Hard Cardio After Lifting Question

If i cannot separate my cardio from lifting due to schedule, Would doing assault bike hard for 30 seconds on, 1 min off, for 5 or 10 total minutes after lifting have a negative effect on muscle gain?
I want to lose a little fat but not at the expense of muscle.

Thank you

I’d roll with steady state in that instance to be honest. When you lift it’s anaerobic. So you’re getting an EPOC effect after high intensity work. Fatty acid oxidation is actually quite low during intensive training, but higher in steady state work. So combine the two for better fat loss results.

Thanks!

1 Like

Hi Paul,

Understanding this could be very subjective to the individual, would you have a recommended guideline for how much steady cardio after lifting?

In this case the target audience would be someone looking to lose some fat, improve their aerobic capacity and heart health, but not looking at competing in any kind of endurance based competition.

I’m probably in the minority here in that I don’t mind doing steady cardio, just limited by time (full time job, two young kids, you know the drill…) so I’d like to get in, get it done, and carry on.

Thanks for everything Paul.

If it’s after lifting, which is actually a great time, then 20-30 minutes of steady state is plenty in order to increase fat oxidation and create a bit more of an energy deficit to help recomp.

Sounds like I’m about on track, thanks a lot Paul, appreciate it.