Should you do cardio before or after weights when you're trying to build a leaner physique? If you're trying to learn the basic principles of how to lose weight, today we will answer this popular question for you.
Only in recent years has science shed any light on this topic. Until as recently as five years ago, the entire answer to this question was based on theory. This led to people being told different information by everybody they asked for advice.
Now science has provided the answers people were previously unable to get. We'll be looking at the findings of two studies in particular and analyzing why performing cardiovascular activity before a resistance workout was recently proven to be far more effective. []
While both approaches ultimately yield positive results, a study at the James Maddison University discovered that an aerobic-weights routine yielded far more lean muscle growth than a weights-aerobic routine.
For those who are training for fat loss, the findings were also highly in favor of doing aerobic exercise prior to any barbell work. The Journal Of Strength And Conditioning discovered that weight loss, specifically fat loss, was increased greatly in individuals who did their aerobic exercise first.
Those facts may be controversial to many fitness enthusiasts, who opt to perform their resistance training first. The theory behind that method is that they don't want their muscles to be tired by aerobic exercise when they begin pushing out repetitions. This makes sense and it's an approach which does yield results. However, science suggests that switching them around is far superior for both fat loss and lean muscle development.
There are two key enzymes which play important roles here:
* AMPK (aka adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase)
* mTOR (aka mammalian target of rapamycin)
You may have heard these two enzymes discussed in fitness magazines and bodybuilding gyms in the past. If you are performing aerobic activity the body increases the release of the AMPK enzyme to help your muscles adjust to endurance activity, while signals the beginning of the muscle recovery process at the end of a workout. For about an hour after you hit the weights, you'll have a surge of mTOR in your body and this is perfect for consuming post-workout nutrition. After six hours, the spike in mTOR wears off and your body returns to normal. []
The two enzymes aren't exactly the best of friends, in fact AMPK switches off mTOR substantially. So by staying in the gym after the end of your resistance workout to jog on the treadmill for half an hour you are missing most of your golden post-workout window for nutrition and also turning down the body's spike in mTOR.
So, should you do cardio before or after weights? Whether you want to learn how to lose weight or how to pack on lean muscle, recent science is heavily on the side of performing your aerobic activity before you pick up a dumbbell.
Only in recent years has science shed any light on this topic. Until as recently as five years ago, the entire answer to this question was based on theory. This led to people being told different information by everybody they asked for advice.
Now science has provided the answers people were previously unable to get. We'll be looking at the findings of two studies in particular and analyzing why performing cardiovascular activity before a resistance workout was recently proven to be far more effective. []
While both approaches ultimately yield positive results, a study at the James Maddison University discovered that an aerobic-weights routine yielded far more lean muscle growth than a weights-aerobic routine.
For those who are training for fat loss, the findings were also highly in favor of doing aerobic exercise prior to any barbell work. The Journal Of Strength And Conditioning discovered that weight loss, specifically fat loss, was increased greatly in individuals who did their aerobic exercise first.
Those facts may be controversial to many fitness enthusiasts, who opt to perform their resistance training first. The theory behind that method is that they don't want their muscles to be tired by aerobic exercise when they begin pushing out repetitions. This makes sense and it's an approach which does yield results. However, science suggests that switching them around is far superior for both fat loss and lean muscle development.
There are two key enzymes which play important roles here:
* AMPK (aka adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase)
* mTOR (aka mammalian target of rapamycin)
You may have heard these two enzymes discussed in fitness magazines and bodybuilding gyms in the past. If you are performing aerobic activity the body increases the release of the AMPK enzyme to help your muscles adjust to endurance activity, while signals the beginning of the muscle recovery process at the end of a workout. For about an hour after you hit the weights, you'll have a surge of mTOR in your body and this is perfect for consuming post-workout nutrition. After six hours, the spike in mTOR wears off and your body returns to normal. []
The two enzymes aren't exactly the best of friends, in fact AMPK switches off mTOR substantially. So by staying in the gym after the end of your resistance workout to jog on the treadmill for half an hour you are missing most of your golden post-workout window for nutrition and also turning down the body's spike in mTOR.
So, should you do cardio before or after weights? Whether you want to learn how to lose weight or how to pack on lean muscle, recent science is heavily on the side of performing your aerobic activity before you pick up a dumbbell.
About the Author:
Need More Tips? Uncover the easy, no-nonsense truth behind how to lose weight with Russ Howe PTI, the UK's most watched Personal Trainer on Youtube. His free video on whether you should do cardio before or after weights will clear up this common issue for you.
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