What's better, doing cardio before or after weight training to gain mass?

Hi callum,

Doing Cardio after your weight training session would be best. This will allow you to lift heavy during your weight training session to prevent muscle breakdown and burn more fat. You should concentrate on hiit type Cardio maybe 2-3 times a week.

Luke mithell,

How long should the HIIT workouts be? And dose it matter what exercises i use for the HIIT?

Thank you!

Hey Callum,
The best HIIT I have been told is imagine completing circuits around a football pitch...
So basically, sprint for 120m, walk 50-60m and repeat that about 10 times. Like you would do if you were circling around a football pitch basically.
When sprinting, go as fast you can, your level of intensity should drop as the training goes on but will target your leg muscles more rapidly. Hope this helps, but I'm sure the experts on here will give you a better indication than I can really. Good luck.

Regards,
Ollie

Amazia,

You should warm up for 5 -10 minutes your main workout should last no longer than 20 minutes and your cool down should be 10-20 minutes.

It does'nt matter what exercise you use as long as you can get your heart rate upto 80-90% MHR and then recover for the rest period.

I find using the rower is very benficial as it uses lower and upper body, also hill sprints - run up a hill as fast as you can and walk down.

Hi All,

Actually, there is some research (although not conclusive) that shows you adapt better to the type of training that you do last in your workout. So this research suggests that if you are focusing on gaining muscle, do the weights second and if you are focussing on aerobic or anaerobic performance, do your cardio or HIIT last respectively.

Obviously there is the accepted belief that if you do your cardio first, you will be too tired to divert maximum energy into your weights but just wanted to put that out there, as sometimes the obvious or accepted theory isn't correct. I'm not saying it's wrong but there is no 'proof' that it's right either.

Try doing HIIT first thing in the morning before breakfast.

If you are going to try hiit before your breakfast make sure you get some EAA's and a scoop of whey protein to protect your muscles.