home » Exercises » What to do at the beginning of cardio or strength. When is it better to do cardio exercises: before or after strength training? Complex training with an emphasis on aerobic exercise

What to do at the beginning of cardio or strength. When is it better to do cardio exercises: before or after strength training? Complex training with an emphasis on aerobic exercise

During cardio and strength training, the body works differently, respectively, these two types of sports have different effects. The most winning strategy for losing weight will not be choosing one of the two, but a skillful combination of two types of load. Success in losing weight depends on how much calorie expenditure prevails over their intake. Let's take a look at which workouts make us spend more.

And after an intensive workout, where the main ones were performed by the participants in a circle to failure, the daily calorie consumption increased by 23%. Scientists have concluded that strength training and help burn more calories if they are really hard.

Cardio does not build muscle like strength does, and muscles not only create an attractive figure silhouette, but also help you spend more energy. Who more muscle that burns more calories.

For cardio to be effective, you need to choose a feasible minimum that you can do regularly without gaps in order to ensure stable energy costs for your body. On average, for sustainable weight loss, you need 2-4 strength training sessions per week, do 15-30 minutes of cardio immediately after them, and do 2-3 cardio workouts for 45-60 minutes on separate days.

Cardio training (aerobic) is a type of physical activity in which The body obtains energy from the oxidation of glucose.

These workouts have a positive effect on the respiratory and cardiovascular system of a person.

Briefly, cardio can be described as follows: it is high-intensity, low-impact workouts on the muscles. The most common cardio exercises: running, cycling, walking, swimming, any active games.

The difference between strength training and cardio for weight loss

Strength Training (Anaerobic) - Row exercise with a constant increase in weight load. It is aimed at strengthening the human musculoskeletal system.

Photo 1. The diagram shows which muscles work more actively during strength training.

cardio exercises burn more fat during classes, but when the workout ends, the fat burning process stops. In this regard, strength training wins as the fat burning process continues. even after graduation workout. This is due to the acceleration of metabolism, which returns to normal only in 6 hours. Anaerobic training, just like cardio, strengthens the heart and blood vessels.

Pure Cardio Workout

The workout consists entirely of cardio exercises.

Accelerates the fat burning process by increasing the rate of metabolic processes in the body.

Improves the functioning of the heart, blood vessels and respiratory system.
Available to everyone does not involve equipment costs.
High efficiency with low physical activity.

If you practice more than an hour, then the body as energy will begin to use muscle tissue.
Even with intense exertion, such as when running fat starts to burn only after 20 minutes workout.

Important! Optimal lesson duration from 45 to 60 min. During this period, you can burn a lot of fat without damaging the muscles.

Pure strength training

Lesson without aerobic exercise.

Allows burn fat for a long time after class.
Strengthens the heart, blood vessels and musculoskeletal system.

If the goal is a significant increase muscle mass, then, most likely, for this you have to take special drugs.
To reduce the risk of various diseases, it is necessary to choose the right program classes, to do the exercises correctly.

Important! people with hypertension, angina pectoris and heart failure can not be dealt with on power simulators, lift the bar and perform static exercises. Due to prolonged muscle tension, may increase arterial pressure, to experience an attack of angina pectoris and lose heart rhythm.

When is the best time to do aerobic exercise?

Most argue that to achieve a greater effect, you need combine both types loads.

Cardio to strength

This option is suitable for strong, hardy and experienced athletes.

Cardio warms up all muscle groups and start the fat burning process.
Anaerobic exercise contribute to the increase in muscle mass.
The advantages of aerobic and anaerobic workouts.

This option not suitable for beginners.
If a person does not have problems with weight, but is just starting to exercise, such a load will not work. Due to low endurance the body will quickly get tired even at the first stage training and there will be no strength left to work out the muscles well during strength exercises.

Important! If available excess weight , then with a high probability after the run they will start get sick knee joints . In this case, it is better to strengthen the knees through strength training and after that start running.

Cardio after strength training

In such a complex, most often the power part is lightweight (working with light and medium weights), while cardio takes at least 30 minutes.

Increases endurance.
Short anaerobic workout will strengthen muscles and start the process of burning fat.

If the activity is long, then muscles will be consumed along with body fat.
Doesn't fit those who want increase lean body mass.

Important! This complex not suitable for beginners due to their low stamina. But if after anaerobic exercises you feel that you still have strength, then in this case a small cardio load will only benefit. It will increase endurance and increase the efficiency of the lesson.

Intermittent cardio and strength training

This implies a combination of two types of load, for example, aerobic exercises are performed after anaerobic every 8 minutes.

The metabolism is accelerated.
Long process of fat burning.

Not suitable for beginners only for experienced athletes.
if you have health problems, such classes better to exclude.
due to improper execution exercises may occur health problems.
Need to train under the supervision of a specialist.

Useful video

Watch this video to learn how to combine cardio with strength training in the most efficient way.

Not sure how to combine cardio with strength training? This article has collected reliable information about the effect of cardio on both fat burning and muscle gain.

