cardio vs weights

veracruz

I'm looking for some advice - I've been going to the gym and doing cardio but have recently read about how important weights are, also. Is it better to do all cardio one day, all weights one day, or mix it up and do 30 mins cardio, 30 mins weights on the same day? I'd love some advice! Thanks!

bizco

It depends on the type of weight lifting you plan to do. If you're serious about transforming your body (lowering your body fat %) you need to do a progressive weight lifting program. And if you choose to do that, then your muscles need time to recover so it's best to lift weights 3 times per week with a day of rest in between. You can do cardio (endurance exercises) on the days you don't lift.

But if you're going to lift light weights then you can do both in the same workout but do the weights first, then cardio.

TrainingWithTonya

I prefer 30 minutes of weights followed by 30 minutes of cardio. I do it this way for several reasons:

1. Weight training requires at least 48 hours of rest before doing it again with the same muscle group, so with only a 30 minute weight workout I can focus on one or two muscle groups and then the next day I can weight train again with different muscle groups so I get more days of weight training.

2. I like more days of weight training because it raises the metabolism for up to 24 hours after training so I want to do that as many days as possible to increase my total calorie burn.

3. Weight training burns primarily glycogen because of the intensity of it. Cardio burns a more even combination of glycogen and fat so that you have the by-products of glycogen burning to be able to do the chemical reaction in the body to burn fat. By burning glycogen with the weights first, you don't have to burn as much glycogen from your cardio because you already have those by-products to be able to do more fat burning from your cardio. If you do a straight cardio workout, you have to break down that glycogen first before you can get optimal fat burning from your workout, so you are only burning higher amounts of fat after about the 30 minute mark.

4. Those same by-products of glycogen conversion to ATP that are used for fat conversion to ATP can build up as lactic acid if they aren't used as pyruvate for fat burning. Lactic acid build up has been linked to muscle fatigue and soreness during exercise. So, doing a straight weight training day will cause more soreness and that pyruvate/lactic acid will be "wasted" in a way since it isn't used for the fat burning reaction in the body as much as if you did cardio right after.

ETA: I do this with heavy weights. Yes, if you do 300 pound squats and then try to get on the treadmill, your legs will be burning, but the cardio works different muscle fibers then the weights so you will hit all the muscle fibers and not overwork the muscle by doing both heavy weights and cardio in the same day. But only use a weight you can safely handle where the last rep or two of each set is difficult to maintain form.