Can I do cardio after leg training?

After a tough leg workout, you might find it difficult to use the stairs. The idea of getting on the treadmill to run seems understandably absurd, which may leave you wondering whether cardio is recommended after a leg workout.

Yes, you can do cardio after your leg workout. However, the best scenario would be to do cardio at separate times or days from your leg workout. Ultimately, if you don't have another time to do cardio, then it's recommended to do cardio at a moderate intensity and for a shorter period of time.

In this text, we'll delve deeper into the issue of aerobics after leg training and how to get the best of both worlds without compromising your hypertrophy results.

The main concern with doing cardio after leg training is that it may affect muscle growth, especially when leg and cardio training may target the same muscle groups.

Aerobic exercise certainly has the potential to stunt muscle growth if you're not careful. However, the extent to which cardio limits hypertrophy depends on several factors, primarily the type of cardio you do, how intense it is, and how long it lasts.

In fact, the best recommendation is always to do cardio at separate times or days. This eliminates any chance of cardio interfering with your gains while also eliminating the mental work of adjusting variables or even worrying about whether one activity is affecting the other.

However, if you do things right, you can still do cardio after your leg workout and get the benefit of both activities.

See also: Is aerobics catabolic ? 3 mistakes when doing aerobics

To do cardio after leg training without compromising your hypertrophy results, it's essential to be strategic when choosing the type of cardio, intensity, and duration.

After a leg workout, it's recommended to opt for low-impact cardio that puts less stress on already fatigued muscles and joints. Exercises like stationary bikes, elliptical trainers, and rowing machines are common gym options that, in addition to being effective, increase heart rate without putting significant stress on the muscles being worked.

Cardio intensity after leg training should be moderate, keeping your heart rate between 50-70% of your maximum. This range not only provides the benefits of aerobic exercise but is also low enough to minimize the risk of interfering with muscle growth.

Finally, ideally, the duration of these cardio sessions should be limited to 20-30 minutes, long enough to reap the benefits without hindering muscle recovery after leg training.

Doing cardio after leg training is a matter of personal preference or need, but it's not strictly necessary. As mentioned, the best scenario is always to separate aerobic activity from strength training, whether on separate days or times.

However, in practice, for a number of valid reasons (such as lack of time), it may be impossible to separate the two activities. So, doing cardio after leg training ends up being a convenient and understandable way to do both.

However, to reiterate, doing aerobics after leg training is an option and not a rule.

After reading the previous sections of the text, some people may be considering simply avoiding aerobic exercise altogether.

After all, if you don't do cardio at any time of the day, then you wouldn't need to worry about any of the above, and the risk of affecting your bodybuilding results would be zero, right?

In fact, completely avoiding aerobic activities can be harmful not only to your health but also to your strength training results. Basically, doing cardio can be detrimental in certain situations, but not doing cardio is worse in all situations.

Regular cardio increases cardiovascular fitness, which can affect how hard you train and how well you recover between sets. Have you ever found yourself extremely breathless between squats or experiencing significant discomfort? This is usually due to low cardiovascular fitness (i.e., lack of cardio).

Additionally, aerobics increase mitochondrial capacity, which, simply put, improves the ability of your body's cells to use carbohydrates and fats for energy.

Aerobics also improve insulin sensitivity. This is crucial for bodybuilders because greater insulin sensitivity facilitates the entry of glucose into muscle cells. If glucose is entering muscle cells, it's not being stored in fat stores.

In other words, with greater insulin sensitivity, the body will not accumulate fat as easily, which means you can eat more (within a specific plan) and more of the nutrients you consume will be used to build muscle mass instead of being stored as body fat.

In short, doing aerobics is extremely important, regardless of whether your ultimate goal is simply to build muscle mass.