Should You Do Cardio Prior To Weight Training?

By Russ Howe


There are many questions in the fitness world which cause much confusion. If you were to ask ten fitness instructors for tips on how to lose weight, it's likely you'd get several very conflicting answers. Today's question in focus is this - should you do cardio before or after weights?

The facts behind this question are very clear so today you will discover the answer.

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.

You see, in order to get to the bottom of this popular gym myth we have no choice but to look at things on a scientific level. The body makes several noteworthy changes during your time on the gym floor, some of which are hugely important in answering this question. The first of which is m-TOR release.

The more gym savvy readers here will notice this word from many protein supplements on the market. That's because this enzyme is thought to be responsible for switching on the body's muscle building recovery process following a gym workout. It is released in a spike which can last for up to six hours and, naturally, you want to enjoy the maximum benefit from this spike if your goal is to build more lean muscle tissue.

The enzyme released during cardiovascular activity, on the other hand, is known as AMPK.

Despite being perfectly natural, AMPK has one flaw - it kills off m-TOR!

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.

If you are searching for the best explanations on how to lose weight then it makes sense to go with the most logical scientific answers rather than buying into the wealth of gym myths which are out there. Should you do cardio before or after weights? The latest science is massively in favor of doing it before.




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