The best time of day to lift weight is in the evening. Why? Well, your body NEEDS calories in order to build muscle. Your body accumulates calories throughout the day, and—by the time the evening has rolled around—your body has acquired all the calories you’re going to get.

For maximum muscle building potential, it is not a good idea to do any type of cardio before a weight lifting session. Why? Well, when you complete a cardio session you have not only exhausted your muscles, but you have efficiently and effectively depleted your muscles of its oxygen supplies. Why does that matter? It matters because building muscle is all about tearing and rebuilding. When you lift, your muscle tears; when your muscle tears, it starts to heal; when it heals, it accumulates more mass—hence, muscle building.

Recovery is also a big part of muscle building. Your muscles need time to rebuild themselves when they tear. When you do not give that tear on your muscle an opportunity to rebuild or heal itself, you are effectively stopping it from growing.

Bottom line: it is best to lift at night (before a cardio workout if you are an evening cardio person!) for maximum energy absorption and muscle building. Don’t forget to rest those muscles!

So... I also read your "morning cardio burns more fat" post. You sayin I gotta go to the gym twice a day? I guess it's not a bad idea, but when's a broad supposed to have a social life? LOL

thanks for the tips, tho. I'll stop doing the "hit the treadmill and then do weights" routine since that's obviously backwards!

A little treadmill is fine as part of your warm-up, I suspect - following the logic here, it wouldn't be enough to deplete your muscles, and it would benefit you by warming you up. In fact, I'm supposed to start with 15 minutes on the treadmill or bike before I go start my strength rotations. It's probably more of an issue to try and do an extended cardio session. But then, I'd never heard of this particular thinking before, so I'm no expert by any means!

So... I also read your "morning cardio burns more fat" post. You sayin I gotta go to the gym twice a day? I guess it's not a bad idea, but when's a broad supposed to have a social life? LOL

thanks for the tips, tho. I'll stop doing the "hit the treadmill and then do weights" routine since that's obviously backwards!

I am not saying by any means that working out at anytime of the day is wrong, I am just relaying what I know for those who want to maximize on the science of our bodies. Whatever time fits in your schedule, you do it! Good luck to you!

Thanks for this useful tip.

A little treadmill is fine as part of your warm-up, I suspect - following the logic here, it wouldn't be enough to deplete your muscles, and it would benefit you by warming you up. In fact, I'm supposed to start with 15 minutes on the treadmill or bike before I go start my strength rotations. It's probably more of an issue to try and do an extended cardio session. But then, I'd never heard of this particular thinking before, so I'm no expert by any means!

Yes! Warming up is a must, even if it is on a treadmill or bike, or any other equipment. It reduces the risk of muscle injury. Like I said in a previous post, I am just trying to relay to those who would like to utilize the knowledge I gained as certified weight trainer and aerobic instructor (when I was in the business) some possibly helpful tips. It can be utilized or not, but as long as people are getting out there and working out--no matter what time of the day--they will make a difference in thier physical composition. I really hope it helps! Good luck to you!

What if we want to lift say.... around the middle of the day, and save our evening energy for "evening fun"? I've lifted pretty well at lunch with fairly high intensity then and usually able to recover and "perform" when/if the opportunity for "evening activities" arise. We'll call those evening "activities" my cardio session. Haha!

Seriously though, good points on the recovery and rest aspects. I make sure any muscle soreness is gone before working that particular muscle group again and that seems to serve me pretty well and I've had good experiences with that approach.

What if we want to lift say.... around the middle of the day, and save our evening energy for "evening fun"? I've lifted pretty well at lunch with fairly high intensity then and usually able to recover and "perform" when/if the opportunity for "evening activities" arise. We'll call those evening "activities" my cardio session. Haha!

Seriously though, good points on the recovery and rest aspects. I make sure any muscle soreness is gone before working that particular muscle group again and that seems to serve me pretty well and I've had good experiences with that approach.

As long as your "evening activities" are post weight session, your muscles should be fine. Of course the duration of these activities might lead to some muscle exhaustion; some might find that they are not able to perform to their maximum potential, but they should be fine--nevertheless. Lol! Don't forget to load up on calories...you'll need all the extra energy you can get!

Okay so tonight I will warm up with some down-dogs, then go do my weights rotations, then do my treadmill. Or maybe I shouldn't do weights at all, since I did them pretty intensely last night?

Okay so tonight I will warm up with some down-dogs' date=' then go do my weights rotations, then do my treadmill. Or maybe I shouldn't do weights at all, since I did them pretty intensely last night?[/quote']

My personal opinion, based on my knowledge, is to workout 2-3 muscles per weight training session, never lifting the same muscle in the same week. For example, if your limited with time and you condense your weight training sessions to 3 days out of the week, you could begin with shoulders, biceps & triceps on one day ( maybe on a Monday), pair chest and back on another (perhaps a Wednesday), and legs all by them selves on another day (like a Saturday). The point is to allow them time to rest so that they can heal and grow, because when that muscle tears (you know that sore feeling you get) it will stay torn if you don't allow it time to rest and heal; thus, not allowing your muscles to grow. I personally recommend (again, this is just my personal opinion), a weight training regimen that yields 3-5 days of weight training sessions per week. Even though, based on what I've read, I believe it's best to lift at night, you need to just fit it into your schedule, whatever time that may be.

So, to answer your question, it depends what you lifted. Downward dogs are a good way to warmup your muscles. In fact, anyone and everyone SHOULD stretch really well before a weight training session to decrease the possibility of pulling a muscle. And yes, warmups can include a quick walk or jog on a treadmill, or any other machine.