Strength training before or after cardio?
kerrylkatriviera
Posts: 25 Member
I've seen sites recommending one or the other. I usually do cardio before strength training - forty to forty-five minutes of cardio, then a break, then 15-30 minutes of strength training. I walk to the gym, and by the time I arrive, I am in a cardio state of mind. However, some days I feel sluggish and my legs are a little stiff.
Had that feeling today, could barely finish my cardio workout, but I picked up some weights afterward, and after ten minutes I felt different. The sluggish feeling and dull ache in my legs went away. I felt great. Should I switch my routine and do strength training first?
Had that feeling today, could barely finish my cardio workout, but I picked up some weights afterward, and after ten minutes I felt different. The sluggish feeling and dull ache in my legs went away. I felt great. Should I switch my routine and do strength training first?
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Replies
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Ultimately it will depend on your goals and how you feel. If you enjoy doing your cardio first and it doesn't affect your lifting (as long as you feel good, have enough energy, progressing in weights accordingly etc) then I don't see why you have to change it. At some point though that much cardio before may have an effect on your lifting as the weights get heavier and recovery becomes more taxing. And if your goals are to gain strength and retain/build muscle you may want to prioritize it more. Otherwise, carry on.
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Whatever is going to keep you going back and staying consistent! I personally strength train first, doing cardio first makes me too tired and then my form suffers, I'd rather have great form on my lifts and not hit my cardio as hard. Not to mention the thought of cardio makes me not want to go to the gym, but if I do my lifting first then when I'm done I feel like I have more motivation to do cardio.2
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Which is your priority? I always lift first, b/c I won't have energy for heavy lifting if I run for 30 or 40 minutes before. I'm also more inclined to cut my cardio (vs. lifting) short if I run out of time.
If you are walking to the gym, you're probably warmed up to start lifting.3 -
Strength train before cardio.3
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For most people it doesn't make any difference.
Personally I prefer separating them completely on different days.5 -
Tons of research about this...like hundreds of journal articles...question for you?
Which do you want most strength or aerobic fitness? You can have both but what you do first gets the better training effect (at least according to many studies).
John1 -
Try both and see what works best. It takes me 10 minutes into any workout to really feel warmed up and "into it." Some days are better than others. It's just the way of life. lol.
I often do 5 minutes cardio as an initial warmup to strength training, but I still need to warm up all muscle groups separately. Cardio doesn't engage all your muscles.
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I say change it up depending on how you feel that day. I like to keep my body guessing like that. Or try adding in your cardio between sets. Or just do your cardio while you are strength training. Circuit training is my favorite way to workout. There really isn't a one size fits all workout so I say just find what works for you and go with it! GET YOU SOME!!!!0
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OP Just try both way and see what results you get. It all depends in what is more important for you.
I do first 10 or 15 minutes in the water rower at moderate intensity. It's mild cardio but warms up my upper body and legs so I can do my lifting afterward (what ever part I am working that day), and I feel that I still have strength left to deal with the weights. If I have time, I will add an additional 15 or 20 minutes in the ARC, followed by 10 or 15 minutes of mild calisthenics (my way of stretching and cooling down), after I am done lifting .
This is what works for me, but I have seen people doing 30 to 45 minutes of cardio and then hitting the weights without a problem. I couldn't do that. I wish I could do cardio and strength training in different days, that would be ideal, but my schedule doesn't make it possible.
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Thanks for your input. I'll see how I feel tomorrow. I think I'll start with a strength training routine.0
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A good stretching routine before lifting is enough warm up, lift first... then cardio to burn what’s left in the tank3
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I agree with others. Try both ways and see what works for you. I personally like walking at a very brisk pace for 10 minutes before strength training. Anymore and it wears me out too much. It’s just enough to warm me up and loosen any tight muscles before I lift. I do more cardio on my days off from lifting.0
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If I'm doing both on the same day, I lift first...I find I can put up more weight when I'm not fatigued from running. When I get closer to a race, I separate lifting days from running.0
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When I was doing more strength training/bodybuilding type lifting, I would do cardio first, now that I've switched to powerlifting, what little cardio I do, is afterwards.0
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Ultimately it will depend on your goals and how you feel. If you enjoy doing your cardio first and it doesn't affect your lifting (as long as you feel good, have enough energy, progressing in weights accordingly etc) then I don't see why you have to change it. At some point though that much cardio before may have an effect on your lifting as the weights get heavier and recovery becomes more taxing. And if your goals are to gain strength and retain/build muscle you may want to prioritize it more. Otherwise, carry on.
No fair!! Sardelsa said what I was going to say!!
I do light cardio warm up and cool down on lifting days but my goal is to have a great lifting session. So that is where I devote my energy. I do more cardio on off days from lifting.1 -
JerSchmare wrote: »
Stretching before lifting is not generally recommended.RavenLibra wrote: »A good stretching routine before lifting is enough warm up, lift first... then cardio to burn what’s left in the tank
True of static stretching. Active or dynamic stretching can be good.2 -
If you're doing anything approaching a heavy lifting program, and a moderate to strenuous cardio program, the odds are that you will injure yourself by doing cardio first.
