Cardio after workout? Or..

[Nike]

Hi every one,

Usually when do u guys do ur cardio? Before ur workout or after? Which is better if my main goal is losing fats while maintaining my hard earn muscle? =) Thanks

[Telly]

It doesn't really matter whern you do it, as long as you take in carbs before during and after, particularly after, otherwise you run the risk of eating you protein and muscle away.

It is preferable to do cardio and weights on different days, but if you must do them together, just remember the carbs

[sfetaz]

If you goals involve fat loss, than I totally disagree with carbs before and during cardio. If done properly and not too long you will have minimal protein breakdown. Thermogenics help too.(Sorry guys but 45 minutes to an hour of low intensity cardio is pointless if you are not doing it for endurance)

Having any carbs before or during cardio, those carbs will be used for energy. And now you have burnt none of your stored bodyfat. Defeats the purpose if you want to lose fat huh?

Do cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, except for water and if you take them thermogenics.

Try doing intervals of low and high intensities in each cardio session. High intensity means you should be breathing pretty heavy at the end of the interval. Studies show high intensity cardio burns more fat than long low intensity. Want proof? Look at a sprinter like maurice green and a marathon runner. The sprinter has the lean muscluar body and the marathon runner is worse than an anorexic!

As for when to do cardio, it is best on different days, as your body will have more enegery (aka metabolism) available for the individual exercise sessions. If you must do cardio and weights the same day try doing the cardio in the morning like I said before and the weights at night time to spread the time out well enough. Doing weights at night time has the advatage anyway of Increased neurotransmitter function.

If you must do cardio and weights together, do your weight training first than do your cardio.

Anyway you look at it, make sure you are getting enough protein and eating properly. Good luck!

[Telly]

Sfetaz,

I completely agree with most of your post, but disagree on the issue of carbs.

Cardio should not be used as the primary means of fat loss or managing weight. That should should be left to diet. Cardio should simply act as a fat loss supplement to diet.

I agree it's preferable to do cardio and weights on separate days, but if he is to do cardio straight after weights, then he needs to take carbs before doing the cardio in order to replenish glycogen stores, otherwise he's heading for catabolism and that means muscle loss.

[agjas001]

I agree with sfetaz's post.

[KyokushinTiger]

Because of my job I don't do any cardio except my Martial Arts Training I work in a fabricating machine shop and also take fabricating welding classes on weekends so with all the manual work involved I burn tons of cals, the only thing I do before lifting is 10 min warmup on the lifecycle to get the blood flowing and warmed up a bit.

[sfetaz]

If someone has the goal of losing fat, and intakes carbs before a cardio session, they are burning those carbs for energy. That defeats the entire purpose of the cardio session, because they are doing cardio to lose fat, not glucose and glycogyn. The body needs to be in a state where it needs to use fat as an energy source, and taking in carbs defeats that.

[Telly]

You need to qualify what you're saying sfetaz.

If you're doing cardio on it's own, then yes, you don't need carbs, because you're not burning much glycogen when doing an aerobic workout.

If however, you are doing both weights and carbs, then yes it is advisable to take in carbs after you workout. This is the time that you have to least worry about carbs being turned into fat, because your body doesn't want to do that, it needs to replace glycogen.

It's up to the individual. I personally don't think weights and cardio are complimentary, quite the opposite. If losing fat is your goal, then lose fat. If building muscle is your goal, then build muscle, but cardio after weights, just doesn't go.

[The Iron Lord]

Originally posted by sfetaz
If someone has the goal of losing fat, and intakes carbs before a cardio session, they are burning those carbs for energy. That defeats the entire purpose of the cardio session, because they are doing cardio to lose fat, not glucose and glycogyn. The body needs to be in a state where it needs to use fat as an energy source, and taking in carbs defeats that.

Couldn't agree more. Cardio on an empty stomach, preferably first thing in the morning. I don't even touch carbs for an hour after my cardio sessions. I think it absolutely ridiculous to consider consuming carbs before or during a cardio session. Why not just skip the cario session and not have the carbs? Same net benefit. You'll only burn the carbs that you consume. You're right on the money, sfetaz.

[sfetaz]

Telly you are right. Doing weights and cardio together does not fit. You are not only overstressing the body but not able to have a good food intake related to your exercise. You should never do exercise with a ton of calories in your stomach, and after weighttraining you need a lot of calories. Similar things with cardio. Just do your cardio 1st thing in the morning on an empty stomach and your weight training in the late afternoon for best results.

[BigBuddha]

sfetaz and Telly are right. You should do your cardio at a different time of the day instead of right after lifting. Do


I just got finished doing a bodyfat cut for the past 4 months becuase I am going to see how I can do at bodybuilding instead of powerlifting. I have been powerlifting and entering comps for the past few years, but now I care more about how I look than how strong I am. This is what I did to cut weight and bodyfat while trying to keep as much muscle mass as possible.

First things first was dieting. That was easy for me, cause I was already used to being able to stick to high protien diets. Only change in my diet I made was cutting carbs. As for my workouts, I did something I never did before and that was cardio. During the first 2 months I did cardio after my lifting. It helped I lost 10lbs quick, but towards the end of those two months, I wasn't loosing much. So I changed my workouts to cardio in the mornings or at lunch on my lifting days, and then lifting at night as I always have done. When I did this I saw a big change. I started loosing more bodyfat( and weight) with out loosing hardly any mass ( which I did, when I was doing cardio right after my workouts). I know changing my times of lifting and cardio kept me with more energy and with better results.

Hope this may give a helpfull Idea of what to try. I have to do cardio on the same days, and have limited free time. But, making that extra free time at a different part of the day has made a big difference on the path to my goal.

Good luck.