There are so many questions in the field of fitness that are constantly debated and have not been given concrete answers. One of these is the question of when is it better to do cardio - before or after strength training, and whether to do it at all.

The fact that cardio workouts are useful is not in doubt. But do they interfere with building muscle mass?

I recommend doing 10 minutes of cardio at the start of your workout as a warm up. And put a longer cardio workout after strength training, if Your goal is fat loss Or better yet, on a different day. This is based on the principles of energy expenditure in the body during strength and cardio exercise.

Energy sources

The only source of energy is adenazine triphosphoric acid or ATP. But its reserves in the body are negligible. They are enough for just a few seconds of hard work. Therefore, the body constantly undergoes the synthesis and decay of ATP. The body begins to use glycogen as a source of ATP formation.

Glycogen is the energy reserve of the body. Actually, it's a carbohydrate. Getting glucose from food, the body stores its excess in the form of glycogen. Glycogen is stored in the liver and muscles. Glycogen stored in the muscles is used as a fuel for ATP during physical exertion, that is, to ensure the vital activity of the muscles themselves. The glycogen breakdown reaction (glycogenolysis) occurs anaerobically, i.e. without the participation of oxygen. And strength training is also called anaerobic precisely because the energy for muscle work comes from anaerobic glycogenolysis. But muscle glycogen stores are also limited. And only when it is running out, the body can begin to use all three types of fats that exist in the human body as an energy source. Most of the energy is converted from fat, but this is a reserve reserve, and the body will begin to use it only when all other sources of energy have been exhausted.

conclusions

During cardio training, the body receives energy in the presence of oxygen. Accordingly, if you perform a long cardio before strength training, then the glycogen stored in the muscles will be used first of all as energy, and when you begin to perform strength training, the glycogen reserve in the muscles will be exhausted.
It would be logical to assume that fat would be used as energy, but no.

Fat oxidation requires the presence of oxygen, and as I mentioned, strength training is anaerobic training. That is, for strength training, the body cannot use fat for ATP synthesis. In fact, it turns out that you simply do not have the strength for productive strength training. Your training not only becomes ineffective, but also worsens the situation, because when there is nowhere to take energy from, the body tries to synthesize it from protein, that is, your muscles begin to “burn”.

I recommend doing moderate cardio before training for 10 minutes just to warm up, and doing the main cardio load after training. Thus, there will be enough glycogen in the muscles in order to fully perform strength work and during its glycogen from the muscles will be exhausted. And after that, if you do cardio, it will be mainly fat that will be used as energy, and not glycogen or muscle protein.

If you have the opportunity, then the best option is to perform cardio on days free from strength training. This minimizes the loss muscle tissue, will serve as a good addition to muscle recovery, and with continuous load medium intensity will wear fat burning effect.

Running, jumping rope, or training on any cardio equipment that is in your gym is perfect as a cardio load.

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If you want to lose weight, then you need to create conditions for the body so that it uses its subcutaneous fat as fuel. One such way is to increase physical activity. In this article we will analyze aerobic and anaerobic training, namely, you will learn. Also, we will analyze such questions as: “What is more effective, cardio before or after strength training?”, “Is it possible to combine cardio and strength training on the same day?”, “Which is better, cardio training on an empty stomach in the morning or in the evening before bedtime?” .

Many people argue, what is more effective - low-intensity? Some say that aerobic training burns a lot more calories than anaerobic training + use fat as fuel. Accordingly, this positions this type of training as the best fat burning workout. Others say that even though anaerobic training burns fewer calories in the training itself, but in the long run (if we consider the day) the body still uses more subcutaneous fat.

Who is right? In fact, both cardio (aerobic) and strength training (anaerobic) burn subcutaneous fat equally well. The only difference is that each method does it differently and each has its pros and cons. Now we will analyze this in detail.

In our body, there is a so-called aerobic threshold. This is such a thing that determines what type of energy needs to be used at a particular moment. If you are doing low intensity physical activity and your heart rate does not exceed 150 beats per minute (at aerobic threshold), then fat will be used as energy! If you switch to a high-intensity load, and accordingly your heart rate exceeds 150 beats per minute (exceed aerobic threshold), then the body switches to the use of glycogen. I must say right away that 150 beats per minute is very conditional (average value, which is suitable in most cases). And so everything is individual.

Low Intensity Cardio

This is when you perform some kind of physical activity at a low pace, and the pulse does not exceed 150 beats per minute. Most often, this pulse is kept in the region of 120 - 140 beats per minute. As a low-intensity aerobic exercise, you can use: running, fast walking, jump rope, exercise bike and more. In general, it is not so important what you use, the main thing is to stick to the indicated pulse zone. Also, this type of load during training spends more calories than strength training.

This is exactly the type of exercise that uses fat as fuel. But, it is not consumed subcutaneous, but muscle fat. After muscle fat stores are depleted, the body begins recovery processes, during which subcutaneous fat replenishes muscle fat stores back. Accordingly, the process of fat burning occurs if you use low-intensity cardio. In addition, you do not need to wait 30 - 40 minutes in order for fat burning to turn on. The process of losing weight starts within 1 minute after you start exercising. This happens because citrate is formed during the oxidation of muscle fat, which blocks the use of glycogen as fuel.

