Cardio Before or After Strength Training?

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tony2545
tony2545 Posts: 15 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Is it better to do cardio before or after strength training?

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  • gloriaeffe
    gloriaeffe Posts: 75 Member
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    There isn't a strict rule. At my course to become a personal trainer they suggest to do cardio after strength training because resistance training is more demanding on the muscles and potentially more dangerous so you want to be at your best when performing the exercises.
    i agree with this theory and always do cardio after strength (on days i have to do both - generally I prefer to split).
  • ljmcf
    ljmcf Posts: 98 Member
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    Ah that makes sense - this is a helpful post! I am planning on starting double classes, body pump then body combat - pleased to hear that this is a good way round to do it! :)
  • mjfab
    mjfab Posts: 10
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    Though from what I understand from my personal trainers you don't want to do hard cardio and hard strength in the same day. Have a warm up cardio and a cool down cardio but the more intense stuff should be done on a different day than your strength.
  • PRguez
    PRguez Posts: 61 Member
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    There isn't a strict rule. At my course to become a personal trainer they suggest to do cardio after strength training because resistance training is more demanding on the muscles and potentially more dangerous so you want to be at your best when performing the exercises.
    i agree with this theory and always do cardio after strength (on days i have to do both - generally I prefer to split).

    I always do cardio frist because i hate it so I want to take it out of the way (and i use it as a warm up too) and do the strength training afterwards; which demands more effort as I am already tired.

    But that's me and indeed one of the personal trainers at my gym said exactly as quoted above; it should be afterwards because of those reasons.
  • Spaghetti_Bender
    Spaghetti_Bender Posts: 509 Member
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    I do five minutes on the elliptical before i lift, just to warm up the muscles. After my lifting sessions, i do 10 minutes on the elliptical again.......no more than that.
  • bonoeuf
    bonoeuf Posts: 58 Member
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    If you can do cardio after a leg session you have not worked hard enough. To do it before other than a warm up will stop you doing a hard routine.
  • maasha81
    maasha81 Posts: 733 Member
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    I do about 10 mins of cardio to warm up (elliptical, or Insanity warm up vid) but I never do both one after the other. Sometimes I do it at different points in the day.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    I would start with whatever you consider more demanding or whatever you want to focus more on. I am in very good shape regarding my lower body and have lots of stamina because of years of cardio, so when I do both, it is easier for me to first do strength training, then go for a run or an aerobics/dance class. If I am trying something new, like spinning which I recently started after years of not cycling at all, then I find it better to first start with this activity, so I can completely focus on it.
    I am assuming you mean a complete routine of at least 30 minutes or more, not just warming up for a few minutes.
  • Platform_Heels
    Platform_Heels Posts: 388 Member
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    I was a cardio before weights person because if I didn't do it before I wouldn't do it at all. However since I started training for a race I have been splitting it up and lifting in the a.m. and then doing my training in the afternoon. Now I like doing it that way because it gives me something else to do later in the day.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    I have my schedule set up where I do weights during my lunch hour at work, and then do cardio after work (weather permitting). So I guess I'm an "After" as well.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    It depends on what your goals are. If you are looking to make strength gains or build muscle, tiring yourself out with cardio before lifting isn't the best idea.
    I also agree with the above poster that you shouldn't plan intense workouts in both cardio and strength training for the same day.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    okay.

    cardio /=/ a warm up.

    it's a warm up- cardio is it's own thing.

    Goals will pretty much drive the arrangement.
    If strength/gainz are the goals then cardio should be done AFTER you weight train or on a completely separate day- unless of course the focus is for cardio- like if you are training for a marathon- the strength training is a supplement to the cardio- then i'ts perfectly acceptable and wise.

    Otherwise if you are going ham in the weights- the last thing you want is to already be tired from cardio.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    I have my schedule set up where I do weights during my lunch hour at work, and then do cardio after work (weather permitting). So I guess I'm an "After" as well.

    That's completely different and I don't think that's what the OP means.

    OP, another way to do this is combine them totally, like Crossfit. Run 400M, then do 10 pull ups, then do 10 Deadlifts and do that sequence 5 times in a row resting for 1 minutes in between rounds. Change it up for each workout. Just a suggestion.

    In CrossFit, they still work solely on the strength building first, then they do the WOD. .

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