cardio
 

ive heard that cardio before a workout greatly reduces your hormone levels. Is that true? is cardio better before or after?

For me, cardio is better after lifting. I tend to focus my energy more in the weight room than cardio and have had better results strength-wise keeping cardio after lifting. Some prefer cardio before lifting (more of a fat loss reason I guess) and still get results. It depends on what you want and what you are willing to focus on. :weights:

I prefer cardio after because my glycogen tends to be depleted. That way more fat is burned while doing the cardio. It's best to do cardio fasted. You might find that you use most of your energy doing cardio and don't have enough left for lifting. This is especially important if you eat something before lifting/cardio. I don't think it does anything to hormone levels although I might be wrong.

i say do cardio after a workout..it's the best time for fatloss if that's what your looking for. i lost 45 lbs by jumproping, running stairs, and running until i felt my stomach just act weird! :D

I would split them up totally. If you workout at night, do cardio in the morning...or reverse.

hmm
 

I do it before i lift for a few reasons. Im burning weight for one. Also if i say im doing it after i lift im way to lazy and dont lol. Also for some reason when i do cardio before a workout it gets my blood going and stuff so i just get more pumped to lift i dunno. I also feel alot looser and nicer and warmed up etc. I think its mostly on opinion though.

Also want to add im not a body builder im going for muscle endurance and what not. I am currently doing high rep sets with low rests.

I do a 10 minute warmup before lifting. Then after my routine, I stretch, then do cardio. Who wants to lift after sweating your ass off?

I would say it definately depends on your goals...

If you want to be cutting then focus more on your diet and add cardio in on non-lifting days. Cardio after weights is always rough for me and cardio before weights depletes me so I just don't do it when I'm cutting.

If you're going for just pure fatloss and maintenance of strength etc then do cardio lots or every day. I would say it wouldn't matter too much if it was before weights or after but just split them up over the course of the day so you're able to restore yourself. Cardio first would probably be best for fatloss though so you could put in max effort.

If you're trying to build lean muscle mass/make strength gains then your cardio should be kept to a minimum. Probably HIIT for like 15mins or so about 2-3 times a week on non-lifting days would be the max I would do. You really want your muscles to rebuild when you're bulking and doing cardio is hard on that process. Although, the HIIT would really help in keeping the bulk as clean as possible which is always nice for later when you want to strip down to a 6 pack.

These are my oppinions. I think the logic behind them make sense but I'm not an expert by any means so feel free to dispute any of the above comments.

IronWorker

i hate cardio,

but,

if i had to do it, id do it on my off days...

I just heard on the news that getting up from the couch to get some food from the fridge is now considered cardio for those individuals, like myself, that want to justify not running, biking, etc.

Wait a second.....damn.....that was just last nights dream. A good one though. :biglaugh: