{"id":43690,"date":"2024-02-21T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-21T03:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/uncategorized\/cardio-before-after-workout\/"},"modified":"2024-02-21T04:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-02-21T03:00:00","slug":"cardio-before-after-workout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/en\/blog\/discover\/cardio-before-after-workout\/","title":{"rendered":"Million-dollar question: Cardio before or after workout?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Should you do your cardio before or after workout time?<\/strong> Like the most awkward Facebook relationship status of them all: it\u2019s complicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some people slip in their cardio before their workout, many do it after, and some do smack it in the middle. <strong>What matters is that you do it at all &#8211;<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/2062750\">studies have shown<\/a> that aerobic exercise (meaning, any activity \u201cwith oxygen\u201d) is<strong> the single most important component in training. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Continuous activities such as <a href=\"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/en\/how-can-i-improve-my-running\/\">running<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/en\/improving-cycle-fitness\/\">cycling<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/en\/workout-improving-climbing-fitness\/\">climbing<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/en\/rowing-machine\/\">rowing<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/en\/improving-mobility-swimming\/\">swimming<\/a> at a moderate to a high level, maintained<strong> for at least half-an-hour, three to seven days a week,<\/strong> deliver all kinds of benefits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>It improves cardiovascular health, lessening the risk of heart disease.<\/li><li>You get a buzzy mood-booster, thanks to feel-good chemicals (endorphins) triggered by heart-rate-increasing cardio. This positive feeling can last up to 24 hours, like a natural antidepressant.<\/li><li>A 30-minute cardio session can burn hundreds of calories and aid in weight loss.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/en\/memberships\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/evo-at-standard-sales-campaign-blog-en.png\" alt=\"evo at standard sales campaign blog en\" class=\"wp-image-56816\" style=\"width:1024px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/evo-at-standard-sales-campaign-blog-en.png 1024w, https:\/\/evofitness.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/evo-at-standard-sales-campaign-blog-en-960x422.png 960w, https:\/\/evofitness.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/evo-at-standard-sales-campaign-blog-en-768x338.png 768w, https:\/\/evofitness.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/evo-at-standard-sales-campaign-blog-en-480x211.png 480w, https:\/\/evofitness.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/evo-at-standard-sales-campaign-blog-en-640x281.png 640w, https:\/\/evofitness.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/evo-at-standard-sales-campaign-blog-en-720x316.png 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>So now you know you <em>should<\/em> do cardio, the question is <em>when<\/em>? What will work best for you depends on your training goals. Meaning, there\u2019s no easy answer on the already famous debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">CARDIO BEFORE OR AFTER WORKOUT?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">To increase general performance: <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Do cardio first and strength later<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007%2Fs40279-019-01072-2\">A recent study<\/a> in Sports Medicine analyzed the difference between doing cardio before or after workout time and its effects on endurance, strength and recovery. The results showed that <strong>a morning cardio session with strength training later on was best for improving your fitness.<\/strong> For example, if you\u2019re doing <a href=\"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/en\/tabata-vs-hiit\/\">HIIT<\/a> in the morning, wait at least six hours before hitting the weights. It gives your muscles time to get back to full function, meaning you\u2019re less likely to plateau, burn-out or injure yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">To increase strength, muscle mass or power:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Do weight training first and cardio after<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s pretty straightforward: lifting is hard. <strong>You need all the energy you can muster to lift and shift weights without injuring yourself.<\/strong> When you\u2019re sweaty and fatigued from a cardio session, your brain and body power is compromised and you\u2019re unable to perform strength-building movements to your best ability. Science, as always, backs us up on this. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/25259468\">Researchers found<\/a> that cycling or running before a strength workout limited the number of weight-lifting reps exercisers could perform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The absolute best-case scenario? Perform cardio and weight training on different days. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s no reason you can\u2019t do cardio and weights in the same workout session or split a training session into two on the same day. <strong>But mixing up your weight training and cardio sessions throughout the week gives your body space and energy to adapt to one specific way of moving at a time.<\/strong> It pretty much completely prevents any negative interaction between the two &#8211; giving your muscles time to mend after lifting or cardio and your body time to fully recover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>No matter which way you lay things out &#8211; doing cardio before or after workout time &#8211; the bottom line is that you do need to get a regular plan going. Maximize your exercise by working with one of our <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/en\/personal-training\/\"><strong>personal trainers<\/strong><\/a><strong> &#8211; experts in progressive and playful functional fitness.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/join.evofitness.at\/7-day-trial\/?utm_source=website&amp;utm_medium=blog-medium&amp;utm_campaign=7-day-trial\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/evo-at-trial-cta-7-days-blog-male-1.png\" alt=\"evo at trial cta 7 days blog male\" class=\"wp-image-56837\" style=\"width:1024px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/evo-at-trial-cta-7-days-blog-male-1.png 1024w, https:\/\/evofitness.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/evo-at-trial-cta-7-days-blog-male-1-960x422.png 960w, https:\/\/evofitness.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/evo-at-trial-cta-7-days-blog-male-1-768x338.png 768w, https:\/\/evofitness.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/evo-at-trial-cta-7-days-blog-male-1-480x211.png 480w, https:\/\/evofitness.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/evo-at-trial-cta-7-days-blog-male-1-640x281.png 640w, https:\/\/evofitness.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/evo-at-trial-cta-7-days-blog-male-1-720x316.png 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Should you do your cardio before or after workout time? Like the most awkward Facebook relationship status of them all:&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":43691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Million-dollar question: Cardio before or after workout? | EVO Fitness","_seopress_titles_desc":"Should you do your cardio before or after workout time? Like the most awkward Facebook relationship status of them all: it\u2019s complicated.","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[113,126,166,249,414],"class_list":["post-43690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-discover","tag-exercise","tag-workout","tag-warm-up","tag-cool-down","tag-cardio"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/evofitness.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}