Should I Do Cardio Before Or After I Lift? That’s a very common question. The approach you take is important because it can have a major impact on your workouts. There are no carved-in-stone rules, but a little common sense applies, too. The right way for you depends on your goals and lifestyle. Let’s take a closer look!

Cardio Before Or After For Fat Loss

If your primary goal is fat loss, you have a few options. You can do your cardio on separate days or at a separate time from your weight workout. For example, if you work out in the early afternoon, do a cardio session in the morning. That’s what Rich did. He’d do 30-45 minutes early in the day, then work out several hours later, after he rested and ate a couple of meals. If you don’t have time in the morning, you can do your cardio later in the day, after you’ve worked out, rested, and eaten. Of course, you can also do cardio on your off days. 

What If My Goal Is Muscle Mass?

Doing cardio before your weight workout will drain your energy. Sure, you can spend 5 minutes on the treadmill as part of your warm-up, but don’t do your full cardio session right before lifting. If you try to lift with intensity when you’re fatigued, your endurance will suffer along with your workout. 

What If You Have To Do Cardio With Your Weight Workout?

If there’s no choice, do cardio after weights. Still, save very intense cardio for its own day. Rich believed in a post-workout shake right after training, and that applies here. Have that shake as soon as you are done with your cardio session. To help keep the body from catabolism, sip All Day You May while you work out with weights, and even while you are performing your cardio. 

Concurrent Training

Combining weights and cardio in a single workout is called concurrent training. However, even when using this approach to build muscle and lose fat, your intense cardio sessions need to be done separately.^(1,2)

What If My Goal Is To Increase Endurance?

If you’re an endurance athlete, schedule your cardio separately from your weight workouts. Ideally, your most intense cardio sessions should be done on their own days. If you have to do them on the same day as your weight workouts, allow several hours for meals and rest. One key to endurance work is to eat plenty of carbohydrates. The more time you take between different workouts, the more time you have to get those calories in. 

How Often Should I Do Cardio?

The answer is goal-oriented. If you’re overweight intending to drop a lot of body fat, or struggling to get back into contest shape, do cardio 5-6 days a week, 45 minutes a session.

If you’re trying to gain mass but want to keep your abs, do what Rich did and do 30 minutes of cardio 3-4 times a week. You can always adjust your time and number of sessions up or down depending on your progress. 

Don’t Forget Your 5% Nutrition Supplements!

As noted above, endurance work requires plenty of carbs, as does muscle mass training. That’s where Real Carbs or Real Carbs + Protein comes into the picture. Unlike some companies, 5% Nutrition gives you several options. All you have to do is choose the one that works best for you! Of course, whether your goal is muscle mass or fat loss, we have the supplements for you. Take the time to check out our options and stock up on all your supplement needs! 

References:

1. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-014-0162-1
2. Robineau, J., Babault, N., Piscione, J., Lacome, M., & Bigard, A. X. (2016). Specific Training Effects of Concurrent Aerobic and Strength Exercises Depend on Recovery Duration. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 30(3), 672–683. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000000798