Cardio..Before or After Lifting ...aka...I want Abs

[Pimpstik69]

Hello all...first post so bear with me.

I was always the lucky guy who could eat whatever and stay thin. I've been actiive my whole life with various sports but would often let my gym time lapse and would even go a year or so between memberships. I was on the verge of being the skinny fat guy with a gut. Not cool. At the ripe old age of 43 I've become serious about fitness.

I work 3 days a week 12 hour days. I go to the gym 4 days in a row then am unable to go on the days I work. I've been doing this for about 14 or so weeks. I've gained a great deal of definition and put on some muscle. I have no idea what my body fat is but since I have great definition everywhere but my abs Im guessing it's around 12-15%. My clothes have gotten a bit looser even though I weigh a little more.

I want those abs!! I typically drink my preworkout supplement and hit the step mill (escalator like rotating stair torture device). I put in 25 minutes on that which is enough to make me pour sweat and then I lift for an hour or hour and a half.

My diet is average but improving. I drink beer 2 days a week (golf league and one night out after work with my buddies.) I quit drinking soda entirely unless its a splash with some whiskey.I have cut out sweets and cake..no ice cream...no chips.Still eating carbs though...those are tough to cut out. I like pasta and pretzels and bread (oh my!!) LOL.

So...should I be putting the cardio at the end of my workout to burn fat or does it really matter. I know plenty about diet and exercise but really nothing about the science of it. A girl here at work said to put it at the end of the workout as then you will have depleted your energy stores and you will start burning fat as energy.

FWIW I use a pre workout supplement (Prodigy) and protein powder. These are the only two supplements I take. I'm open to suggestions and ideas. I'd really like to continue to build muscle and lose some fat. I know that this is the hardest thing to do but ya gotta have goals.

Thanks in advance.

[Ralikar]

"I know plenty about diet and exercise"

4 days in a row is probably a bad split. Cardio is usually done after so you are fresh to lift. You are lifting so much you're probably getting some cortisol effects which is why most people don't do longer than an hour. Probably -- guess -- way too much volume, intensity which ties into the bad split. You don't need to cut of carbs, especially with cardio.

Go to nutrition section read nutrition stickies and plan a real fitness plan which will look like

(example)

Hi guys,

My BMR is 2500 cals
MY TDEE is 3500
My goals are to retain muscle and cut fat so I'm at -1000 TDEE so 2500/day
I'm at 200g Protein, 200 g Carbs, 80 g Fat
I'm doing My own split :
List rest days
List recovery days
List exercises/reps
List bp/week

List all cardio times

This is what you need to post. When you design a plan like this you will have no problem dropping your fat and you will understand what you are failing at now.

[frozensparky]

My diet is average but improving. I drink beer 2 days a week (golf league and one night out after work with my buddies.) I quit drinking soda entirely unless its a splash with some whiskey.

I know plenty about diet and exercise but really nothing about the science of it.

Just wanted to show you the most important part of your post if your really serious about a six pack. Your diet needs to be better than average. You need to read the stickies in the nutrition section because I'm going to guess you really don't know much about diet. A lot of guys have abs on here without doing any cardio, abs are made in the kitchen. And drinking 2 times a week makes getting there even more difficult, time to decide how bad you really want it.

[Richie71]

Exercise wise, I like to separate out weights and any cardio. Do weights first, get a protein shake in quickly and then a meal.
Go do some other stuff, then do a cardio session later in the day. Go for a run or a bike ride, or back to the gym. If I had to do them both in the same session, I'd do weights first, as that's the high effort part, then you switch your mind off for the cardio.

Your belly is almost certainly the last place you will lose fat from. It certainly is for me

As Frozensparky says though, it's the diet that really matters here, more so than the exercise.

[Pimpstik69]

[QUOTE=Ralikar;1081433871]"I know plenty about diet and exercise"

LOL....Maybe thats not the most accurate statement in the world...maybe I should have said "i know plenty about some parts of diet and exercise"

I have no choice but to go 4 days in a row. I work every Fri ,Sat and Sun from 0700 to 1930. My gym closes to early on Friday to go after work and closes even earlier on Saturday and Sunday. It is really my diet that needs tha most work so I will hit the nutrition section.

[oldsuperman]

Just wanted to show you the most important part of your post if your really serious about a six pack. Your diet needs to be better than average. You need to read the stickies in the nutrition section because I'm going to guess you really don't know much about diet. A lot of guys have abs on here without doing any cardio, abs are made in the kitchen. And drinking 2 times a week makes getting there even more difficult, time to decide how bad you really want it.

^^^^^^^^^^ This

Abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym. Best to time to do cardio for the best fat burning is first thing in the morning out of the bed on an empty tummy. Second best time is right after training and lastly just before bed on an empty tummy.

[Pimpstik69]

The worst thing is..... I know about proper diet....it's the willpower to do it. I've gotten a great deal better at it but have a long way to go.

