Cardio: Before Or After A Workout?

To do cardio before my workout, or after?  What a question indeed.  On the surface you’d say “If I do it before my workout I’ll have no energy to lift any weights.” Or, “Will I even have the energy to do it after my workout?”  While both of these are valid concerns, your biggest concern should be your hormonal chemistry.  With that in mind, you should be asking yourself “Which will adversely affect my testosterone levels?”  With this question we can now proceed on…   

In the effort of maintaining an anabolic hormonal chemistry (pro-testosterone) I suggest doing your cardio before your workout.

The reasoning behind this is simple, and odds are you already are doing this post gym ritual…protein shake.  Allow me to explain.

During an intense workout your body undergoes a lot of stress. Our body’s response to this stress is releasing cortisol.  Cortisol is a catabolic hormone (uses muscle as fuel) because it is a survival hormone.  Your body confuses the stress you’re undergoing from lifting weights as a threat against your life, and as a result releases this cortisol to ensure your survival…good and bad.  Good because it also releases adrenaline and all other things that you associate with “Fight or Flight” to help you out of this situation.  Bad because if not stopped, cortisol can plummet your testosterone levels and destroy your hard earned muscles.

How Do You Stop This?

The antagonist (opposite of and battles against) of cortisol is insulin - as Insulin levels rise Cortisol levels drop.

How Do You Spike Insulin?

Oh I can think of plenty of delicious ways to do this…but the easiest answer is with consuming sugar.  This is why you see a lot of gym goers carrying juice, or some other form of fast sugar, around the gym while they’re working out (an intra-workout drink). If you’re performing an extremely physically demanding workout for a prolonged time you’ll start burning muscle as fuel! (No es bueno). I mentioned drinking a protein shake after a workout because like sugar, protein also spikes insulin. Studies have shown that it may even spike insulin faster than sugar. However, based on the cost, bloated feel, and additional “stuff” added, protein shakes aren’t worth it (in my opinion)…even though SOME may taste good!

I suggest candy, namely SMARTIES! Smarties are great post workout, and they’re cheap. It’s just sugar, but most importantly, it’s dextrose. The simpler the sugar the faster your insulin response occurs, and dextrose is one of the simplest sugars on the market! I weigh 185 lbs and I shoot for about 30 - 50 g of dextrose post workout.

So to sum it up: Do cardio before your workout otherwise you’ll run the risk of using your muscle as fuel!! No Es Bueno!

We are advocates of your goals!

-Brian