Cardio After Lifting Sessions?

[Sleazy]

Hi All,

I am on my cutting routine right now and things get pretty hectic for me during the summer. I have recently been doing small cardio sessions directly after my lifting sessions for about 30 mins 3 times a week just so I don't have to come back to gym later on. My question is does this hurt my lifting that I did beforehand at all (muscle growth/maintenance) or do I really have to do it on off days? If so, whats the reasoning behind that? My main goal is just to maintain/put on lean muscle as I drop some BF right now. Thanks in advance.

 

[hornedfrogs07]

Dunno if it hurts your progress or not, honestly, but I do the same thing, cardio after lifting about 3x/week.

 

[jynx]

It's counter productive. Keep cardio on its own day for optimal benefits. By running after lifting, your body is being further put into a ctabolic state, thus burning muscle for energy. If you must do cardio and lifting on the same day, leave at least 6-10 hourse in between.

 

[Sleazy]

Ok, I thought it might be just wasn't sure for the reasoning. Thanks.

 

[Vennom96]

This topic has gone 2 ways forever and it always will until somebody shows some scientific proof. About half will say it burns muscle after and about half will say that cardio after is the optimal time for burning fat. I try to do cardio in the mornings and lifting in the afternoon/evenings. But lets face it, most people dont want to nor have the time of day to go to the gym 8-10x a week to do cardio and lifting at different sessions. So you pretty much have to work w/ what you have. If you dont have time to go 2x a day then just do it afterwards. I seriously doubt 20min of cardio after lifting is gonna strip all of your muscle off.

 

[Golden_Muscle]

Your supposed to do cardio after weight training because in that state your able to burn way more fat than normal because something in your blood is depleted, and if you stay within your target heart rate, you wont burn any more muscle than doing cardio 10 hours before or after.


I forget the name for the thing in your blood that gets depleted. It might be glysogen or something, but not 100% sure.

 

[Marino13]

Definitely post workout, I do HIIT on off days and 2 days low intensity post workout

 

[Inhuman2012]

I've always heard it both ways and it makes sense both ways! After anaerobic workouts the body is in a state to preserve muscle so it burns stored fat instead! Then there's some who say glycogen stores are depleted so you burn muscle! I guess it's a personal choice!

 

[Cheph]

I do 10 minutes on elyptical every post workout

 

[Marino13]

I've always heard it both ways and it makes sense both ways! After anaerobic workouts the body is in a state to preserve muscle so it burns stored fat instead! Then there's some who say glycogen stores are depleted so you burn muscle! I guess it's a personal choice!

I guess it depends on the intensity, since an intense cardio workout totally or almost depletes your glycogen stores.

 

[zimmy44]

I think it's perfectly acceptable. That's how I do it, so if it's a problem, we're in the same boat my man!

 

[joliver]

When I need to cut weight, on my repetition/high volume days, I would do 4 giant sets (at least 4 exercises with one minute rest periods) at the end of my workout and transition to the weight sled. That way it would take me ~20 minutes to cut through the set, then I drag the sled with moderate intensity for another 15 minutes. That gives me 35 minutes of useful high intensity.