I'll check out the nutrition section.

[oldsuperman]

The worst thing is..... I know about proper diet....it's the willpower to do it. I've gotten a great deal better at it but have a long way to go.

I'll check out the nutrition section.

97% of all people fail in their diet and fitness program in the first year. It has everything to do with desire. All the rest comes after. Having the knowledge is easy. Doing it.... Well that's another story.

[BiomedDood]

I think the general theory is in order to get a "6-pack", you have to drop the body fat to a lower figure to a point where you actually get definition. If you BF is high, focus on reducing it to a lower #.

I've lost over 50lbs to date now and imo (and experience), cardio when/after doesn't really make a difference in the grand scheme of things. It's the overall consistency and reduced cal intake that determines the overall fatloss. Continue eating at a cal deficit while maintaining cardio/lifts, the abs will eventually show up. Consistency and diet are the biggest factors....again, my experience.

[DesertDude11]

I would do cardio after lifting just so I have enough energy to commit to lifting.

Muscle will help burn fat. So will less time in the kitchen.

[conal6]

Hello all...first post so bear with me.

I was always the lucky guy who could eat whatever and stay thin. I've been actiive my whole life with various sports but would often let my gym time lapse and would even go a year or so between memberships. I was on the verge of being the skinny fat guy with a gut. Not cool. At the ripe old age of 43 I've become serious about fitness.

I work 3 days a week 12 hour days. I go to the gym 4 days in a row then am unable to go on the days I work. I've been doing this for about 14 or so weeks. I've gained a great deal of definition and put on some muscle. I have no idea what my body fat is but since I have great definition everywhere but my abs Im guessing it's around 12-15%. My clothes have gotten a bit looser even though I weigh a little more.

I want those abs!! I typically drink my preworkout supplement and hit the step mill (escalator like rotating stair torture device). I put in 25 minutes on that which is enough to make me pour sweat and then I lift for an hour or hour and a half.

My diet is average but improving. I drink beer 2 days a week (golf league and one night out after work with my buddies.) I quit drinking soda entirely unless its a splash with some whiskey.I have cut out sweets and cake..no ice cream...no chips.Still eating carbs though...those are tough to cut out. I like pasta and pretzels and bread (oh my!!) LOL.

So...should I be putting the cardio at the end of my workout to burn fat or does it really matter. I know plenty about diet and exercise but really nothing about the science of it. A girl here at work said to put it at the end of the workout as then you will have depleted your energy stores and you will start burning fat as energy.

FWIW I use a pre workout supplement (Prodigy) and protein powder. These are the only two supplements I take. I'm open to suggestions and ideas. I'd really like to continue to build muscle and lose some fat. I know that this is the hardest thing to do but ya gotta have goals.

Thanks in advance.

Men's Health has written about this weights first then Cardio. The responses I've read below seem to concur. Good Luck with your goals. Good question.

[FloridaRock]

I've always split them apart. When I go in the morning, I'll do a quick 20-30 minute low intensity warmup, but that's more to get these old bones woken up and stretched out to avoid injury. Nothing high intensity, usually an exercise bike with low resistance. Then I'll train for about an hour to an hour and a half.

I then do my cardio at night. But my cardio is 3 hours of MMA training. Not sure what other cardio measures up to that, since it's force on force and high intensity.

Truth be told, I have a very flat stomach and my core is pretty strong, but I still don't have a hardcore six-pack. You can see my abs, but it's not like they're shredded to the point where you could do laundry on them. I know they're there...but getting a ripped six-pack takes time, proper diet, and I think, to a certain degree, good genetics.

[FloridaRock]

On a side note, a friend of mine does cross fit and became a vegan about a year ago. His six-pack is SHREDDED! But he has also lost a lot of mass and almost looks skinny. Kinda looks like a Calvin Klein model, but skinner. There are healthy looking abs, and skinny people abs.

[machined]

After re cardio. That said, if you continue your workouts and eat 1800 cals consisting of mostly protein, moderate fat and low carbs for 12 - 16 weeks, you will have abs. Many will say that pretzels, pasta, bread and beer are fine if they fit your macros, but I've never met a shredded BBer that eats these items. Good luck.

[j496ynwa]

i have cardio only days and lift/HIIT days (i do HIIT once i have completed my lifting) and it has worked very well for me but like many have said already you need to get your diet in check and bf low enough to even think of having abs im not there yet but within the next 6 months i will be, will power and determination is all we all need, get hard on yourself and get eating correct if you want any chance of a 6 pack, goodluck.

[racedoc]

97% of all people fail in their diet and fitness program in the first year. It has everything to do with desire. All the rest comes after. Having the knowledge is easy. Doing it.... Well that's another story.

Great post! I've always said fitness has to be a significant priority to be successful - for me it's priority #2, behind my family. Then you can judge all other lower priorities activities as they might benefit or harm your goals. Good luck!