Without knowing better the specifics of your strength and cardio programs it's practically impossible to make an evaluation of what the odds actually are.2 -
JerSchmare wrote: »
Stretching before lifting is not generally recommended.RavenLibra wrote: »A good stretching routine before lifting is enough warm up, lift first... then cardio to burn what’s left in the tank
True of static stretching. Active or dynamic stretching can be good.
if by "not recommended" and "not good" you mean that static stretching can reduce one's 1RM by a whopping 8%....2 -
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I generally do cardio first. If weight loss is the goal.. that’s what I was taught. If it’s bulking and strength building, I guess the other way around might be more efficient.0
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I always lift before. Unless I'm working legs, then after.0
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Unless you have specific goals tied to cardio, lifting first would be more beneficial in general fitness.5
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My routine has been 15 minutes or so on the treadmill to warm up, walking and adjusting elevation as needed, then a series of light exercise to warm up particular problem areas (for me these are shoulders, hips and knees) and then the lifting. After lifting I do 10-15 minutes of intervals (not HIIT, just intervals) followed by foam rolling and stretching. Works for me.0
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I like to do about 10 minutes of warm up cardio to get the blood flowing, nothing major. Then I do my strength training and usually feel ready to push by that point. Once I'm done, I either do an easy treadmill walk or I do intervals and push my speed and heart rate up, depending on how long I strength trained. I do two short sessions a week and I like intervals after those. On my one long session, I usually do a steady state medium effort walk. Between strength days, I'm currently doing run/walk intervals. Basically, on the toughest cardio, I like to do it on different days entirely. Either way, though, I like to do the strength training first.0
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I generally do cardio first. If weight loss is the goal.. that’s what I was taught. If it’s bulking and strength building, I guess the other way around might be more efficient.
Not quite. If you are training for an endurance event of some sort, then you would probably want to do cardio first. If you are looking at general fitness (which could be in a surplus or deficit) you may want strength training first as you don't want to be tired while lifting. You won't be able to lift as much and your form may be off leading to a better chance at injury... general rule is, cardio after lifting if both on the same day, unless cardio is your primary goal (eg. training for a race)
for weight loss or bulking it doesn't really matter, though it is easier to bulk if you limit the amount of cardio you do, otherwise you will just have to eat even more.5 -
I generally do cardio first. If weight loss is the goal.. that’s what I was taught. If it’s bulking and strength building, I guess the other way around might be more efficient.
Not quite. If you are training for an event of some sort, then you would probably want to do cardio first. If you are looking at general fitness (which could be in a surplus or deficit) you may want strength training first as you don't want to be tired while lifting. You won't be able to lift as much and your form may be off leading to a better chance at injury... general rule is, cardio after lifting if both on the same day, unless cardio is your primary goal (eg. training for a race)
for weight loss or bulking it doesn't really matter, though it is easier to bulk if you limit the amount of cardio you do, otherwise you will just have to eat even more.
This ^3 -
I generally do cardio first. If weight loss is the goal.. that’s what I was taught. If it’s bulking and strength building, I guess the other way around might be more efficient.
Not quite. If you are training for an endurance event of some sort, then you would probably want to do cardio first. If you are looking at general fitness (which could be in a surplus or deficit) you may want strength training first as you don't want to be tired while lifting. You won't be able to lift as much and your form may be off leading to a better chance at injury... general rule is, cardio after lifting if both on the same day, unless cardio is your primary goal (eg. training for a race)
for weight loss or bulking it doesn't really matter, though it is easier to bulk if you limit the amount of cardio you do, otherwise you will just have to eat even more.
Going to also agree.
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I generally do cardio first. If weight loss is the goal.. that’s what I was taught. If it’s bulking and strength building, I guess the other way around might be more efficient.
Not quite. If you are training for an endurance event of some sort, then you would probably want to do cardio first. If you are looking at general fitness (which could be in a surplus or deficit) you may want strength training first as you don't want to be tired while lifting. You won't be able to lift as much and your form may be off leading to a better chance at injury... general rule is, cardio after lifting if both on the same day, unless cardio is your primary goal (eg. training for a race)
for weight loss or bulking it doesn't really matter, though it is easier to bulk if you limit the amount of cardio you do, otherwise you will just have to eat even more.
Going to also agree.
This well supported in the research...a lot of what is posted in these forums is solid but a lot is also just opinion that only applies to that poster. I would highly recommend a google scholar sea h if you really want to know.0 -
So the last two times I've been to the gym, I've done weights first. It seems to be working better for me. I did weights for ten minutes, then 45 minutes of cardio, then ten more minutes of weights. Often when I do cardio first I just go home and skip the weights, and by breaking it up, I'm doing my full workout with no fatigue.0
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