Strength training before or after cardio?

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Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    It depends...currently I'm doing a full body lifting program 3x per week that takes me around 40 minutes or so...I usually follow up with about 20 minutes of easy spin on the stationary bike just to spin my legs out a bit...nothing particularly intense. I do actual training rides on completely different days and when I have an event I'm training for, I usually drop my lifting down to 2x per week and focus more on my training rides.

    I'm not going to get a very good lifting session in after a training ride...conversely, I'm not going to have a good training ride after a lifting session either. Right now I'm not really training for anything specific, but my fitness rides are such that it's just better to keep them on different days.

    If I were you, I'd look into an actual lifting routine...it will be far more efficient and effective than just doing whatever for 10 minutes.
  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
    I honestly wouldn't worry about it for 10-20 minutes of lifting...

    If breaking it up into two 10 min lifts with the cardio in between makes you feel best, go for it. That's better than skipping the lifting.

    (^ Though an established program is even better)
  • Emily3907
    Emily3907 Posts: 1,461 Member
    My personal preference is 10 minutes of cardio for a warm up to get my heart rate going, then my lifting routine, followed by about 20 minutes of more cardio. It ends up being about an hour in total (30 mins cardio and 30 minutes lifting). I also like to finish with some deep stretching. I have just found that stretching afterwards really helps me feel better the next day.

    This is all personal preference though after some trial and error.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    edited December 2017
    Emily3907 wrote: »
    My personal preference is 10 minutes of cardio for a warm up to get my heart rate going, then my lifting routine, followed by about 20 minutes of more cardio. It ends up being about an hour in total (30 mins cardio and 30 minutes lifting). I also like to finish with some deep stretching. I have just found that stretching afterwards really helps me feel better the next day.

    This is all personal preference though after some trial and error.

    What kind of lifting program are you doing? I couldn't imaging getting through mine in less than 45 minutes or an hour for the weight training alone.
  • pondee629
    pondee629 Posts: 2,469 Member
    I usually split cardio and strength on separate days. That having been said, on strength days I do like to warm up with 15 minutes on the rowing machine. On my cardio days I'll finish with some body weight exercises (push ups, pull ups, hip thrusts {these are often weighted} whatever). On all days I do, at least, 15- 20 minutes of cool down stretches. I'm in the gym about 75 minutes most days.

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