cardio first??

**jesusf3055** · 03-14-2008, 08:15 AM

should I do cardio before or after lifting

**Elusive** · 03-14-2008, 08:37 AM

after

**Elusive** · 03-14-2008, 08:38 AM

search the forum many threads on this question.

**jesusf3055** · 03-14-2008, 10:34 AM

Why after

**abbot138** · 03-14-2008, 11:16 AM

if you do it before you are depleting glycogen stores that you need for lifting....do it after and these same glycogen stores will already be depleted, therefore your body will burn a greater percentage of fat instead of first burning the glycogen stores before getting to the fat.....Better option would be to do it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Dig around, this subject has been debated ad naseum.

**STRONGMAN91** · 03-14-2008, 11:50 PM

also, after working out your GH will be higher which would give you a greater potential for the results you're looking for

**swol_je** · 03-14-2008, 11:55 PM

abbot said it the best after weights or in the morning is the only time to do cardio

**STRONGMAN91** · 03-15-2008, 12:00 AM

just wondering, but people say to do Cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach...why? wouldn't your body begin to feed off of your muscle because there is nothing else to use as fuel??? any feedback would be appreciated

**swol_je** · 03-15-2008, 12:08 AM

Your body would rather burn fat(body fat) for fuel than protein (muscle), and when you first get up you have no glycogen stored so no worry about that. You have to exercise at a lower intensity rate I believe it is lower than 60% burns fat, anything higher burns carbs. But if you have no carbs then it will take protein from muscle. So NO sprints on the morning on an empty stomach, walking up hill is the best but you need a treadmill for that. Dont be hanging on to the treadmill either, damn that shit annoys me. you might aswell be walking with no incline if your gunna hang on.

**STRONGMAN91** · 03-15-2008, 12:10 AM

oh, alright. Thanks alot, appreciate it

**crawdaddy** · 03-15-2008, 06:51 AM

Originally Posted by abbot138

if you do it before you are depleting glycogen stores that you need for lifting....do it after and these same glycogen stores will already be depleted, therefore your body will burn a greater percentage of fat instead of first burning the glycogen stores before getting to the fat.....Better option would be to do it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Dig around, this subject has been debated ad naseum.

Originally Posted by swol_je

Your body would rather burn fat(body fat) for fuel than protein (muscle), and when you first get up you have no glycogen stored so no worry about that. You have to exercise at a lower intensity rate I believe it is lower than 60% burns fat, anything higher burns carbs. But if you have no carbs then it will take protein from muscle. So NO sprints on the morning on an empty stomach, walking up hill is the best but you need a treadmill for that. Dont be hanging on to the treadmill either, damn that shit annoys me. you might aswell be walking with no incline if your gunna hang on.

Well said.

**soulstealer** · 03-15-2008, 07:16 AM

Originally Posted by swol_je

Your body would rather burn fat(body fat) for fuel than protein (muscle), and when you first get up you have no glycogen stored so no worry about that. You have to exercise at a lower intensity rate I believe it is lower than 60% burns fat, anything higher burns carbs. But if you have no carbs then it will take protein from muscle. So NO sprints on the morning on an empty stomach, walking up hill is the best but you need a treadmill for that. Dont be hanging on to the treadmill either, damn that shit annoys me. you might aswell be walking with no incline if your gunna hang on.

Not 60 its no more then 70-75 of your MHR.....

**Mike Dura** · 03-15-2008, 01:50 PM

Well, you're depleting glycogen in legs so maybe cardio before legs should be avoided. Although that's true, there's also a gain to lifting after cardio (on non-leg days). After a high intensity cardio session (say 80% of max HR), you're metabolism raises 25.% You combine that with lifting and you'll definately be burning alot of fat during your training session. This is what I do and it goes against conventional thinking but it works for me. With a cycle, I'm able to hold unto alot of muscle dispite the high intensity cardio before lifting. There's costs versus benefits either way.

Originally Posted by abbot138

if you do it before you are depleting glycogen stores that you need for lifting....do it after and these same glycogen stores will already be depleted, therefore your body will burn a greater percentage of fat instead of first burning the glycogen stores before getting to the fat.....Better option would be to do it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Dig around, this subject has been debated ad naseum.

**gstatefaith** · 03-15-2008, 02:27 PM

Originally Posted by swol_je

Your body would rather burn fat(body fat) for fuel than protein (muscle), and when you first get up you have no glycogen stored so no worry about that. You have to exercise at a lower intensity rate I believe it is lower than 60% burns fat, anything higher burns carbs. But if you have no carbs then it will take protein from muscle. So NO sprints on the morning on an empty stomach, walking up hill is the best but you need a treadmill for that. Dont be hanging on to the treadmill either, damn that shit annoys me. you might aswell be walking with no incline if your gunna hang on.

what do you mean by hanging on to the treadmill? The treadmill machines at my gym have heart rate sensors that you have to hold on the panels in front of you. My target heart rate is 127. If i take my hands off the sensors that they make you hang on to then the machine starts beeping and tells me it needs my heart rate or it will adjust to manual mode instead of Fat burn mode. On fat burn mode, the treadmill adjusts up and down according to my target heart rate. For example, If I'm at a 10.0 incline and my heart rate is 132 it might adjust to an 8.1 incline until my heart rate goes to 127..if it dips to below 127 it will up the incline back to a 9 or 10.0 depending on what it takes to get my heart rate back up. I hang on every session, If i don't it won't read my heart rate and adjust. Is this bad?

**swol_je** · 03-15-2008, 03:51 PM

Try not hanging on and see how hard it is. The harder you make any exercise the better it is for you (in most cases). If you hang on and your back is straight your legs dont have to raise as high.

**flaco99** · 03-17-2008, 09:08 AM

Experiment and see what works for you. I always do cardio before I lift when trying to burn fat and it seems to work for me.

**Narkissos** · 03-17-2008, 11:25 AM

Originally Posted by swol_je

Your body would rather burn fat(body fat) for fuel than protein (muscle), and when you first get up you have no glycogen stored so no worry about that. .

That is untrue.

The body's preference is to conserve energy.

This is done by lowering the metabolic rate and expending 'expensive' tissue.

'Expensive' as alluded to above, refers to tissue which is highly active metabolically.

i.e. musculature.

At rest muscles burns kcals.

We've evolved to ditch proteinaceous tissue with preference...not fat.

In the overall scheme of things, it matters little for someone using a high androgen load.

But for the average dude, i.e. non-drug-using dude, post-workout cardio is superior.

I do pwo cardio solely during contest prep.

If i need to add another session... I either consume a normal meal prior to it, and work a small bodypart followed by cardio.

Or.. i consume aminos/liver/BCAAs and get to it.

-CNS