The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of pre rigor temperature on AMPK activity, glycolysis and meat quality of the cattleM. Longissimus lumborum(LL). Hot boned LL muscle was held at 0℃ and 14℃ during early post-mortem time. The pH value, AMPK activity, glycolysis characters and meat quality were tested. Results showed that the rate of pH declination, glycogen breakdown, lactic acid accumulation, and the tenderness and water holding capacity of the sample were significantly higher in 14℃ group than that in 0℃ group (P<0.05). The AMPK activities were significant difference between these two groups at 2 h and 4 h post-mortem (P<0.05). The AMPK activity reached the highest activity value was earlier in 14 ℃ group than that of in 0 ℃ group followed by pyruvate kinase activity. Those results indicated that the AMPK has a potential effect on beef quality through regulating the pyruvate kinase activity and glycolysis pathway.