Should You Do Cardio Before Or After Weights For Lean Muscle Gains?

By Howe Russ


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.

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.

Recent studies showed beyond any doubt that performing a cardiovascular workout before resistance training was far more effective than doing it the other way around. Today we'll be delving into two of the most well documented studies in this area, showing you why they reached their controversial conclusions. []

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.

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.

Of course, it is highly important to remember that if you are regularly training with weights and getting a good deal of cardiovascular activity into your life then you will still see positive results no matter which order you perform them in....

There are two key enzymes which play important roles here:

* Adenosine Monophosphate-Activated Protein Kinase (also called AMPK for short!)

* Mammalian Target Of Rapamycin (also called mTOR for short!)

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. []

By spending that crucial hour still working hard in the gym on a bike or treadmill you do two bad things. Firstly, you waste that golden hour of mTOR release. Secondly, you'll release more AMPK which actually blunts the release of mTOR, too.

Learning how to lose weight is a journey often shrouded in myths and opinions. However, thanks to the benefits of modern science you now know the true facts behind whether you should do cardio before or after weights to maximize your fat loss results in the gym.




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