Cardio after weight training ???

[OCTAPUS]

Hello all

The last two months I am in my cutting face and I do four days per week weight training followed immediately by 35 min of 70% MHR cardio. The question is if I am doing the right thing by having cardio just after my last set of weight training.
Should I wait a little bit?
Do I need some kind of supplement or food for energy? (My aim of course is toy loose body fat)
And finally, what about doing cardio the day I train my legs?

Thank you in advance and many kisses from Greece

Octapus

 

[Scotty the Body]

If your training before, I would drop the cardio down to 20-25 min and no more.
You are probably finding results but I think you may be loosing some LBM doing to much cardio after a workout that has probably depleated your energy stores.
I would also NOT do the cardio after leg days, personally, my legs are begged after a good workout.

 

[Fit Freak]

IMO...you're doing fine...when cutting I do b/w 30-40 minutes of cardio immediately following my lifting...otherwise first thing in the am on an empty stomach.

I would say stick to what you're doing...AND definately don't eat and wait after lifting...the purpose of cardio after weights is that you've already depleted most of your glycogen stores and therefore you should be able to burn a higher number of calories from fat.

 

[neanderthal]

Originally posted by OCTAPUS
Hello all

The last two months I am in my cutting face and I do four days per week weight training followed immediately by 35 min of 70% MHR cardio. The question is if I am doing the right thing by having cardio just after my last set of weight training.
Should I wait a little bit?
Do I need some kind of supplement or food for energy? (My aim of course is toy loose body fat)
And finally, what about doing cardio the day I train my legs?

Thank you in advance and many kisses from Greece

Octapus

when i was cutting, i'd usually do my weightlifting routine, have my whey protein shake, then i'd wait 20 mins until i did my cardio, usually 20-30mins worth. it seemed to work well for me.

 

[bhunkier1976]

cardio after weight training

Very best advice, independently from two sources re: cardio before and after weight training. If training 3 days or more weekly, do minimum of 30 mins. before and after, total cardio of 30 minutes that is. If training less than 3 days weekly, then do total cardio before and after of 60 minutes: any combination of cardio exercises can be used: treadmill, stationary bike (non-recumbent, i.e., no back support to lean on) stair climber or swimming, if available.) This will increase not only your circulation/pump but also your calorie consumption and do the most to improve your overall appearance. Always drink plenty of plain water; be very careful not to dehydrate your self. The two independent sources for me were: 1} a former pro football player and now fitness/gym owner/manager; 2} a former college football player @ Penn State, now a practicing M.D.

 

[oaktownboy]

when you do cardio in the morning on an empty stomach, do you go all out to the point of exhaustion or do you take it easy, like walking?

 

[Arnold]

Personally, I do not think it makes a difference (or at least not significant enough to worry about) when you do cardio, the whole cardio on an empty stomach first thing in the morning has no real science behind it. I think this was popularized by Bill Phillips and Body for LIfe, however it has no real merit.

The only cardio I do is HITT, and I do it on a separate day from any weight training.

 

[Dale Mabry]

The science behind it is that more GH is released in times of low blood sugar. It is insignificant since the increase in GH is both small and shorth-lived.

 

[Arnold]

One of the effects of exercise is low blood sugar levels.

It does not really matter anyway because it takes approximately 30 minutes for your body to use all sugar/glycogen reserves from the blood and liver. I don't know about you, but I never do HIIT cardio past 20 minutes.

But then we get into the whole cardio debate about doing long duration cardio for at least 30 minutes before the body uses free fatty acids for energy (this was big in the 80's), where as it's now pretty well accepted that short duration/high intensity cardio is much more effective anyway...so now we're back to my original point it does not really matter when you do cardio.

The point of cardio is not to burn fat, or it should not be, that is what I was referring to. Any benefit in regards to fat burning from long duration cardio is negated by the catabolic effects, e.g. muscle loss. Ultimate fat loss comes from an increase in LBM, and an increase in your metabolism 24 hours per day, this is accomplished thru HIIT cardio, weight training and proper diet.