Cardio Before Or After A Workout?

15 Sept 2023 · 1 min

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In this video, fitness coach Eric Roberts explains why doing cardio before a weight‑lifting session can undermine your gains. He notes that cardio consumes glycogen, the primary fuel for resistance training, leaving less available for the subsequent lift. This depletion can reduce the amount of weight you can lift, lower the number of repetitions you can perform, and increase the risk of injury. Roberts clarifies that a brief 5–10 minute walk on the treadmill isn’t likely to harm your progress, but he advises against any high‑intensity or long‑duration cardio before lifting. Instead, he recommends saving substantial cardio for after the weight‑training session or on rest days.

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And I'd be like, why are you so obsessed with me? The reason that cardio would kill your gains before a workout is because your body is going to use something called glycogen as energy for your workout. And if you're using that glycogen for your cardio session before your workout, you're not going to have enough left over for your weightlifting session. So then your weightlifting session is going to suffer because you won't lift as much weight, you won't do as many reps. And you could also potentially increase your risk of injury as well. This is not to say if you do a 5 or a 10-minute walk on the treadmill before your workout, you're going to automatically ruin your gains. But I wouldn't do any sort of high-intensity cardio, nor would I do any sort of long-duration cardio. Save that for after your workout or on your rest days.