Myths That Keep Gay Men From Reaching Their Ideal Body: Cardio Myths 2

Introduction

Most gay men know cardio is important, but timing is a part of cardio that they either completely overlook or are misinformed about. If gay men want to build muscle while staying lean, understanding cardio timing can make the difference.

Should you do cardio before or after lifting?

Should your cardio have its own day?

Does fasted cardio in the morning do anything other than give influencers content and views?

My goal with this post is to save you some wasted effort on your journey to building a body you are confident in and help you make real progress by cutting through the noise. Let's dive into it.

MYTH 1

Fasted Cardio Is The Secret To Fat Loss

For everyone that believed fasted cardio was going to be the way to shred pounds quickly because the Instagram gurus said so in a reel, it won't. The difference between fasted cardio and cardio any other time is marginal.

Your degree of success on your fat loss journey will come down to:

• Calorie Deficit: Are you eating fewer calories than your body burns a day?

• Proper Protein: Are you getting about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight?

• Proper Training: Are you doing enough strength training to preserve your muscle?

• Proper Recovery: Are you drinking enough water, getting enough fiber, and sleeping enough?

Focusing on fasted cardio usually goes one of two ways:

• Most Likely: The person focusing on doing fasted cardio will begin to miss waking up early or feel hungry when they do and struggle to create or sustain the habit. This added pressure will make it harder for the person to ever hit their fitness goal since they will begin feeling "I can't do this" before they ever really got started. Unfortunately, here they were focused on creating a habit that had little impact on their fitness journey to begin with.

• Least Likely: It will be done over weeks and months and won't add up to much of a difference from a fat burning perspective. There is a benefit if you can pull off the fasted cardio in the morning the influencers overlook completely. The biggest benefit that comes from it is waking up early. If you build a habit of waking up early to prioritize your fitness and focus on doing activities that will make a meaningful difference towards your goal, it is a huge step toward winning longterm.

In a nutshell, if fasted cardio makes you feel, drained, moody, or like you can't keep it up, then do your cardio later or after eating. A less optimized plan done consistently beats the most optimized plan you can't stick with.

MYTH 2

Timing of Cardio Doesn't Matter For Gay Men

If your goal is to build muscle, timing of cardio does matter because of what's called the interference effect. Cardio and lifting can compete against each other for your body's resources when recovering.

Best Practice: Do cardio and strength training on separate days.

Good Practice: Try to separate cardio and strength training by at least 6 hours.

If You Can Do Neither: Lift first, then do cardio after.

This section is for those who are looking to get the most out of the time they put in. The same advice I gave you in the fasted cardio section applies here. If you do not have time to separate strength training and cardio, love doing cardio first, and changing it makes you not want to train, keep the cardio first. The small difference in recovery you will get to build or retain muscle isn't worth it if you feel you won't keep up the routine.

If separating cardio isn’t realistic, consistency still beats optimization. It’s better to stick to a routine you enjoy than quit chasing perfection.

MYTH 3

Cardio Timing Doesn't Impact Muscle Recovery

Oftentimes when people are looking to drop weight as quickly as possible they find themselves doing HIIT training. Doing HIIT right after heavy squats is one of the fastest ways to stall leg growth and slow recovery. This is solely to let you know that HIIT is phenomenal for burning calories, but can blunt recovery in the legs if the HIIT session is after a heavy leg day.

This sequence would accomplish the short-term goal of burning calories, but fail at the goal that will help you burn more calories in the long-term even while your'e at rest- building muscle. Prioritize enough rest so that your body can fully recover and you can stack your muscle gains over time to increase your metabolism.

The Bottom Line

For gay men looking to build muscle and stay lean:

• Prioritize lifting if a toned, defined physique is the goal.

• Separate cardio from strength training when you can.

• Don't obsess over fasted cardio.

• Protect recovery by being strategic about intensity.

• Stay consistent. The best plan for you is the one you will actually stick to.

Want To Learn More?

If you would like to learn more about this for free I made the Shredded, Not Scrawny guide and a free training video to assist you: https://b.link/cardio2

Built For You

If you would like a more specific plan built to account for you, your life, your obstacles, and your goal, buy a training program. On your onboarding call, we will see you came from this post and take you down a different process to build something specific to you.

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