One of the most regularly asked questions in the fitness industry is 'Should you do cardio before or after weights for better fat loss and muscle growth?' Lots of people are lost in the subject of how to build muscle so today we'll clear up the science behind this subject for you.
There are a number of myths in the fitness industry which lead to confusion. This is because there is still so much scientific research which needs to be carried out. Thankfully, this particular area is something that has now been cleared up.
Over the last five years or so, there have been a number of tests on subjects to figure out the definitive answer to this popular fitness myth.
Contrary to mainstream opinion, you should be performing your cardiovascular workout prior to hitting the weights if you want to get the most out of the gym. This will surprise a few people out there, because one of the most common mistakes is to presume that you'd exhaust the muscles if you did your aerobic activity first.
Despite the old theory that you'll exhaust your muscles if you do aerobic work before resistance training, science proves that the opposite is true. Test subjects experienced better weight loss and muscular hypertrophy when they did aerobic work first.
Even subjects who were performing HIIT got the same overall results.
When you workout the body releases 2 enzymes which play a major role in your overall results. They are known as mTOR and AMPK. AMPK is designed to help you adapt to prolonged aerobic activity, so it's released as you do run on a treadmill or cycle.
The second enzyme, mTOR, is the key which turns on the muscle building process after a resistance training session. The bad news is that AMPK kills off mTOR, meaning if you stay in the gym after a training session and perform prolonged cardiovascular exercise you are significantly blunting your own muscle building process. Granted you can still achieve results, but they would be significantly superior if you did things the opposite way around.
The release of mTOR signals the beginning of the muscle building process in the body, meaning this golden window lasting around one hour is a fantastic time to consume quality nutrition to enhance your results further. This period lasts a total of 6 hours, so you ideally don't want to be performing aerobic activity during this time.
If you are one of the many people who like to perform two separate sessions in order to keep resistance training and aerobic workouts away from each other, that last piece of information will stand out as particularly groundbreaking. By separating your sessions with a six hour period you'll allow yourself to get the absolute full benefits from mTOR release before you blast fat with your HIIT session or aerobic workout.
When you are trying to lean how to build muscle in the gym, you'll encounter many areas which are shrouded in mystery and doubt, often coming down to little more than personal opinion. Thanks to ongoing scientific research, however, the question 'Should you do cardio before or after weights?' is no longer something which falls into this category.
There are a number of myths in the fitness industry which lead to confusion. This is because there is still so much scientific research which needs to be carried out. Thankfully, this particular area is something that has now been cleared up.
Over the last five years or so, there have been a number of tests on subjects to figure out the definitive answer to this popular fitness myth.
Contrary to mainstream opinion, you should be performing your cardiovascular workout prior to hitting the weights if you want to get the most out of the gym. This will surprise a few people out there, because one of the most common mistakes is to presume that you'd exhaust the muscles if you did your aerobic activity first.
Despite the old theory that you'll exhaust your muscles if you do aerobic work before resistance training, science proves that the opposite is true. Test subjects experienced better weight loss and muscular hypertrophy when they did aerobic work first.
Even subjects who were performing HIIT got the same overall results.
When you workout the body releases 2 enzymes which play a major role in your overall results. They are known as mTOR and AMPK. AMPK is designed to help you adapt to prolonged aerobic activity, so it's released as you do run on a treadmill or cycle.
The second enzyme, mTOR, is the key which turns on the muscle building process after a resistance training session. The bad news is that AMPK kills off mTOR, meaning if you stay in the gym after a training session and perform prolonged cardiovascular exercise you are significantly blunting your own muscle building process. Granted you can still achieve results, but they would be significantly superior if you did things the opposite way around.
The release of mTOR signals the beginning of the muscle building process in the body, meaning this golden window lasting around one hour is a fantastic time to consume quality nutrition to enhance your results further. This period lasts a total of 6 hours, so you ideally don't want to be performing aerobic activity during this time.
If you are one of the many people who like to perform two separate sessions in order to keep resistance training and aerobic workouts away from each other, that last piece of information will stand out as particularly groundbreaking. By separating your sessions with a six hour period you'll allow yourself to get the absolute full benefits from mTOR release before you blast fat with your HIIT session or aerobic workout.
When you are trying to lean how to build muscle in the gym, you'll encounter many areas which are shrouded in mystery and doubt, often coming down to little more than personal opinion. Thanks to ongoing scientific research, however, the question 'Should you do cardio before or after weights?' is no longer something which falls into this category.
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Next Step: See how to build muscle with easy steps from the UK's most watched fitness instructor Russ Howe PTI. Discover whether you should do cardio before or after weights to increase results with this free video guide.
