Group: Beginners to Exercise

Created: 2012/01/01, Members: 969, Messages: 18927

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cardio after workout? newbie here

thumpiz
thumpiz
Posts: 12
Joined: 2003/09/19
Philippines
2004/04/28, 09:06 PM
im a newbie here, does cardio after workout is good or bad for me? btw, im doing a toning program i lift high reps.. i want to get rid of my fats and get lean.
vivavegas02
vivavegas02
Posts: 96
Joined: 2004/03/18
United States
2004/04/29, 01:38 AM
Hi, I have read that doing cardio is good to do before the weights, like only 16 minutes of it. Then workout cardio after your weights. I am sorry I don't remember why that is.. but I read it on here.
thumpiz
thumpiz
Posts: 12
Joined: 2003/09/19
Philippines
2004/04/29, 01:53 AM
oh well so its not bad to do cardio after workout?
I_Am-aZon
I_Am-aZon
Posts: 893
Joined: 2003/02/18
Canada
2004/04/29, 09:05 AM
I copied and pasted this previous post for you. Hope this helps. It was originally posted by diannej

BARBELLS BEFORE BIKES: STOP DOING CARDIO BEFORE YOU WEIGHT TRAIN!
by Larry Pepe

It kills me every time I see it. One person after another shows up at the gym, raring to go. They check in at the front desk, put their gear away and make a beeline for the cardio equipment. Somewhere between 20 and 60 minutes later they drag themselves off that treadmill and on to the gym floor to start the weight training portion of their session. This may be the most common training mistake I have seen in roughly 15 years of training in gyms from New York to California. There are a number of reasons why this training sequence can not only minimize your results but also holds the potential for injury.

Let's make a few things clear before we get started. If you want to warm up by doing 5 minutes of cardio before you hit the weights, power to you. If it makes you feel better prepared to train hard and get the most out of your weight training, great. In colder climates, especially with the fall and winter seasons upon us, this may even be advisable. But remember, we're talking about a cardio warm-up before training, not a cardio session aimed at burning fat. That will come after you train, not before, if you are sequencing the workout properly.

NUTRITIONAL REASONS
Ever heard that you will burn more fat if you do cardio on an empty stomach? Wrong. You will burn more fat if you are depleted of carbohydrates when you do cardio. Protein and dietary fats don't affect the equation. If you wanted to, and it didn't bother your stomach, you could drink a high protein/very low carb protein drink or eat a chicken breast or a piece of lean red meat minutes before you started cardio and you'd still burn the same amount of fat. But, if you have a piece of fruit or a cup of rice before that same session, you won't.

When you eat carbohydrates, the body stores them in the form of glycogen in your liver. Then, as you need to use them for energy, the glycogen stores are used until they are depleted. The problem is that the body will not burn fat until the glycogen stores are depleted. In other words, until you burn all your stored carbs, the body will not turn to your fat stores for energy and no fat will be burned. Now for the really bad news. Studies have indicated that it can take as much as 29 minutes of cardiovascular activity to deplete your glycogen stores. So, when you did that 30 minute cardio session after eating carbs sometime within several hours of beginning the session, you burned fat for a whopping minute--ONE MINUTE.

Does that mean that the session was a total waste of time. No. There are two benefits to cardiovascular work. In addition to burning fat, you elevate your metabolism every time you do cardio, which enhances your body's ability to metabolize food and burn fat for several hours after the session. You'll get that benefit regardless of whether your glycogen stores are full or depleted. But, if you are going to spend the time doing cardio in the first place, why settle for only half the benefit? You're going to work just as hard and spend just as much time either way.

While glycogen (carbs) will deprive you of the full benefit of your cardio, it has the opposite effect on working with the weights. Remember that the benefits to weight training are building/maintaining lean muscle tissue and elevated metabolism. This is anaerobic activity, not aerobic activity like cardio. Therefore, you don't weight train to burn bodyfat. Rather, you do it to build muscle.

When you weight train (anaerobic activity), the body's preferred energy source that enables you to train hard and be and stay strong for the workout is--you guessed it--carbohydrate. So, if you train before you do cardio, the glycogen necessary for productive workouts is both available and used. As you train the glycogen is used for energy and depleted. Ah! Depleted glycogen. Exactly where you want to be when you start cardio (aerobic activity) so that you can BURN FAT!

