be 20min HIIT after lifting and a 6% carbs/BCAA solution during the whole workout.

**Wheelies** · 05-24-2003, 10:50 AM

Originally posted by Pylades
A good strategy would be 20min HIIT after lifting and a 6% carbs/BCAA solution during the whole workout.

No it wouldnt. You kids are killing me. Maybe the carb drink would be, but the last thing you wanna do is cardio right before or after lifting. Yes im sure you lose fat doing cardio after lifting, but you also are killing your recovery time for optimum muscle growth. So if you dont mind hindering your muscle gains, then go ahead and do cardio befor or after you lift, how about we all just do all the cardio tips that we get, lets start doing cardio in the morning on an empty stomach, then before we work out lets start doing a 20 mintue session befor we lift, and then lets follow that up with an nice 30-45 minute low intensity session right after we just destroyed are muscles for an hour, sounds like a great idea, we will be ripped in no time.

**Tamacracker** · 05-24-2003, 03:49 PM

I as well lift before runnin, and I haven't noticed me lose strength.... I think it's best to run after workin out, I used to run then work out and I wouldnt be able to do most of my work outs. Now I just work out, take a post work out drink/shake then do my cardio and drink bout a quart of water durin cardio.

**Impostor** · 05-24-2003, 06:12 PM

I don't think it's that big of a deal to do your cardio after you work out. I used to do it that way due to my schedule... there was no other time to do it.

However, I have noticed better gains now that i switched it up to the morning/afternoon. Not to mention it gets that metabolism going good through the whole day to split it up.

**Cerbinator** · 05-24-2003, 09:31 PM

If you do cardio after workout, you are missing the PRIME time for your body to use protein for synthesis of muscle. Drinking some gatorade may stop the catabolic stage a little, but you still miss out on by far the best time to eat protein. Just stick to mornings, screw what the trainer said. Those guys are numbskulls for the most part.

**Pylades** · 05-25-2003, 07:19 AM

Originally posted by Wheelies:
No it wouldnt

What you mean is that it wouldn't be as good as splitting cadio and lifting but not everyone has the time to do that. Cardio after is the next best thing. And if you want to minimize muscle loss you shouldn't do any cardio at all.

**Trickybastard** · 05-25-2003, 08:59 AM

I agree, but it you're commited to losing fat, then you will find the time...
Saying I don't have time to split if up is a poor excuse. Anyone can get up an hour early and go for a morning run. It'll actually make your whole day go better. The most important thing in losing weight is committment. How bad you want it will determine the result

**BLiSS420** · 01-26-2004, 07:48 PM

lol and if you don't want it bad enough to get up at 6:30am and run in -30 with 3 feet of snow? if i'm trying to cut, and i have a tight schedule, would it be that bad of an idea to have 1 or 2 of my cardio sessions each week post workout.. workouts will be about 45 mins and im not sure what kinda cardio i should go for? steady state 30mins or HIIT 15mins? i think it'd be hard to do HIIT after weights tho.. as for nutrition.. shake pre and post cardio? how bout high GI carb pre cardio and shake post? shakes r a bitch to bring to school..

**Tamacracker** · 01-28-2004, 07:17 AM

Hey just a lil update, I have been runnin in the mornin (2 miles) and workin out in the evenin, and I'm growin but gettin leaner. This is the best way to do both cardio and trainin. Cardio in the mornin on a empty stomach then gym at night. From the runnin the mornin my body is more ready to take on the day. Also I think I ran my soon to come cold away. I was feelin it sunday mornin and after runnin today, I blew my nose and now I feel great. I hope this helps anyone who's interested in gainin muscle mass and losin BF.

**Glamdring** · 01-28-2004, 07:27 AM

What would be better?

1) Get 5 - 5.5 hours of sleep in order to wake up 1 hour early to do cardio?

2) Get 6-6.5 hours of sleep and do my cardio after I work-out. (This is what I do... with a shake before and after the weight portion of the workout.)

3) Get 6-6.5 hours of sleep, do no cardio, and become a fat ass.

Those are the 3 options. #1 is probably not going to happen. #3 is not going to happen. I'm going with #2.

I'm not interested in what a 'pro' does. See, being a pro bodybuilder leads one to believe that they get paid to be a bodybuilder. I don't get paid to do it and I'm going to work it in as efficiently as I possibly can without hindering the way I live my life. I've already become a nutritional freakboy who logs every calorie consumed and I'm not about to become a person who uses every spare bit of free time in the gym.

So, to answer the question, the average person can do cardio after doing their weights. If you have the 'free' time to do it in the morning then that is definately better, but don't NOT do cardio because you're afraid of losing a little bit of a gain.

I only advocate doing cardio after a weight workout while you are in a cutting phase. When bulking, I always do my cardio on separate days.

**kulex** · 01-28-2004, 07:58 AM

if I goto work and burn like say 1500 calories for that day with an rmr of 2300 and workout for 200 but only eat like 2400/day should I still do cardio on those days?

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