Power training

This is a training with additional weights, during which the pulse ranges from 100 to 180 beats per minute. (depending on what you are doing at the moment). This type load during training expends fewer calories than low-intensity cardio. But, if you disassemble the whole day (after strength training in the body increased energy consumption), then it will turn out to be no less (maybe more).

This type of load uses glycogen as fuel. The body works more efficiently on glycogen than on fats. Therefore, glycogen is used only when you need to work as hard as possible. (eg: strength training) or as fast as possible (eg: sprint). After glycogen stores are depleted, the body begins recovery processes, during which subcutaneous fat replenishes these reserves. Also, extra calories are spent on processes that affect the growth of muscle mass. (you trained with iron, received microtraumas, now you need to restore all this and, just in case, slightly increase muscle volume).

As you can see, it is not at all correct to ask which is better. cardio or strength training for weight loss. Since, both cardio (aerobic) and strength training (anaerobic) burn subcutaneous fat equally well. The only difference is that each method does it differently. For maximum effectiveness, I recommend combining these training methods. Strength training will help you maintain muscle mass, but without cardio, the fat loss process will be slower. Low-intensity cardio will help you lose weight faster, but without heavy strength training, you will lose both fat and muscle mass. (you won't end up with an athletic build).

So, now we know that choosing one thing is not the best. the best option, so the question arises: How to combine cardio and strength training for weight loss? How to choose everything correctly so as not to harm the muscles and burn maximum subcutaneous fat? Let's figure it out.

Most often, athletes perform low-intensity aerobic training before or after iron work. Accordingly, the question arises as to whether cardio before or after strength training for weight loss? The effectiveness of cardio after training is based on the fact that supposedly strength training has burned all the glycogen and now only fat will be used. But, as we already know, fat will burn anyway. Therefore, I do not see much difference between cardio before strength training and cardio after strength training. If you do it before training, then there is a chance that you will get tired, and the strength will go worse than usual. (so it makes more sense to do it after).

Also, if you want to maintain the maximum amount of muscle mass, then I do not recommend doing cardio for more than 60 minutes at a time, since in about this period of time the body will use up muscle fat and muscles can go into action. (60 minutes is arbitrary, so to speak, a kind of middle point that works well in practice). If you have a 90-minute low-intensity cardio workout scheduled, I recommend doing 2 x 45-minute workouts. (one in the morning, one in the evening) or 60 minutes in the morning + 30 minutes after the evening workout.

Can you combine cardio and strength training on the same day?

Yes, you can! There is nothing critical in this. Cardio can be associated with a workout or simply put at a separate time. Again, if the goal is keep as much muscle as possible, then I still recommend putting these workouts at different times. But, here you still need to take into account the duration of aerobic and anaerobic exercise. Below are some examples of how you can combine cardio and strength training on the same day.

Scheme No. 1:

Power training - 40 minutes+ Cardio workout – 20 minutes

Scheme No. 2:

Cardio on an empty stomach in the morning - 30 minutes
Strength training in the evening 60 minutes

Scheme No. 3:

Cardio in the morning on an empty stomach - 45 minutes
Strength training at lunch 60 minutes
Cardio workout at night before bed 45 minutes

These schemes are in process of efficiency and fitness. If you are a beginner or just starting to lose weight, then use scheme No. 1, gradually move to No. 2 and at the very end No. 3. I don’t advise you to immediately jump to scheme No. 3, since there is too much stress for the body and you can get overtraining. Cardio training on an empty stomach in the morning can vary in time (from 15 to 60 minutes). You can do more than 60 minutes, but if you need to save muscles, then I do not advise. So is evening cardio (from 15 to 60 minutes).

Traditionally, it is assumed that fasted cardio in the morning burns body fat best, as in the morning your body has a minimum of carbohydrates and low blood sugar. Against this background, fat burning is more intense. From my own experience I can say that this works in principle, but such manipulations must be done at the last stages of drying. (when you already have at least some hint of abs). That is, you have a healthy level of subcutaneous fat and want to make the body even more defined, while you already have a rigid diet and a lot of training.

Also, I want to note the effectiveness cardio at night before bed. The logic here is that you do evening cardio before bed, after that you don’t eat anything, and after 15-30 minutes (or immediately) go to bed. During this cardio, you burned muscle fat and now during sleep, in the process of recovery, subcutaneous fat will replenish fat reserves in the muscles. After all, this spent fat can be renewed not only from your subcutaneous fat, but also from the food you eat. And if after an evening cardio workout you don’t eat anything, then the body will have no choice but to replenish the spent fat, due to subcutaneous fat. Morning cardio on an empty stomach + strength training in the afternoon + evening cardio before bed = the most advanced fat burning scheme (in my opinion).

Now you have an idea about how to combine cardio and strength training for weight loss to get the maximum effect and keep the maximum muscle. Also, do not forget that in terms of weight loss, in the first place are not training, but proper nutrition. If you eat everything, then no amount of cardio in the morning on an empty stomach or before bed will help you lose weight.