PRACTICAL REASONS
In addition to the nutritional reasons we've covered, there are other practical considerations that dictate doing your weight training before your cardio. Have you heard about or witnessed many people injuring themselves walking on a treadmill or stairmaster or riding a bike? Me neither. In the grand scheme of things, cardio may be tedious at times, but the risk of injury is pretty slim. Now, how many times have you seen or heard someone talk about pulling this or that or experiencing some discomfort because of something they did while weight training? Hopefully not too often, but a helluva lot more than with cardio. So, you'd have to agree that between the two, there is a greater risk of injury with weight training than there is with cardio. Given that fact, doesn't it make the most sense to weight train when you are in your freshest, strongest condition, both physically and mentally? Obviously, you are going to be in that peak condition when you get to the gym, not after you've done cardio for a half-hour or more at a high enough heart rate to burn fat.

The bottom line: Weight train first, when you have everything in your favor. You'll be mentally and physically fresher and stronger. You'll be in the ideal physiological environment as a result of your nutrition and appropriate use of your glycogen stores for the activities your're engaging in and the respective benefits they offer. Barbells don't just come before bikes in the dictionary. For the MAXIMUM RESULT, they should be sequenced that way in the gym too.
Catman
Catman
Posts: 3
Joined: 2004/04/20
United States
2004/04/29, 09:21 AM
Good reading. Good advice. Thanks for posting.

============
Quoting from I_Am-azon:

I copied and pasted this previous post for you. Hope this helps. It was originally posted by diannej

BARBELLS BEFORE BIKES: STOP DOING CARDIO BEFORE YOU WEIGHT TRAIN!
by Larry Pepe

It kills me every time I see it. One person after another shows up at the gym, raring to go. They check in at the front desk, put their gear away and make a beeline for the cardio equipment. Somewhere between 20 and 60 minutes later they drag themselves off that treadmill and on to the gym floor to start the weight training portion of their session. This may be the most common training mistake I have seen in roughly 15 years of training in gyms from New York to California. There are a number of reasons why this training sequence can not only minimize your results but also holds the potential for injury.

Let's make a few things clear before we get started. If you want to warm up by doing 5 minutes of cardio before you hit the weights, power to you. If it makes you feel better prepared to train hard and get the most out of your weight training, great. In colder climates, especially with the fall and winter seasons upon us, this may even be advisable. But remember, we're talking about a cardio warm-up before training, not a cardio session aimed at burning fat. That will come after you train, not before, if you are sequencing the workout properly.

NUTRITIONAL REASONS
Ever heard that you will burn more fat if you do cardio on an empty stomach? Wrong. You will burn more fat if you are depleted of carbohydrates when you do cardio. Protein and dietary fats don't affect the equation. If you wanted to, and it didn't bother your stomach, you could drink a high protein/very low carb protein drink or eat a chicken breast or a piece of lean red meat minutes before you started cardio and you'd still burn the same amount of fat. But, if you have a piece of fruit or a cup of rice before that same session, you won't.

When you eat carbohydrates, the body stores them in the form of glycogen in your liver. Then, as you need to use them for energy, the glycogen stores are used until they are depleted. The problem is that the body will not burn fat until the glycogen stores are depleted. In other words, until you burn all your stored carbs, the body will not turn to your fat stores for energy and no fat will be burned. Now for the really bad news. Studies have indicated that it can take as much as 29 minutes of cardiovascular activity to deplete your glycogen stores. So, when you did that 30 minute cardio session after eating carbs sometime within several hours of beginning the session, you burned fat for a whopping minute--ONE MINUTE.

Does that mean that the session was a total waste of time. No. There are two benefits to cardiovascular work. In addition to burning fat, you elevate your metabolism every time you do cardio, which enhances your body's ability to metabolize food and burn fat for several hours after the session. You'll get that benefit regardless of whether your glycogen stores are full or depleted. But, if you are going to spend the time doing cardio in the first place, why settle for only half the benefit? You're going to work just as hard and spend just as much time either way.

While glycogen (carbs) will deprive you of the full benefit of your cardio, it has the opposite effect on working with the weights. Remember that the benefits to weight training are building/maintaining lean muscle tissue and elevated metabolism. This is anaerobic activity, not aerobic activity like cardio. Therefore, you don't weight train to burn bodyfat. Rather, you do it to build muscle.

