I'll get to the point:

1. Is it better to do cardio before or after weight training? And should I do it at all about 2 hours around my weight training, or just like do weight training in the morning, cardio in the evening?

2. Does it make a difference if I do cardio 2 hours after my last meal (in my case, last meal is at 6pm, cardio is at 8pm or later)?

3. I can currently do 35 min cardio at 85 rpm, but the difficulty level (it's harder to spin the pedals on stationary bike the higher it is ) is set to 3. Would it be better to set it to level 1 and increase my time (and rpm possibly) to 45 min and keep increasing it as I progress, or should I just leave it at level 3 and try to make progress that way? :confused:

I'll get to the point:

1. Is it better to do cardio before or after weight training?

If you have to choose between the two of those options - i suggest doing it after.
You should have as much energy for lifting as possible.
I suggest spreading them out though.


And should I do it at all about 2 hours around my weight training, or just like do weight training in the morning, cardio in the evening?
I suggest cardio in the morning, weight training in the evening.
Sleep is a very anabolic period, so weights in the evening is a good idea.
Cardio in the evening tends to get me all wound up, so i then have trouble sleeping.



2. Does it make a difference if I do cardio 2 hours after my last meal (in my case, last meal is at 6pm, cardio is at 8pm or later)?

Dont worry about that.... start worrying about that when you hit 7% bodyfat and need to hit 3% for a bodybuilding competition.
But i personally like to wait 1.5-2 hrs before my last meal just because i dont like the feeling of food digesting in me for when i start the cardio session.


3. I can currently do 35 min cardio at 85 rpm, but the difficulty level (it's harder to spin the pedals on stationary bike the higher it is ) is set to 3. Would it be better to set it to level 1 and increase my time (and rpm possibly) to 45 min and keep increasing it as I progress, or should I just leave it at level 3 and try to make progress that way? :confused:
The higher RPM the better so you dont overwork your legs, and increased blood flow is always good.
You should be doing cardio focusing on your heartrate - dont worry about what difficulty level - just keep your heart in whatever desired zone.

What zone you want to stay in depends on your diet, goals, and how much glycogen you have stored in your body.
If you're doing a lower carb diet, i recommend staying in the 65%-70% zone.

If you're eating plenty of carbs and want to really increase your fitness levels, do some HIIT where you try to hold 100% max heart rate as long as you can, and then allow 1-3 minutes recovery depending on how long you we able to hold it.... and then repeat.
This will crank up your metobolism pretty good, but you would need to make sure you eat a PWO meal right afterward.

Thanks, that was very helpful. I do have one more question:
What I am doing right now is eat at 6 pm (last meal), do weight training at about 7-8 pm, and then do cardio between 9pm and 10pm. I feel this is wrong. Is it? And would it be better if I did weight training or cardio before my last meal?

You are going to weight train, wait an hour, then do cardio, then go to bed? U said your last meal was before training, so that reads you are training, waiting an hour, doing cardio, and that's it. :confused: :confused:

I really hope not.

~SC~

Thanks, that was very helpful. I do have one more question:
What I am doing right now is eat at 6 pm (last meal), do weight training at about 7-8 pm, and then do cardio between 9pm and 10pm. I feel this is wrong. Is it? And would it be better if I did weight training or cardio before my last meal?
You should have your last meal right after weight training...
If you need to do your cardio at this time, maybe have a liquid protein/carb shake DURING your cardio.

Do you fall asleep ok with doing all that at night??

EDIT:
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oh wait, you wait an hour before cardio?
cant you just do the cardio in the morning?

either way - i say eat right after weights and then let your body REST.

You are going to weight train, wait an hour, then do cardio, then go to bed? U said your last meal was before training, so that reads you are training, waiting an hour, doing cardio, and that's it. :confused: :confused:

I really hope not.

~SC~

I am :o. Is it that bad?

So should I just do as wh0areume said (do weight training, eat my last meal, then do cardio and go to sleep) cause I have to do cardio at this time. Btw, I do fall asleep after what I was doin':sleep:, I am so bloody hungry and exhausted I sleep so tight an orchestra couldn't wake me up. That does feel wrong:doh:.

I am :o. Is it that bad?

So should I just do as wh0areume said (do weight training, eat my last meal, then do cardio and go to sleep) cause I have to do cardio at this time. Btw, I do fall asleep after what I was doin':sleep:, I am so bloody hungry and exhausted I sleep so tight an orchestra couldn't wake me up. That does feel wrong:doh:.
What i really want you to do is do cardio earlier in the day, and then weight train at night, followed by a protein/carb meal right afterwards, and then go to sleep.
Can you rearange your schedule to allow this?

Oh well, since you are so kind answering my stupid questions, I WILL do cardio early in the morning at 6 am. But should I eat my breakfast before or after that cardio?

