December 12, 2025, 7:33 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
Cardio before or after strength training–or perhaps on a different day? This question is often debated in terms of strength gains and muscle building. Trainer and FITBOOK expert Alina Bock recommends doing cardio after strength training because it promotes recovery. She explains why endurance training can shorten the necessary recovery time for muscles and what duration and intensity the cardio session should have.
Strategies that promote recovery support muscle building in the long run. A faster recovery time means you can do the next workout sooner, allowing for more training stimuli in a shorter period. This, in turn, helps achieve the desired muscle growth more quickly. Cardio training is a suitable strategy for this.
Improved Circulation and Reduction of Muscle Damage
Cardio training increases heart rate and thus improves blood circulation in the body. This leads to better oxygen and nutrient supply to the muscles. Microtraumas in the muscles caused by previous intense strength training can now be repaired more quickly through enhanced nutrient supply and the removal of metabolic waste.
Faster Breakdown of Lactate
Additionally, cardio training improves the body’s ability to break down lactate accumulated during an intense workout. Lactate is the salt of lactic acid, which the body forms in the muscle through the metabolism of carbohydrates. The breakdown of lactate reduces muscle tension and promotes a faster recovery time.
What Duration and Intensity Are Best for Promoting Recovery?
To ensure that cardio training after strength training actually promotes recovery, it’s important not to engage in intense cardio sessions that strain the muscles beyond the strength training. We want to break down lactate, not build it up further, and promote the healing of microtraumas by increasing nutrient and oxygen supply, not cause more. Therefore, a light cardio session of 15 to a maximum of 30 minutes is sufficient, which slightly increases the heart rate. Light jogging, cycling, or swimming are suitable for this. After an intense leg workout, even brisk walking can help the body recover.
Is 30 Minutes of Strength Training Enough?
What Do Reboots Compression Boots Offer for Recovery?
For Recovery–Better Cardio or Stretching After Strength Training?
If a muscle group is trained intensively, intense stretching immediately after the workout can exacerbate muscle traumas that were previously caused.
Additionally, the lactate accumulated in the muscle leads to muscle stiffness, making stretching only slightly possible and potentially painful. Cardio training, with its lactate-reducing effect, is better suited for recovery.
Conclusion
Cardio training is an effective method for promoting recovery and shortening recovery time. A short and moderate cardio session immediately after strength training is sufficient to achieve the desired effects in terms of lactate breakdown and nutrient and oxygen supply to the muscles.