When you weight train (anaerobic activity), the body's preferred energy source that enables you to train hard and be and stay strong for the workout is--you guessed it--carbohydrate. So, if you train before you do cardio, the glycogen necessary for productive workouts is both available and used. As you train the glycogen is used for energy and depleted. Ah! Depleted glycogen. Exactly where you want to be when you start cardio (aerobic activity) so that you can BURN FAT!

PRACTICAL REASONS
In addition to the nutritional reasons we've covered, there are other practical considerations that dictate doing your weight training before your cardio. Have you heard about or witnessed many people injuring themselves walking on a treadmill or stairmaster or riding a bike? Me neither. In the grand scheme of things, cardio may be tedious at times, but the risk of injury is pretty slim. Now, how many times have you seen or heard someone talk about pulling this or that or experiencing some discomfort because of something they did while weight training? Hopefully not too often, but a helluva lot more than with cardio. So, you'd have to agree that between the two, there is a greater risk of injury with weight training than there is with cardio. Given that fact, doesn't it make the most sense to weight train when you are in your freshest, strongest condition, both physically and mentally? Obviously, you are going to be in that peak condition when you get to the gym, not after you've done cardio for a half-hour or more at a high enough heart rate to burn fat.

The bottom line: Weight train first, when you have everything in your favor. You'll be mentally and physically fresher and stronger. You'll be in the ideal physiological environment as a result of your nutrition and appropriate use of your glycogen stores for the activities your're engaging in and the respective benefits they offer. Barbells don't just come before bikes in the dictionary. For the MAXIMUM RESULT, they should be sequenced that way in the gym too.
=============
bb1fit
bb1fit
Posts: 11,105
Joined: 2001/06/30
United States
2004/04/29, 10:02 AM
Do not do cardio before weights.

--------------
If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything....

bb1fit@freetrainers.com
bb1fit
bb1fit
Posts: 11,105
Joined: 2001/06/30
United States
2004/04/29, 10:15 AM
Resistance training should always take priority over cardio...here is why...

The long term gains of increased lean body mass and increased secretion of hormones like GH and test far outweigh the calories burnt during a cardio session.

By doing cardio before weights, you are simply reducing the amount of glycogen available that could have been used more effectively to fuel your muscles through the weight training session.:big_smile::dumbbell::big_smile:

--------------
If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything....

bb1fit@freetrainers.com
princesslodgey
princesslodgey
Posts: 1,748
Joined: 2004/02/21
United Kingdom
2004/04/29, 03:12 PM
I hate to be pedantic but.......
I completely agree with the doing weights before cardio but some of the info in the post is inaccurate -
Your body doesn't use up all it's glycogen stores before burning fat, you burn fat and use glycogen simultaneously , the proportions of which vary according to intensity of exercise (and this gave rise to that old misconception the fat burning zone, but that is another post altogether)
Oh and another thing, glycogen isn't just stored in your liver, there are huge stores in your muscles aswell.
If you are exercising purely to lose weight low glycogen during cardio may not be too bad a thing, but glycogen depletion generally leads to feelings of extreme fatigue, and this may affect motivation. If you're doing cardio for cardiovascular fitness and performance, glycogen depletion is the last thing you want.

There, glad to get that off my chest.
thumpiz
thumpiz
Posts: 12
Joined: 2003/09/19
Philippines
2004/05/01, 08:14 PM
thanks for the advice guys
garvani
garvani
Posts: 43
Joined: 2004/04/01
New Zealand
2004/05/02, 01:39 AM
this is a great post thanks I_Am-azon that is some well needed info for me.. i was doing cardio on weight training off days, but im going to do it 6 days a week as i were. Im after weightloss, but also want to gain watever muscle i can.. i read on here, you shouldnt do cardio after weights because the cardio will burn muscle instead of fat, how do you minimise this? (without doing cardio on off days as i were, because im not expereinceing much weight loss). Diet is ok btw.
bb1fit
bb1fit
Posts: 11,105
Joined: 2001/06/30
United States
2004/05/02, 01:58 PM
YOu are very much correct..glycogen depletion totally is an art. It id what we strive to do the last week before a contest, and believe me, it is very hard to do!

