The "interference effect"

The “interference effect” describes how doing too much cardio can interfere with muscle and strength gain.
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Recently I discussed how separating your cardio and lifting sessions by at least 6 hours reduces the interference effect [1]. Today, I’d like to further expand on this topic by discussing how the type of cardio you do (and when) can influence your results.
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There’s research indicating the interference effect is local [2, 3]. Lower body based cardio (like running and cycling) doesn’t interfere with upper body muscle development. So if you want to train cardio and strength in the same session, one effective way to program your cardio is by having lower-body dominant cardio after upper body training. Based on the same theory, you can also consider upper body-dominant cardio (e.g. battle ropes) after lower body training.
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This way, you can minimize the interference effect while doing cardio and lifting weights in the same session. It’s worth noting that this is a small training detail that’s more relevant for intermediate/advanced trainees.
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