Oh well, since you are so kind answering my stupid questions, I WILL do cardio early in the morning at 6 am. But should I eat my breakfast before or after that cardio?
That depends on what kind of cardio you plan on doing, and what your day-to-day diet is like carb-wise.
But me personally, i HATE doing anykind of exercise while my body is digesting food.

So i would say do 45-60 minutes of low intensity cardio 65-70% of your max hr, and eat breakfast afterwards.

Oh and I am on a low carb diet, so 45 mins of low intensity at 65-70% of max hr, are just about what I'm doing. And I'm glad I posted this, cause I really wasn't sure about what I should do. Thx for the help.
I am just sorry that I can't do cardio today, cause at the time of writting this 1 hour has passed after I finished my weight training :(.

Oh and I am on a low carb diet, so 45 mins of low intensity at 65-70% of max hr, are just about what I'm doing. And I'm glad I posted this, cause I really wasn't sure about what I should do. Thx for the help.
I am just sorry that I can't do cardio today, cause at the time of writting this 1 hour has passed after I finished my weight training :(.
OPTION A:
AM: Cardio
PM: Weights

OPTION B:
PM: Weights, immediately followed by Cardio

Oh well, since you are so kind answering my stupid questions, I WILL do cardio early in the morning at 6 am. But should I eat my breakfast before or after that cardio?

Have a protein shake and do your cardio in the morning. Personally I would faint if I did the cardio without any type of calories in me.

Then in the evening do your weights and EAT. I like to have a light carb meal 1- 1 1/2 hrs before weight training (or like Mastover suggested to me a protein shake). Then I weight train, have a glutamine, then protein shake.... go home and eat (protein/carb meal)

just my humble opinion

Just thought I'd clear things up by adding that it makes little or no difference whether I do cardio before after or during lifting.

Yesterday's workout was basically an hour of energetic lifting for about 1000 Calories and then I lifted for new personal best deadlift immediately following, and it was actually pretty easy.

It really comes down to getting your lactate threshold up enough that it really doesn't matter. Then? It doesn't matter.

Just thought I'd clear things up by adding that it makes little or no difference whether I do cardio before after or during lifting.

Yesterday's workout was basically an hour of energetic lifting for about 1000 Calories and then I lifted for new personal best deadlift immediately following, and it was actually pretty easy.

It really comes down to getting your lactate threshold up enough that it really doesn't matter. Then? It doesn't matter.
he said he was on a low carb diet, which i think would make what you just said near impossible for him to achive?

alot of people are opposed to doing cardio before weights but I used to do it when I first started weight training and I still had great results. I did about 20-30 minutes of high-intensity cardio. whether that's optimal or not, i'm not sure. But it will def. build mental toughness as it will be increasingly difficult to weight train afterwards.

Some other options are to Separate weights and cardio days (example: Monday- weights, tuesday- cardio, wednesday-weights, thursday- cardio...etc.), do cardio after weight training. Or incorporate cardio into your weight training (example: do a few supersets, then jump on the bike and go all-out for a minute or two, rest, rinse, and repeat)...Hell some ppl don't do cardio at all and still have good results just by strict dieting and intense weight training.

what it all comes down to is what works best for you and what you will be willing to stick with in the long term. Timing of cardio is not nearly important as actually doing it.

Hope this helps, best of luck.

he said he was on a low carb diet, which i think would make what you just said near impossible for him to achive?

Yeah I didn't see that the first time.

Solution: Get off the low carb diet. If you want to be active, you have to eat right for it.

Other solution: Lift like a wuss, cardio or no. I think it was the East Germans who tried low carb diets on their elite athletes in the middle 1960s to see if they could upregulate fat metabolism. And that part worked. Trouble is nobody could do anything intense, so they quit the idea of low carb diets for active athletes.

OPTION A:
AM: Cardio
PM: Weights

OPTION B:
PM: Weights, immediately followed by Cardio

Well I'd go for that OPTION B (I only have to do it that way 2 days (Monday and Friday) every second week, because on those days I have to get up early and don't have time for morning cardio.
Should I eat a small meal after weights,before cardio even though I could do without it(I am doing 45 min cardio so I don't know can I get it done right after the weights)?

Should I eat a small meal after weights,before cardio even though I could do without it(I am doing 45 min cardio so I don't know can I get it done right after the weights)?

It's a good idea.

I would never advise eating before a.m. fasted cardio (nullifies the benefits of fasted cardio) nor would I EVER eat a meal after weights and then immediately do cardio, that's a true waste of time both from a pwo nutritional standpoint and a cardio/fat loss benefit standpoint. You will simply burn what you ate for fuel, not burn any bodyfat, and you will burn off what you ate that could/should have been used to begin muscular repair and glycogen restoration.

If you are going to do cardio after lifting, lift for 45 mins, cardio for 30, then go home and eat. Eating in between is, well, whack......

~SC~