When you are trying to build lean muscle in the gym, should you do cardio before or after weights for maximum results? This is a question often asked and rarely answered with anything more than personal opinion. If you are trying to figure out how to lose weight or build muscle, you're about to discover the facts on this topic.
For many years, this was a subject which was usually answered with personal opinion. There was no real proof whether it was more effective to perform cardiovascular activity before or after a workout, so most people would simply do what worked for their own body and pass on their findings to others.
That's no longer the case. Today we'll be looking at a few recent studies and talking about why science has now shown cardiovascular activity to be more effective when performed before resistance exercises, as opposed to afterwards. []
Participants in a study at the James Maddison University were subjected to an exercise program over a number of months where one group followed a cardio/weights spit and the others followed a weights/cardio split. The muscle growth in those who did their resistance training first was substantially lower than those on the opposite routine.
Furthermore, the Journal of Strength and Conditioning recently carried out a study on this topic to discover the fat loss benefits, too. Their findings were similar. Those who performed aerobic exercise before hitting the iron were able to increase fat loss results considerably over the group of case studies doing it the opposite way around.
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.
The main findings of recent studies focus on the effects of two enzymes:
* AMPK
* Mammalian Target Of Rapamycin (also called mTOR for short!)
While mTOR is the enzyme responsible for kick-starting the body into the muscle building process at the end of a tough resistance workout, AMPK gets released during aerobic activity to adjust the body for endurance. For around 60 minutes after a workout you'll have a surge of mTOR, meaning the golden window for nutrition is this period if your goal is to gain lean muscle and burn excess fat. This surge lasts around 6 hours. []
If you finish your weight training and then sit on a bike for 45 minutes you have not only wasted the bulk of your golden nutrition window, you have also made a fatal mistake. When the body releases AMPK, i.e. during cardiovascular exercise, this hormone doesn't co-exist with mTOR and actually kills it off.
Although you can certainly achieve a fitter physique regardless of whether you do cardio before or after weights, recent studies seem to weight heavily in favor of performing your aerobic activity before you begin using dumbbells and barbells. In order to learn how to lose weight, getting past common myths like this is part of the battle. You've just done that today and can now apply this new knowledge to your own training.
For many years, this was a subject which was usually answered with personal opinion. There was no real proof whether it was more effective to perform cardiovascular activity before or after a workout, so most people would simply do what worked for their own body and pass on their findings to others.
That's no longer the case. Today we'll be looking at a few recent studies and talking about why science has now shown cardiovascular activity to be more effective when performed before resistance exercises, as opposed to afterwards. [
The video today will explain whether you should do cardio before or after weights in the gym.
Participants in a study at the James Maddison University were subjected to an exercise program over a number of months where one group followed a cardio/weights spit and the others followed a weights/cardio split. The muscle growth in those who did their resistance training first was substantially lower than those on the opposite routine.
Furthermore, the Journal of Strength and Conditioning recently carried out a study on this topic to discover the fat loss benefits, too. Their findings were similar. Those who performed aerobic exercise before hitting the iron were able to increase fat loss results considerably over the group of case studies doing it the opposite way around.
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.
The main findings of recent studies focus on the effects of two enzymes:
* AMPK
* Mammalian Target Of Rapamycin (also called mTOR for short!)
While mTOR is the enzyme responsible for kick-starting the body into the muscle building process at the end of a tough resistance workout, AMPK gets released during aerobic activity to adjust the body for endurance. For around 60 minutes after a workout you'll have a surge of mTOR, meaning the golden window for nutrition is this period if your goal is to gain lean muscle and burn excess fat. This surge lasts around 6 hours. []
If you finish your weight training and then sit on a bike for 45 minutes you have not only wasted the bulk of your golden nutrition window, you have also made a fatal mistake. When the body releases AMPK, i.e. during cardiovascular exercise, this hormone doesn't co-exist with mTOR and actually kills it off.
Although you can certainly achieve a fitter physique regardless of whether you do cardio before or after weights, recent studies seem to weight heavily in favor of performing your aerobic activity before you begin using dumbbells and barbells. In order to learn how to lose weight, getting past common myths like this is part of the battle. You've just done that today and can now apply this new knowledge to your own training.
About the Author:
Next Step: Learn the easy, straightforward facts 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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