Last week, we talked about the comparison between the benefits of resistance training or aerobic exercise. The consensus is that a combination of both — along with the correct diet and lifestyle choices — are the holistic way to reach your peak of health.
But for a long time, many fitness officials claimed that it was a bad idea to practice both resistance and aerobic exercises on the same day. That greatly changed how people viewed coming to the gym. For example, they’d have to rotate days and come back more days per week in order to do a complete regimen. And for many, that kind of restriction and limitation could be a setback to pursuing optimal workouts — and some people who would greatly benefit from membership became hesitate to join a gym at all, because it simply seemed like too much work.
The reason that it backed the concept that these two regimens couldn’t intersect was called “muscle interference,” an explanation that stated aerobic exercise would cause muscle fatigue and people would not be able to get the most out of weight training. Conversely, muscle interference meant that weight training first might tire the muscles and keep people from performing as well during cardio. This systemic belief wasn’t a matter of ignorance; it was a widely held belief that top trainers commonly advocated for their clients.
That’s why many people in the fitness community, including those of us at Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym, were overjoyed when scientists once and for all denounced and disproved this theory. Studies came in from McMaster University in Ontario, Karolinska Institute and several Swedish organizations that finally challenged muscle interference by comparing workouts with young and middle-aged males. The reporters of each independent study stated that they did not see any indications of muscle interference for the men who did both resistance training and aerobics in one day, as opposed to one each.
The bottom line is that gym-going can now conclusively become as convenient as you’d like for it to be – and you don’t have to worry about doing too much of different tactics all in one day. So if you ever had doubt, never fear — and happy workouts!