The Best Time To Do Cardio Is......

So, you want to know when the best time to do cardio is?

The answer is… unequivocally… that… it literally doesn’t matter at all.

The only thing that matters is that you get it done.

There are very few instances in which timing of your cardio matters and here they are:

1. You’re a bodybuilder at the end stages of contest prep.  In this instance, you’ll likely benefit more from doing your cardio fasted in the morning.

2. You only have one window to train within the day.  In this instance, you’ll want to do your cardio after you weight train.

There are two main goals to performing cardio.  The first is to improve your aerobic fitness, and the next is to increase your daily energy expenditure.  Both of these goals are not dependent on the time of day.

So, right there, that will give you a lot of flexibility within your approach to cardio.

Many people prefer fasted cardio in the morning because it helps with their routine and sets the tone for the day.  If that’s you, by all means, have at it, but just know that it’s not the gold standard.

If you’re someone who doesn’t have the luxury of time in the morning, then just get the cardio in whenever you can. THAT is the gold standard - that it gets done.

How much should you do?  Great question!

The answer… some.

As a baseline, I recommend 30 minutes 3x a week.  Personally, I get the best results from 5x a week.

What results you ask?  Another great question!

Improving your aerobic fitness will allow you to improve your metabolic rate and your nutrient partitioning, which means you’ll be more likely to build muscle and lose fat.  It’ll help you recover faster between sessions, between sets and ensure that your output is not limited on those longer duration sets.

Perhaps most importantly, being aerobically fit will ensure that you keep your heart healthy and don’t die early from being a fat POS.

Cardio isn’t going to kill your gains, but not doing any of it will and it’ll probably kill you faster too.

So, here is your PSA - get in some cardio every week, whatever time of day you can. 

Train hard, get fit, stay healthy and crush your goals.

If you need some help with this, just pop over to www.masterathletic.com and work with one of our coaches - we got you!

Paul Oneid, MS. MS. CSCS

Founder and Head Coach