Is Cardio Better Before Weights Or Afterwards?

By Russ Howe


At some stage, everyone who wants to know how to lose weight finds themselves in a situation in the gym where they are getting conflicting advice from everyone they talk to. One of those situations involves this question - should you do cardio before or after weights?

Today you are going to find out the factual answer to this question.
The video today will explain whether you should do cardio before or after weights in the gym.


Let us begin by looking at the most common myth associated with this question. Many people believe that by doing cardiovascular exercise before resistance training you will leave your muscles zapped of strength and restrict your ability on the weights, therefore it would make natural sense to go with hitting the weights first and doing your cardiovascular activity at the end.

This particular belief stacks up well from a common sense point of view, but when you look at the latest scientific research available you will be surprised at the findings.

During aerobic and anaerobic activity, the body is forced to make several internal changes to help you adapt to your heavy workload. One such change is the release of two very important enzymes which play a vital role in both the effectiveness of a resistance training workout and your ability to perform cardiovascular exercise. The first enzyme we will look at here is m-TOR.

You may have seen that name, m-TOR, plastered across the pages of muscle building magazines in the past. That's because it is the enzyme your body releases in increased volume following a tough workout. It is the enzyme which is considered the 'key' to 'turning on' the post workout muscle building recovery phase. So if you are trying to build lean muscle in the gym (and who isn't?) then it makes sense to take increased m-TOR release very, very seriously. Ideally, you want to be in a state of increased m-TOR release for as long as possible after each and every workout.

During aerobic activity, such as a bike or treadmill, the body adapts by releasing an enzyme called AMPK.

Ready for the controversial bit? AMPK release kills m-TOR dead in it's tracks!

So jumping on a bike for 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise after a workout might sound good in theory, but in truth you are doing more harm than good to your chances of building rock hard lean muscle any time soon. The increase in your AMPK levels will do significant damage to the increased m-TOR you created by hitting the weights, rendering your session only half as great as it could have been.

It is also worth noting that several studies have looked into just how much pre workout cardio can zap the muscles of strength, too. One study tested this theory by having subjects do a tough aerobic session followed by a bench press and squat session. The cardio only affected the squats, which prompted the conclusion that you can get around this issue by simply avoiding cardio activity before leg day - this allows you to get the full benefits of cardio without missing out on the full benefits of the spike in m-TOR brought about by a heavy weights session.

So, should you do cardio before or after weights for maximum fat loss results? The latest science on the subject points heavily in favor of doing your aerobic work before you hit the weights and skipping it on leg day. Figuring out how to lose weight can be a very confusing affair, so when you have the benefit of real scientific research at your fingertips, it makes perfect sense to use it.




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