Why Performing Cardio Before Weights Is Better For Building Lean Muscle
By Howe Russ
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.
There are numerous areas in the fitness industry which, until recently, were shrouded in mystery. This is one of them. Despite the fact everybody knows someone who has some fitness knowledge, until very recently the answer to this question was based entirely on personal opinion because there weren't sufficient studies to give a definitive answer.
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. []
That's not to say you can't get results the other way too, obviously. But recent studies at the James Maddison University found that case studies doing their resistance workout first were unable to keep up with case studies who were getting through their aerobic exercise first. When it came to building lean muscle, the 'weights first' group found that their progress was substantially blunted in comparison.
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.
Most folks at the gym base their opinion on this subject on what works for their own body. While there is nothing wrong with that approach at all, science suggests that those who insist upon working out with weights as soon as they hit the gym could increase results further by switching up their routine a little.
Two enzymes released during exercise will play an important factor here:
* Adenosine Monophosphate-Activated Protein Kinase (also called AMPK for short!)
* mTOR (aka mammalian target of rapamycin)
You may have heard of these before. AMPK is the enzyme responsible for helping the body adapt to endurance exercise, while mTOR is considered an 'on' switch in the muscle building process. After you finish a weights workout, your mTOR levels surge for around one hour. This means consuming quality nutrition at this point will ensure quality lean muscle gains. After around six hours, levels of mTOR return 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.
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.
There are numerous areas in the fitness industry which, until recently, were shrouded in mystery. This is one of them. Despite the fact everybody knows someone who has some fitness knowledge, until very recently the answer to this question was based entirely on personal opinion because there weren't sufficient studies to give a definitive answer.
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. []
That's not to say you can't get results the other way too, obviously. But recent studies at the James Maddison University found that case studies doing their resistance workout first were unable to keep up with case studies who were getting through their aerobic exercise first. When it came to building lean muscle, the 'weights first' group found that their progress was substantially blunted in comparison.
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.
Most folks at the gym base their opinion on this subject on what works for their own body. While there is nothing wrong with that approach at all, science suggests that those who insist upon working out with weights as soon as they hit the gym could increase results further by switching up their routine a little.
Two enzymes released during exercise will play an important factor here:
* Adenosine Monophosphate-Activated Protein Kinase (also called AMPK for short!)
* mTOR (aka mammalian target of rapamycin)
You may have heard of these before. AMPK is the enzyme responsible for helping the body adapt to endurance exercise, while mTOR is considered an 'on' switch in the muscle building process. After you finish a weights workout, your mTOR levels surge for around one hour. This means consuming quality nutrition at this point will ensure quality lean muscle gains. After around six hours, levels of mTOR return 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.
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:
Get more advice: Learn the simple, no-nonsense truth behind how to lose weight with Russ Howe PTI, the UK's most popular Personal Trainer online. His free video on whether you should do cardio before or after weights will clear up this common issue for you.