Cardio first or last?

[hoyle21]

I have been reading threads to see if this has been answered, but I am wondering if it is better to do cardio before weights, or cardio after weights.

A brief explanation of why would be cool too.

Thanks

[baseline_9]

After weights

Weight training is your foundation, you want to be fresh and strong with plenty of spare glycogen in your system

Doing cardio before weight training would leade to the exact oposite of what I have just said

[MACHINE5150]

ideally you want to do cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.. if you can't than it really depends on your preference.. I know some guys who jog 10 min before to get warmed up then do 30 min after to cut fat.. some do 30 min before and nothing after and some do after and nothing before.. the general idea is to try and do at least 30 minutes.. it is most ideally after since that would be it would be further after your last meal and would therefore burn more fat and less of the food you ate.. However it is not recomended to wait that long between ending your work out with weights and getting protein into you.. so as you can see, the ideal situation is to do it in the morning right when you wake up on a completley empty stomach

[baseline_9]

As stated above, fasted in the morning is good but make sure you have some aminos kicking around in ur system ( take a scoop of whey or some BCAA's

The issue of having to get protein in ur system as soon as you rack the last weight is over hyped and IMO bullshit. It is simply a way for supplement companies to sell you there product that you can consume at the gym

Do ur weights then do 30 mins of cardio, intervals or steady state and then get ur PWO meal down ur neck as soon as u finnish ur cardio

While doing the cardio you could drink some BCAA's and Glutamine. Thats what I do

[SlimJoe]

Cardio empty stomach early morning

[Tigershark]

Always after weights. You want all of your energy when you are lifting and if you do cardio first you will be sucking wind.

[auslifta]

Solid advice above, only make sure you have some good BCAA's in your system rather than ever training on completly empty stomach. I like to have as much energy as possible for my weight sessions.

[Mike Singletary]

Always liek to do cardio last after weight training to finish depleting glycogen reserves.

[X83]

It depends on your body fat percentage.

[hoyle21]

It depends on your body fat percentage.

Can expand on your thought process for this?

[X83]

Doing cardio first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, before you eat anything, is by far, the most effective. Whether you run, jog, walk, swim, jump rope, take an aerobics class, ride a bike, etc., doing it first thing in the morning is the best time to do it for maximum fat loss. Why? Its simple. When you do your cardio workout, you are burning calories. Lets say you wake up, eat breakfast, eat lunch later in the day, and then a few hours after lunch, you do your cardio. All you will be doing during that cardio is burning the calories and carbs of the food you just ate. When you do cardio first thing in the morning, you haven't eaten anything for the last eight or so hours because you were sleeping. So, when your body sees that there are no carbs to burn, it goes directly to stored bodyfat. And stored bodyfat is the fat that is on your body, which is the fat that you want to lose! Understand how it works? When you do your cardio sometime during the day other then first thing in the morning after lifting weights, you spend most of that time burning off carbs that you already ate that day. When you do it first thing in the morning, there are no carbs to burn, so all your body can burn is body fat!

[POPS]

the crazy cardio question has everyone stumped, me included.....

there are so many variables that come in play here that have been mentioned above. Bottom line is you will have to try trial and error and find out what works for you...

[SlimJoe]

Doing cardio first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, before you eat anything, is by far, the most effective. Whether you run, jog, walk, swim, jump rope, take an aerobics class, ride a bike, etc., doing it first thing in the morning is the best time to do it for maximum fat loss. Why? Its simple. When you do your cardio workout, you are burning calories. Lets say you wake up, eat breakfast, eat lunch later in the day, and then a few hours after lunch, you do your cardio. All you will be doing during that cardio is burning the calories and carbs of the food you just ate. When you do cardio first thing in the morning, you haven't eaten anything for the last eight or so hours because you were sleeping. So, when your body sees that there are no carbs to burn, it goes directly to stored bodyfat. And stored bodyfat is the fat that is on your body, which is the fat that you want to lose! Understand how it works? When you do your cardio sometime during the day other then first thing in the morning after lifting weights, you spend most of that time burning off carbs that you already ate that day. When you do it first thing in the morning, there are no carbs to burn, so all your body can burn is body fat!

Brill post! As I said above but this nails it