cardio before or after the iron?

[solo47]

Why, exactly, do bodybuilders insists cardio should be done after pumping iron? On leg day, it has been my custom to do 20-30 minutes on the stairmaster and the leg & abdomen weights afterwards. Now I'm told I've been doing it back-asswards for these many years. Does it really matter?

Solo

[toughguy99]

i know when i do cardio after legs it really helps the ache .... i think it has something to do with the lactic acid your muscles store after lifting

[aragorn1500]

I've always done it after if at all on workout days.
One thing is, it feels like it robs me of the energy if I were to do it before a workout.

[dennis]

On leg day I warm up on stationary bike then maybe 10 minutes on tread mill...then I pound the legs..all I can do at that point is get to the truck/get home and then eat.There is NO WAY I could do legs and then do cardio or do much cardio at all on leg day.When I work upper body I will always start work out with cardio if I am cutting,never the other way around.When I finish upper body I am heading out the door to eat..not walk on treadmaill..just my 2 cents.

[xxjaredxx]

Hey Solo,
Cardio work, in my opinion, should be done after your lifts, because doing cardio beforehand can hinder your workouts. This is because when you are hitting a lot of heavy loads and lifts - you are using energy from your glycogen stores to fuel you - Hence why it is recommended sometimes for a pre/during/post-workout meal with some carbs. This is to fuel your workouts.
Now, after you have completed a really intense lift, all (most?) of your glycogen stores become depleted - so then when you switch over to H.I.I.T. (high intensity intervals) you have no more glycogen stores to be consumed. Guess what starts getting burned next for fuel? If you said fat...you are correct. I am not 100% sure but this is just the way I have trained for the past year and have had very pleasing results.

So I guess the point I am trying to make is that cardio before your lift will kill your glycogen stores - and you will not be able to optimize your lifts. Doing the opposite of the aforementioned will greatly increase your workout productivity, as you are getting a great pump, building your muscle, and then burning fat at the end of your lift.

This is just my understanding of things, I don't claim to be 100% correct - just the way I have been doing things, and seems to work pretty good for me

I hope this helps bro!