Can cardio before weights help older adults build more muscle?
Aerobic Exercise Preconditioning Does Not Augment Muscle Hypertrophy During Subsequent Resistance Exercise Training in Healthy Older Adults
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Aerobic preconditioning improved capillarization but had zero effect on muscle growth or strength gains.
Most experts assumed better blood flow would boost hypertrophy in aging muscle—this study shows the opposite: even with 35% more capillaries, muscles grew no faster.
Practical Takeaways
Skip the cardio warm-up before lifting if your goal is muscle growth—just lift weights consistently for 12 weeks.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Aerobic preconditioning improved capillarization but had zero effect on muscle growth or strength gains.
Most experts assumed better blood flow would boost hypertrophy in aging muscle—this study shows the opposite: even with 35% more capillaries, muscles grew no faster.
Practical Takeaways
Skip the cardio warm-up before lifting if your goal is muscle growth—just lift weights consistently for 12 weeks.
Publication
Journal
Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.z.)
Year
2025
Authors
M. Betz, A. Monsegue, L. Houben, Floris K. Hendriks, J. V. van Kranenburg, T. Aussieker, B. Adriaans, Alfons J. H. M. Houben, L. Verdijk, Luc J. C. van Loon, T. Snijders
Related Content
Claims (6)
In healthy older adults around 71 years old, eight weeks of aerobic exercise increases the number of capillaries surrounding muscle fibers, with greater increases in type II fibers than type I. However, this change does not lead to greater muscle growth when followed by 12 weeks of strength training compared to strength training alone.
In healthy older adults, doing aerobic exercise before resistance training leads to a smaller increase in blood flow to the thigh muscle after lifting weights, which may reflect more efficient energy use by the muscle.
In healthy older adults around 71 years old, doing resistance training for 12 weeks leads to measurable increases in thigh muscle size and leg strength, whether or not they previously did aerobic exercise.
In healthy older adults, doing resistance exercises like weight lifting can lead to an increase in the number of small blood vessels surrounding muscle fibers, even if they have not previously done aerobic exercise.
In older adults who are healthy, muscle growth from consistent strength training is not affected by how many blood vessels are already present in the muscle before training begins.