Why Do Cardio Directly After Weights?

I would like very much for someone to present an argument to me regarding the benefit of doing cardio directly after weight training. I frequently see this type of routine recommended here in the forum, and it is a part of GSP phase 1 which I will be starting tomorrow. However, I’ve never understood why it is that people do cardio right after weight training (other than convenience) instead of doing it either later that day, or on a different day altogether. The way I see it, directly after weight training is when it’s most important for your body to have calories in order to repair and grow. So how does it make sense to go burn more calories through cardio at this time? Seems like taking one step forward, then half a step back. If I ever do cardio on a day that I train (which I try to avoid) I’ve always tried to put as much time as possible between the sessions, like 8-10 hours. So is anyone who advocates cadio following weights up to respond? I’m really curious to hear some thoughts on the benefits of this type of routine.

Reason #1 - Convenience. While not a physiological reason, it is truly a very good psychological and sociological reason.

Reason #2 - Light/moderate intensity cardio can help recovery after lifting. I do not think that post-lifting is a good time for high intensity cardio.

Reason #3 - Since light/moderate cardio does not lead to significant post-workout calorie expenditure, you can create a significant caloric deficit by adding it post-lifting. Lifting leads to increased calorie expenditure during exercise and after exercise. Doing your cardio while energy stores are already drained should lead to increased utilization of stored body fat.

Reason #4 - Convenience. This needs to be stated twice because it is truly that important.

I think it is just a generalization to put cardio after the workout. I know Berardi has said that it is better to do cardio seperate from workouts to increase insulin sensitivity. But I think most people do cardio after as Jason N. said, convenience.

Thanks for responding, Jason and Jason. I usually do either high intensity cardio sessions for about 20 minutes or less, or HIIT so it didn’t really occur to me that lower intensity cardio after weights could have recovery related benefits. I’m trying to decide how to plan my cardio schedule for the next couple weeks as I’m trying to get as lean as possible before starting MAG-10/GSP phase 2 and putting on mass like it’s going out of style. I don’t want to modify the phase 1 program too much, but I’m thinking of adding a couple extra cardio sessions on off days, and perhaps I’ll experiment with a little post weights cardio.