Cardio before or after heavy lifting?

cardio doesnt burn muscle. going into extreme calorie deficit burns muscle.

cardio doesnt burn muscle. going into extreme calorie deficit burns muscle.

This. Cardio after weights. The strength training uses up glycogen stores, so it forces your body to burn more fat during cardio.

Truthfully, if you do cardio first, the cardio uses up the glycogen stores, forcing your body to burn fat during strength training, but fat is a much slower source of energy than glycogen, hence the poorer performance with weights, as the energy demands are way too high for fat burning alone to keep up with.

So weights first, then cardio. Or always do them on separate days.

I've been working out for about a month or so now and I'm loving it! My goal is to lose weight and build muscles at the same time.
However, I hear that it may largely depend upon when you do your cardio. Apparently, cardio after weight-lifting breaks down the muscles you've just stimulated, and cardio before weight-lifting results in fatigue. Therefore, less muscle development!

I'm so confused! I've just cut down on cardio (HIIT)! Too scared to lose muscle, but I also need to lose a few kilograms! I still want to look plump after the weight loss.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/does-cardio-burn-muscle/ -- here's your answer.
Generally, it's suggested to do weights first, when you're fresh and able keep proper form, then later burn every last bit of energy with cardio. If you tire yourself with cardio first, you'll probably be lifting lighter and poorer, that's the only reason behind advocating cardio post weight. If you're not doing it back to back, but ie. AM cardio, PM weight, then it doesn't matter which order. You're a woman, so you have to do cardio to lose fat, men are luckier and can often get away without. If you don't want to lose muscle while losing fat, make sure that cardio doesn't create too much of a calorie deficit.

Huh? I know many women who have lost plenty of fat without cardio.

I've actually heard it's better to do cardio after strength. The strength training depletes your glycogen stores allowing you to burn more fat during cardio than stored energy (in the form of glycogen). I find I do my best at cardio if I do it before I lift though. Just a personal preference to me though. And as far as doing the bike before you lift. You should ALWAYS warm up before you lift. So 5 or 10 minutes of cardio before lifting is a good thing to get your muscles loose.

I've been working out for about a month or so now and I'm loving it! My goal is to lose weight and build muscles at the same time.
However, I hear that it may largely depend upon when you do your cardio. Apparently, cardio after weight-lifting breaks down the muscles you've just stimulated, and cardio before weight-lifting results in fatigue. Therefore, less muscle development!

I'm so confused! I've just cut down on cardio (HIIT)! Too scared to lose muscle, but I also need to lose a few kilograms! I still want to look plump after the weight loss.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/does-cardio-burn-muscle/ -- here's your answer.
Generally, it's suggested to do weights first, when you're fresh and able keep proper form, then later burn every last bit of energy with cardio. If you tire yourself with cardio first, you'll probably be lifting lighter and poorer, that's the only reason behind advocating cardio post weight. If you're not doing it back to back, but ie. AM cardio, PM weight, then it doesn't matter which order. You're a woman, so you have to do cardio to lose fat, men are luckier and can often get away without. If you don't want to lose muscle while losing fat, make sure that cardio doesn't create too much of a calorie deficit.

Huh? I know many women who have lost plenty of fat without cardio.

OK, you're right, it largely depends on a starting point. Above 20-22% BF (for women) pretty much anything works. Now I'm at 18-19% and I can starve myself to death before my body gives up on thigh fat. At this point women simply have to do cardio to activate blood flow and stimulate fat loss in stubborn areas.

I've been working out for about a month or so now and I'm loving it! My goal is to lose weight and build muscles at the same time.
However, I hear that it may largely depend upon when you do your cardio. Apparently, cardio after weight-lifting breaks down the muscles you've just stimulated, and cardio before weight-lifting results in fatigue. Therefore, less muscle development!

I'm so confused! I've just cut down on cardio (HIIT)! Too scared to lose muscle, but I also need to lose a few kilograms! I still want to look plump after the weight loss.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/does-cardio-burn-muscle/ -- here's your answer.
Generally, it's suggested to do weights first, when you're fresh and able keep proper form, then later burn every last bit of energy with cardio. If you tire yourself with cardio first, you'll probably be lifting lighter and poorer, that's the only reason behind advocating cardio post weight. If you're not doing it back to back, but ie. AM cardio, PM weight, then it doesn't matter which order. You're a woman, so you have to do cardio to lose fat, men are luckier and can often get away without. If you don't want to lose muscle while losing fat, make sure that cardio doesn't create too much of a calorie deficit.

Huh? I know many women who have lost plenty of fat without cardio.

OK, you're right, it largely depends on a starting point. Above 20-22% BF (for women) pretty much anything works. Now I'm at 18-19% and I can starve myself to death before my body gives up on thigh fat. At this point women simply have to do cardio to activate blood flow and stimulate fat loss in stubborn areas.

Could you provide a link on that info? I don't quite believe that either...

Lyle McDonald, "Ultimate Diet 2.0".

As it turns out, thyroid levels affect blood flow to fat cells significantly. Low thyroid (which
is common among women and, I suspect, among genetically average men) decreases blood flow to
fat cells and normal or even high thyroid levels improve it. Short of using thyroid medication (a
replacement dose of perhaps 25-100 mcg), there's not much we can do here.
However, aerobic exercise improves blood flow to fat cells in addition to burning calories, so
that's a possible solution. Some studies show that exercise can overcome the normally low blood
flow. Considering their problems with lower bodyfat, this might explain the observation that
female bodybuilders need to do more cardio than men to get ripped.


EDIT: Mind you, he's talking about cutting to sub normal fat levels. That was my original mistake, assuming that every woman wants to cut to 13%, but... I'm obsessed, cranky and my body is working against me. And I did not have my morning coffee yet.

]Basically you're saying that cardio improves fat loss. Yes, it does, but cardio is not essential to lose fat after you reach a certain body fat%. Deficit of calories is much more essential

Basically I'm saying that it sucks to be a woman. Try working with a body that will cling to its fat so much that will rather shut down reproductive system. Again: cardio is needed to activate blood flow to stubborn fat areas. In women, that blood flow activates after eating, which is why our fat literally goes straight to our thighs. But in reverse, it's the last one activated during restricting calories. Cardio helps activating it.

Yes, of course, if you restrict your calories for a long long period of time, that fat will go, sooner or later (later, rather, much later, after woman's body cheats her of other useful stuff, like energy and will to live). But also consider the mental factor here and how many people get discouraged hitting plateau.

I do cardio in the AM and lift in the PM, problem solved