To begin: a brief introductory statement which also serves as a conclusion for the article “At the end of the day, doing any cardio will be better than not doing it at all. Whenever and however it happens, if your goal is to do cardio that day, just do it sometime and somehow”. Obviously we are not going to go overboard and discuss whether 6:15 or 6:22 is a better time for cardio – instead, I will discuss four main schools of thought:

1. In the morning, on an empty stomach
2. In the morning, but after eating
3. Before weights (or other related training)
4. After weights

In this article we are specifically discussing low to medium-intensity cardiovascular endurance training. This type of training focuses on the endurance of your skeletal muscles, but also on your heart and conditioning in general (bloodflow, lung capacity, oxygen uptake). Other forms of cardiovascular training, such as circuits/crossfit/calisthenics and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) have different considerations to keep in mind (we will discuss this in a future article ☺). 

Let’s start by putting this out there: Cardio is important! Your heart is a muscle too. It needs to be trained. Although it may not look as cool as sculpted biceps, avoiding cardiovascular disease sure does look cool. Benefits of cardio that may spill over into the rest of your fitness goals include:

This protocol would usually involve waking up and banging out a quick run, a brisk walk, some circuits, a bike ride, whatever it is that you enjoy. The idea is that before eating, while blood glucose is low, your body is primed to scavenge fat stores for energy to sustain some low-intensity aerobic activity. The primary issue is that some people struggle to feel energetic enough to put in a decent effort, and that going too intense runs the risk of your body using a different energy source; that is the amino acids contained in the protein of your muscles. This shouldn’t be a huge deal for people who aren’t pushing their limits and really trying to gain muscle as rapidly as possible.

PROS: Effective fat-burner using low-intensity aerobic activity. May help you wake up!
CONS: Intensity may (need to) be sacrificed. Possibly higher risk of injury, but just be sure to warm up (especially if out in the cold)

This would also be done early in the morning, with the main difference that you give your body a little bit of fresh food energy to work with. The idea is that this food will help prevent breakdown of muscle tissue, and help you power through the session, while still keeping the benefits of starting the day strong

PROS: Wake up fresh, start the day on a good note. Can still be a good fat burner, while less likely to break down muscle tissue.
CONS: Eating defeats the purpose of fasted morning cardio, making this session somewhat similar to doing it any other time of the day.

For those who like (or need) to combine all their exercise into a single session, and want to do cardio as well as some weight training, there are two logical options – cardio before weights (point #3) or cardio after weights (point #4). For convenience sake, as well as many synergistic effects resulting from the combination, these can both be great options.