This is why in my post I put it like it is, "you are simply reducing the amount of glycogen available that could have been used more effectively".

And as far as liver glycogen and muscle glycogen, there is actually not much stored in the liver, and this is stored for a later use and takes a non insulin dependent pathway. This is precisely why fructose is no good immediately post workout, it tops off liver glycogen. We want all metabolic pathways to lead toward muscle glycogen.

Good post..nice to see someone who has a bit of a handle on things(science and research) rather than just what "somebody" wrote or said!:big_smile:

============
Quoting from princesslodgey:

I hate to be pedantic but.......
I completely agree with the doing weights before cardio but some of the info in the post is inaccurate -
Your body doesn't use up all it's glycogen stores before burning fat, you burn fat and use glycogen simultaneously , the proportions of which vary according to intensity of exercise (and this gave rise to that old misconception the fat burning zone, but that is another post altogether)
Oh and another thing, glycogen isn't just stored in your liver, there are huge stores in your muscles aswell.
If you are exercising purely to lose weight low glycogen during cardio may not be too bad a thing, but glycogen depletion generally leads to feelings of extreme fatigue, and this may affect motivation. If you're doing cardio for cardiovascular fitness and performance, glycogen depletion is the last thing you want.

There, glad to get that off my chest.

=============


--------------
If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything....

bb1fit@freetrainers.com
princesslodgey
princesslodgey
Posts: 1,748
Joined: 2004/02/21
United Kingdom
2004/05/03, 05:35 AM
I'm just coming at things from a slightly different angle. I really enjoy weighttraining but I'm not a body builder and my CV fitness is a high priority for me. From time to time I do more endurance activities like cycling and hillwalking and glycogen and carbs are my friends :) glycogen depletion is really unpleasant in this situation - you just feel so weak and useless! It's really interesting to discover that bodybuilders actually aim for it - you learn something new every day!
thumpiz
thumpiz
Posts: 12
Joined: 2003/09/19
Philippines
2004/05/03, 06:34 AM
one newbie question. im doing toning at losing fat here coz i already build some muscles. so right after you workout you shouldnt do cardio?? coz you lose some muscles right? so wen is the best time to do some intense workout? btw, thanks a bunch guys! additional info will much appreciate
princesslodgey
princesslodgey
Posts: 1,748
Joined: 2004/02/21
United Kingdom
2004/05/04, 05:24 AM
There are a few options - you can alternate days which is what I usually do e.g.
mon/wed/fri - weights
tues/thurs/sat - cardio
sun - rest
or if you want to do more workouts than this you can split them into two - one workout in the morning and one in the evening.
There's nothing to stop you doing cardio after weights but some people recommend having a recovery drink (protein/carbs mix) after the weights component.
This isn't evidence based but on personal experience I don't do cardio after a lower body workout because my legs are too fatigued and I tend to do HIIT on days when I haven't done weights - I do more gentle cardio if I do any on weights days.
It's important to remember that you build muscle during recovery not during exercise and that overdoing it will inhibit your gains.
hope this helps
princesslodgey
princesslodgey
Posts: 1,748
Joined: 2004/02/21
United Kingdom
2004/05/04, 05:31 AM
Oh, bb1, can you tell me a bit more about the fructose thing?
are you saying that fructose immediately post workout increases liver glycogen in preference to muscle glycogen?
and does this inhibit how much muscle glycogen is replenished?
Reckin007
Reckin007
Posts: 56
Joined: 2004/06/22
Canada
2004/06/28, 11:18 AM
bump.....sorry if I'm not allowed to do that, this one is just a great post
mayris
mayris
Posts: 18
Joined: 2004/07/02
United States
2004/07/09, 03:08 AM
hey guys, i did the same mistake. I worked out my ass doing cardio and then weights. well i was doing cardio everyday and weights everyday. My legs are killing me now from what they tell me i have shint plints? and my knees hurt. now after reading here about this topic. i said i was going to try it and change my whole routine.
Thanks for the info
ixiaznretard
ixiaznretard
Posts: 146
Joined: 2006/07/28
United States
2007/10/26, 12:58 AM
yeah same swimming hardcore for like 10 minutes then hit the barbells and i felt pretty used up already!