Cardio on leg days?

[NGR8SHAPE]

yes, no? cardio B4 or after weights?

[twinnett]

cardio after or on different days

[BFIT]

If you are trying to build your legs, DO NOT do cardio before legs..this will defeat the purpose(your legs will be far too tired to get the most out of your training session..you can do a light warm up on the elliptical for example) Definetly do the cardio on different days or if you must, do them AFTER....try getting on the Stair climber for 20 minutes or try walking at an incline on the treadmill.

[TurbulentFluid]

do the cardio on different days

Bump. Regardless of intensity, cardio is an exhausting activity that will deplate your energy, and that's what you don't want to happen before lifting. Also, leg exercises will exhaust your legs too much to do sufficient cardio, so if you can, do it on days you don't do legs. Or if you must, do it after, only make sure to NOT hold back on weightlifting in order to manage the cardio that comes after.

[cazmcm]

Sometimes I can barely walk after a leg day but then again it just depends on ur intensity when u train them and like the others said ur goals?
I usually go for a walk on the treadmill or round the streets if I can be bothered. I always run the day after thou, find it helps with recovery!

[greyhair]

yes, no? cardio B4 or after weights?

IMHO,
Cardio on leg day is the way to go.
The reason? Maximize the rest between workouts.
If you do cardio (usually lots of leg work in cardio) and legs on opposite days,
then your not getting the fullest amount of rest/recovery.

After training my wife for several years, I'm firmly convinced that gals can overtrain pretty easily. In her program, we have one really hard day (alternateing weeks focusing on volume or intensity) and the difficulty of the rest of the days is up to her.
So far, its working pretty well.

In theory, its better to do the cardio after the wieghts.
I never do because when I do weights first, I end up using too much time on wieghts (which I like) and not doing enough cardio (Which I don' like as much)
So instead, I do cardio first and then weights.

[Emma-Leigh]

I agree with you on the cardio on the same day as legs thing - sometimes there can be very good reasons to keep them on the same day (with one very good one being to maximise rests between workouts).

However - I would disagree with doing the cardio first (before weights)... If you are doing the weights to stimulate/ preserve your muscle mass then running yourself stupid first defeats the purpose of a heavy weights session...

[karate_girl]

maybe I'm wrong but I treat most of my leg wos as a cardio session - walking lunges, plyometrics etc. There is no way I could consider doing cardio after - I'm just too fatigued. The next day is usually worse so I might do a power walk but thats it - legs need recovery!

[greyhair]

I agree with you on the cardio on the same day as legs thing - sometimes there can be very good reasons to keep them on the same day (with one very good one being to maximise rests between workouts).

However - I would disagree with doing the cardio first (before weights)... If you are doing the weights to stimulate/ preserve your muscle mass then running yourself stupid first defeats the purpose of a heavy weights session...

Emma-Leigh.

I don't disagree with you. The problem is dicipline.
I just would not do the cardio if I "saved it" until afte the weights.
So, since I have to choose, I pick the least of two undesireable choices: cardio first.

Greyhair

[Shoshona]

I found when I did cardio on leg days, my leg workout suffered.

The day after legs, even when I'm sore, I've found that cardio actually helps alleviate the soreness.

[fitqueeen]

Don't do cardio on leg day, or the day after.

Do cardio before you train legs- you sap alot of energy that should have been reserved for the weights, thus having a crappy, less effective lifting session.

Do cardio after you train legs, and you'll feel like your legs will feel like mush, giving you a crappy cardio workout. You'll also be more vulnerable to knee injuries because the muscles surrounding the knee will be fatigued and weakened. Plus, you'll be messing up your gains by interfering with your recovery- you'll just be burning up muscle!

Do cardio the day after, and you'll likely be miserable the whole aching time!
Not only does it hurt, but it interferes with your muscle recovery and will likely stunt your development.

[neelytartaglia]

I'm an advocate for doing SOME cardio on legs days. And I always do it after my lifting. I never do more than 30 minutes those days and it's always low intensity static cardio. To me, it breaks up the days I'm doing high intensity cardio (which is on upper body days). And it helps me to slowly stretch back out those muscles after an intense workout and extend that period of higher level oxygen transport to really get the reconstructive processes moving.

[greyhair]

Well, I guess some tayloring for each person is in order, but I haven't had problems with long cardio (60 minutes) on leg days.
Now I'm middle aged and a fellow so be mindful from where it comes, but on my heavy leg days, I'll squat in the area of 350# for 5 reps and thats after the hour of cardio. Cardio first and weights on the same day can work and IMHO it is better than alternate days.

I think a lot of the effect is mental as well as physical.
IE. "I just did a heavy cardio session, I'm tired. --> I can't do legs again"
Clearly, some things could be tough.
High rep squat day and high intensity cardio. That would be tough.
However, long duration cardio with High intensity squat. I don't see the problem.
All depends on how much damage is being done to the muscles and how much recovery time is allowed between sessions.

IMHO, cardio should not be causing mico-tears in muscle fibers. If that is happening, then your working too hard. Leave that to weights.
If you've been training for any length of time and have achieved some reasonable level of conditioning, lactic acid buildup will not be an issue.

Finally, cardio is an aerobic excersize. Lifting is anerobic (or should be) the metabolism is different. Assuming you haven't passed out due to low blood glucose levels, it will only take a few minutes for the muscles to "recharge" for anerobic activity.

What you don't want is for the healing of the micro tears in the muscle fiber to be interupted or delayed by more stress. I believe this is especially true for women. Men with higher testosterone levels will recover much more quickly and can sustain much more abuse in thier routines.

[Plato458]

I just do 20 mins moderate cardio (rowing) before legs - infact before all weights. It warms me up, gets me in the mood and I know that all my muscles/joints are flexed and ready to go.

Cardio after is a psychological a no-no for me - I'm knackered when I'm done and anxious about overworking muscles that have already had a pasting.

Guess we're all different

Px

[Sylvo]

I was doing my cardio prior to my workouts and then decided to keep it until after the w/o. Verdict--huge difference in w/o. I have much more energy to lift more, but still plenty of energy to do cardio after. I was needing to cut back on the cardio anyway since it was actually making me burn muscle. Not good! So I say after w/o. Good luck!

[Lilbitt]

My legs are one of my best body parts and I have always done a 10 minute warmup before like stairs or jogging and then did the leg training. After I like to do a slow/moderate walk. Has worked great for me for a while now.

[MsFitFern]

I do cardio even on leg day. I have to do a 10 minute warm up before working out. I stick to cardio only during my lunch hour. 20 mins burns alot of cals.