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Starting a new work out plan (after some time away from the gym due to work)... I want to lose weight and gain some muscle mass. I know doing both at once is a controversial topic. I've read about it on here. My trainer from before argued that muscle helps burn fat so it isn't bad. I am cool with that and I like to lift and how it feels etc... so no issue there

Curious if it matters when I do cardio (before or after lifting)?

Right now I'm doing 30 minutes before (to warm up etc...) and then 30 minutes after.... any advice on this? does it matter? I want the most bang for my buck of course.

You are doing 1 hour of steady state cardio every day?

A 30 minute warm up!?! That's not a warm up, that's a cardio workout. You might want to scale that back. A friend of mine is a trainer and suggests around 10 to 15 minutes as a warm up, nothing too strenuous, just loosen yourself up, and get the blood flowing.

Definitely best to do at least some cardio before lifting. It helps to oxygenate your muscles and yields a more energetic workout.

IF you're trying to lose weight, don't lift heavy. Lift lighter with a lot of reps, as this will have a more cardio-style effect on your body while maintaining/building muscle mass.

I had a friend show me a study where it said it cardio was better for you after you had been lifting weights since you would be burning more calories.

Well it is better for you to do your cardio after your workout... The key is to do low intensity cardiovascular exercise like walking on the treadmill with maximum incline but at a pace of 3.0-3.5 for 30-45 mins. You will still have an elevated heart rate in which you will burn fat but your not losing any gains in muscle like you may do when doing high intensity cardio.

Anaerobic exercise burns glucose. I.e., you need that to do your lifting. Aerobic exercise metabolizes fat to get there. It's better to do the cardio at the end of the workout, so that you have high blood sugar levels for the lifting workout.

HIIT is vastly more effective than steady state cardio for both weight loss and cardiac threshold.

I get like this doing 12 minutes in the morning and 12 minutes at night.



Be sure to keep your calories up to maintain high exercise intensity. You can't workout properly if you don't eat.

Thanks for your help. I'll adjust things and warm up first and then do more afterwards....

Good advice about the reps and weight too.

A few years ago I lost 39 lbs and felt good and looked good... gained it all back over the last couple years and more...

hoping I can get back into shape and maybe even better than before.

I'll keep you posted.

muscles and liver store enough glycogen for two hours at high intensity.

i don't know about weight lifting , how the body taps into its reserves for that
Personally, i do gym and cardio stuff on different days.
I used to go biking or running and then a few hours later hit the gym, it's awful!
you just feel stiff and tired. But the opposite doesn't seem to bother me as much.

Anyway, all that business of fat and sugar burning is black art and witchcraft.
If you want proof, subscribe to a couple bicycling, running , triathlon and
some fitness magazines and after 2 years, i challenge you to make any sense of all the "latest" research of all the " Universities of ...." . If you manage, you're a Nobel prize candidate.

I read once that anaerobic was BETTER for fat burning than aerobic, all based on scientific observation. .. so , there.. teehee.