Do you do strength training and an aerobic workout on the same day? This type of training is referred to as concurrent training, and it’s a way to accomplish two different fitness goals – building strength and endurance during a single session.
The concern with this type of workout is that doing endurance exercise so close in time to strength training might reduce strength gains and muscle growth. If you’re focused on building muscle strength and mass, will concurrent training limit your potential to build muscle?
The Effects of Concurrent Training on Strength Gains
Studies have looked at whether doing an endurance workout before strength training limits muscle growth – but the results have been mixed, primarily because there are so many variables involved – such as how long and hard the endurance training was and the number of reps and weights used for strength training.
What does fitness literature show? According to a study published in the Journal of Strength Conditioning Research, doing a high-intensity endurance workout before strength training significantly reduces strength training performance.
Other research shows that endurance exercise before strength training negatively affects strength performance but only in the muscle groups that were used during the endurance workout. For example, after you run five miles your ability to do squats or leg presses would be reduced while your performance doing bench press or shoulder raises would be unaffected. So, concurrent training could reduce your lower body strength gains, at least to some degree especially after an endurance workout involving running or jumping.
It also matters what type of endurance training you do – and how fit you are. Running before resistance training may limit strength performance afterward, while cycling has less of an effect on strength gains. People who run regularly seem to suffer less reduction in strength performance when they combine strength and endurance training than those who aren’t regular runners.
How Does Concurrent Training Affect Improvements in Endurance?
Doing strength training during the same session as endurance training may also limit gains in aerobic capacity. According to a study published in the journal Physical Therapy, incorporating strength training into an endurance training session reduced improvements in V02 max, a measure of aerobic endurance. This issue has been less well researched than the effect of endurance training on strength.
Why Does Concurrent Training Affect Strength Gains?
No one knows for sure, but it may be related to different hormonal responses to the two forms of exercise. Endurance training raises cortisol levels, which contributes to muscle breakdown, whereas resistance training elevates testosterone levels, which has an anabolic effect. Concurrent training may also create “muscle conflicts” since muscle adapts differently to resistance training than it does to endurance training. Then, there’s the element of fatigue that could limit the amount of force the muscle can generate.
Conclusion
So should you do concurrent training or endurance and strength training on alternate days? If you’re trying to build bulk and want to maximize muscle overload, the alternate day strategy is best – or at least give yourself thirty minutes to recover from an endurance workout before hitting the weights. If you’re primarily trying to burn fat and aren’t focused on building bulk, concurrent training still works well, and it’s a real timesaver. The bottom line? Strength train before your endurance workout if you want to maximize how much you lift.
References:
J. Strength Cond. Res. 13:47. (1999)
Journal of Applied Physiology. 68: 260-270. (1990)
Physical Therapy. 70: 287-270. (1990)
Related Articles By Cathe:
A Different Approach to Training: Integrated Concurrent Training
Benefits and Drawbacks of Concurrent Training
Advanced Strength Training Using a Rest-Pause Approach
