One of the most common questions
is, “Should I do cardio before or after weights?”
While the long answer is “it
depends”, most people will be better off completing cardio after weights
whether their primary goal is muscle gain, strength gain, or fat loss.
Here are 5 reasons why you should
consider doing cardio after weights:
Cardio After Weights Reason #1)
Increased Energy For Lifting Weights
During exercise, the body uses
stored energy in our muscles called glycogen. If glycogen levels are low, it
affects our energy levels for workouts. For example, if you’ve ever gone on a
low carb diet and experienced less energy during workouts, then you know what
it feels like to have low glycogen levels. The same phenomenon happens if you
do cardio before strength training – you use up your body’s preferred energy
source for intense exercise. If you use up that energy, it won’t be available
when you need to lift heavy weights, making a goal of building muscle,
increasing strength, or maximizing calorie burn through weight lifting
compromised.
Cardio After Weights Reason #2)
Favorable Hormonal Changes
By completing cardio first,
cortisol is released without a concurrent increase in testosterone. Cortisol
breaks down muscle in order to give your body the continued energy to workout.
This works fine when doing cardiovascular exercises and happens extensively in
long duration cardio (think marathons), but is detrimental to building muscle
if there’s not a concurrent increase in testosterone. For example, when you’re
strength training, cortisol levels will go up but so will testosterone levels.
This hormonal shift not only allows you to have energy for the workout, but
also helps to rebuild muscle after the session. Without these changes in
hormonal profiles, it becomes much harder to gain muscle.
Cardio After Weights Reason #3)
Greater Afterburn Effect
The workout that causes the
largest afterburn effect will be the most effective for fat loss
because you will
not only burn calories during your workout, but also for up to 48 hours
afterwards. While the research is inconclusive (some studies show the afterburn
effect to be greater with cardio before weights), an intense metabolic
resistance training workout can create a very large afterburn effect and increase your cardiovascular health. A
traditional bodybuilding workout on the other hand will not create a very
significant afterburn effect so in that case, cardio before lifting
may make sense from a fat loss perspective.
Cardio After Weights Reason #4)
Exercise Feels Harder Doing Cardio First
The “perceived exertion” rates
(how hard exercise feels) is higher when you do cardio before strength training
– even if the results you get from both routines are the same. This simply
means that if you do the same routine, but do cardio first, it will feel much
harder then if you did the same exact workout by doing the strength portion first.
In other words, all of those reasons listed above truly do make your workouts
feel harder. The sad part is that this method is not more effective for fat
loss or muscle gain than if you simply did the strength first.
Cardio After Weights Reason #5)
Less Risk of Injury Due to Fatigue
If you try maxing out on squats
after an intense cardio session, you may be mentally and physically fatigued,
which increases the chance of injury. Besides needing the mental fortitude to
put a heavy weight on your back after cardio, you will also need the help of a
number of smaller “assistance muscles” to help with the movement. These may
have become fatigued from the cardio beforehand. By tiring these stabilizer and
assistance muscles before performing heavy strength training, you risk the
chance of completing an exercise incorrectly or with improper form.
Why Not Combine Cardio and
Weights?
If you’re truly pressed for time,
you can combine strength and cardio movements. An example would be to complete
two strength training exercises – think lunges and cable rows – followed by
bike sprints for 30 seconds. By combining the strength and cardio portion, you
are satisfying the need to create damage to the muscle, keep your heart rate
high throughout the session and have more spikes to your heart rate creating a
greater oxygen debt.
The Wrap Up
While there are several benefits
for lifting weights before cardio, at the end of the day, the best fat loss
plan is the one you will stick to and that continues to produce results. If you
enjoy completing cardio first, then by all means go for it! I would caution
using the “weights after cardio” approach, however, if your main goal is
building muscle.
Be Smart
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