For those of us who.........

[Speedracer59]

do not have time to do cardio in the morning and workout in the evening. Is it better to do cardio directly before or after workut.How much is too much if you have to do them at the same time .My workouts usually last about 1 1/2 hours then I do about 20 min of cardio. Does this sacrafice too much muscle?

[painintheazz]

Both will have negative impacts on your muscle growth.
Before,
This will burn valuable energy (muscle glycogen) that can be used for lifting weights. Esp. since you lift for about 1 1/2 hours. Plus you will be using mostly glycogen instead of your bodies fat stores for energy.
After,
This will make you miss the window of opportunity right after your workout to cram food into your muscles and stop the catabolic enzymes in your body.

Personally I prefer after a weight training workout because I have energy to lift. Also lifting weights before doing cardio gets most of the carbs out of your body and leaves bodyfat to be used as energy. IMO hope this helps.

Pain

[txfirefighter]

Originally posted by painintheazz
Both will have negative impacts on your muscle growth.
Before,
This will burn valuable energy (muscle glycogen) that can be used for lifting weights. Esp. since you lift for about 1 1/2 hours. Plus you will be using mostly glycogen instead of your bodies fat stores for energy.
After,
This will make you miss the window of opportunity right after your workout to cram food into your muscles and stop the catabolic enzymes in your body.

Personally I prefer after a weight training workout because I have energy to lift. Also lifting weights before doing cardio gets most of the carbs out of your body and leaves bodyfat to be used as energy. IMO hope this helps.

Pain

Good info. It is hard to find time for weight training and cardio. S

[pudgy]

i also prefer after weight training , for a few reasons ,
im overweight , so i burn the glycogen away while lifting , and the only fuel left for the cardio is fat.
soreness , the cardio will flush out the lactic acid from weight training and you will be less sore.
and i lift better with a actual weight warmup than a cardio one.
i am by far not an expert , but this is true for me. pudgy

[GBAGH]

Be a man...wake up earlier and do your cardio in the morning...its so much more effective there I dont know why you would do it any other time.