Am cardio/ lift question.

I am a big believer in AM cardio. I do it 4 times a week, but not usually on an empty stomach. I usually gulp down one 40g protein shake with nothing but water in it before I hit the gym. Immediately after I do cardio in the mornings I take a 10 min breather and then jump on the weights. Is this doing more harm than good? Should I not take a shake at all, or continue what Im doing? Maybe do cardio, then hit a shake, then lift? Opinions please!

This is how i do it, if am doing cardio to lower my bf, i just do the cardio on empty stomach, down 1-2 glass of water and that's it, but if i do both, i at least have to have some food or shake, since i need energy, either that i think my body is gonna use some of the muscle for fuel, and i also do weights before and then cardio if both in the morning, but i prefer doing just cardio in the AM and then lift in the evening....just my two cents

Bro just to give you an idea of what kind of day I run MON-FRI it always looks like this. ALWAYS. Kind of hectic, find something to hold onto!
Keep in mind I have two jobs and am a full time student.
Shake first thing in the AM (6am)
at Gym by 6:30 am cardio and start weight training at 7am leave gym at 8:15, first class right across the street from gym at 8:30, eat a few eggs and hit a shake in between gym and class.
First class lets out at 9:30, another shake and maybe some tuna between classes.
Next class starts 9:45 till 11, lets out, come home hit up some chicken and change clothes.
First job is at 12pm, get a break at 2, usually hit a shake and the other chicken breast in some salad from earlier.
Eat at 4:45 when leaving that job in the breakroom. Leave there and go to second job from 5-10pm, eat a packet of tuna and a shake at 7:30 pm. Home by 10:15 and get in one more shake and a bananna, or an apple with a ton of peanut butter. Both of my jobs are labor jobs, without question I keep up a constant heart rate of about 80BPM at both of them.
WELCOME TO MY LIFE. Anyone top that?

Unless your trying to lean way out and train for endurance then I would take your cardio to the weights. You might very well loose muscle mass with cardio before, a workout. I know this goes against alot of magizines but hey whoever said the world was flat, you make the call.

Here's what works best for me.

You will have to change up your workout quite a bit but it will be worth it. Say on a particular cardio day choose chest, bicepts, and traps. Hit a set on one muscle, then without resting jump to another muscle, then the third. This should be around 3-5 minutes rest (for that muscle, not you) untill back on the first muscle. The key is to get your heartrate up while lifting. This has nothing to do with high reps, low heavy will jack your heart also. Don't go crazy with it to the point of lacking proper oxygen and you'll find you can still pull heavy weight from switching bettween muscle groups. Where you set your level and heartrate is up to you and your endurance. Cardio for cutting is really no more than accelerating your heart to burn excess fat. Why waste all your limited, precious, hormones on riding a bicycle, walking stairmasters, running, ect? A drink bettween won't restore that.

What this does is kill 2 birds with one stone. You can cut your time and not loose as much muscle mass. Look up some scientific studies of stimulating a muscle for a long period of time and see if it doesn't loose mass. Take in protein and a few carbs before and after your workout.

Hope this helps!

Southern, I can relate, I'm a contractor and have a B.S. in BA (with 12 hours short of a B.S. in biology also). Last Thursday I spread over 10 tons of gravel by myself with a shovel. When the weather comes around I'll be climbing a ladder all day. Needless to say you wont find me ever runing in a gym!

Sucks dont it? Ive been trainging for years and years, most of the time I was in the gym a few years ago was all for football, lots of compund movements, and strenght movements. Now that Id rather focus on a more physical look, and not soo much strenght Ive found I grow better and gain more if I work ONE muscle a day for about 4 different exercises for 3 sets each.
Right now Im doing
mon- Bis and forearms am cardio
tue- back no cardio
wed- traps and tris am cardio
thurs- shoulders no cardio
fri- legs with am cardio, light cardio day only 22 mins
sat- am cardio
sun- chest no cardio only day i work out in the pm
Ive made some dramatic gains off of this. I used to try the whole
back and chest one day, and arms and shoulders one day, and the legs and traps one day gig, and would get soo tired I would half ass my workout. I never got anywhere doing that.

That routine looks really good. I'm not sure what type of cardio you do but your Friday looks a little extensive given that your working more than 1/2 your muscle mass that day with cardio. But thats the only thing I can see there that may or may not need revised. The others look great considering your on a small muscle group when doing your cardio days.

If its working for you thats awesome. My growth tends to do better when I incorporate my cardio into 10, 8, 6 sets. I try to keep my heartrate approx. 120-140 when repping. If I get on a stairmaster for example, my calves and legs pump using up what little bit of grow juice I have for the day. But everyone responds differant.

120-140 when lifting weights, that would NOT be possible for me bro, unless I was literally RUNNING from station to station. I do 15 mins of walking cardio to get my heart rate up on a treadmill at 4.1mph then move 3 ft to the right to an elliptical machine for 25 or so minutes and stride out with a heart rate at about 135, keep in mind Im only 20 and 185lbs. Doing that, I straight sweat my ass off! ALSO on my legs days, I dont train legs that hard at all because I do soo much cardio all week. I stopped doing squats cause I kept pinching nerves in my right glute and dont even like doing leg presses too much any more, its usuallu calf raises, ham extensions, quad extensions, and the "girly" thigh abductor machine for me. Sometimes I do dumbell lunges with like 30 lbs in each hand.

Sounds like your on track and already have things figured out. Maybe someone else here can help answer your questions better than I. Peace