Why Performing Cardio Before Weights Is Better For Building Lean Muscle

By Howe Russ


When you are trying to build lean muscle in the gym, should you do cardio before or after weights for maximum results? This is a question often asked and rarely answered with anything more than personal opinion. If you are trying to figure out how to lose weight or build muscle, you're about to discover the facts on this topic.

Only in recent years has science shed any light on this topic. Until as recently as five years ago, the entire answer to this question was based on theory. This led to people being told different information by everybody they asked for advice.

That's no longer the case. Today we'll be looking at a few recent studies and talking about why science has now shown cardiovascular activity to be more effective when performed before resistance exercises, as opposed to afterwards. []

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.

For those who are training for fat loss, the findings were also highly in favor of doing aerobic exercise prior to any barbell work. The Journal Of Strength And Conditioning discovered that weight loss, specifically fat loss, was increased greatly in individuals who did their aerobic exercise first.

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....

The main findings of recent studies focus on the effects of two enzymes:

* AMPK

* mTOR

While mTOR is the enzyme responsible for kick-starting the body into the muscle building process at the end of a tough resistance workout, AMPK gets released during aerobic activity to adjust the body for endurance. For around 60 minutes after a workout you'll have a surge of mTOR, meaning the golden window for nutrition is this period if your goal is to gain lean muscle and burn excess fat. This surge lasts around 6 hours. []

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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