Cardio before or after weight training?

Azdak

Wow... I was always doing my cardio, and then my weight training! But what you have explained makes sense from a scientific/physiological point of view!

I will start using this in my workouts tomorrow

Except that it's all wrong--other than that it makes PERFECT sense. If you are doing OK with what you are doing, don't change anything.

dandur

.

daphnemoon

Definitely prefer to do it this way, however as I do both my strength training and cardio within a class setting, I sometimes have to do the cardio first because that is how the classes run. This definitely makes a difference to my ability to lift so any time I can I do it this way. I definitely find I burn more at the second class if I do strength training first!

Chika_2015

I have been doing my cardio first and lifting after and losing weight. I sometimes lift first and then do cardio, but I find that after lifting, I don't have as much energy to do cardio, hence why I do cardio first. I feel like if I do cardio first, I have so much more energy to lift. But this is my Personal experience of course. I say to each his/her own

Smuterella

bump

Matt_Wild

Afterwards only when cutting/dieting. Weights will deplete glycogen levels. Steady state cardio will then help target fat as blood glucose levels will be low.

wedjul05

Hmmm interesting. I was doing it the other way. Will change it out and see if this helps.

Thanks

sabrinalg

Bump

holly1007

Thank you for posting this...I was doing it completely backwards. Will try this way and hopefully see better results

Runningirl7284

I have been doing my cardio first and lifting after and losing weight. I sometimes lift first and then do cardio, but I find that after lifting, I don't have as much energy to do cardio, hence why I do cardio first. I feel like if I do cardio first, I have so much more energy to lift. But this is my Personal experience of course. I say to each his/her own

^^ I am the same way. I am also training for races and want to put the majority of my training into my running.

dmatkins22

I have been looking for an answer to that since I've been struggling with losing fat!!! I needed that post and thanks so much for the insight.

Izzii0x

So wait, is it still ok to do JUST cardio or JUST weight in a single workout?

Azdak

So wait, is it still ok to do JUST cardio or JUST weight in a single workout?

Yes. Actually, for practical purposes, none of it makes any difference.

llc65

Thanks for this posting.
I always do cardio first as it motivates me to do the weights. Wondered why I haven't seen much results. I was starting to get very frustrated.
I will try this from tomorrow and see if it works any better.

Izzii0x

So wait, is it still ok to do JUST cardio or JUST weight in a single workout?

Yes. Actually, for practical purposes, none of it makes any difference.

What do you mean?

linzijoy

So wait, is it still ok to do JUST cardio or JUST weight in a single workout?

Yes. Actually, for practical purposes, none of it makes any difference.

What do you mean?

Yep, I'm keen to know this too as I would probably do cardio in the morning and weights in the evening.

dad106

I always do mine separately.

I find that since I do weight lifting to failure, I have no energy left to even look at a treadmill.. let alone hop on one for another 20-30 minute session.

I find that's what works best for me.

Azdak

So wait, is it still ok to do JUST cardio or JUST weight in a single workout?

Yes. Actually, for practical purposes, none of it makes any difference.

What do you mean?

I mean that for the average person, it makes no practical difference. The whole idea of "doing strength before cardio makes you burn more fat" is perhaps relevant for a bodybuilder who needs to prepare for a show, but is meaningless for everyone else. First of all, most people will never use up all their glycogen in a lifting session; second, if you do use up all your glycogen, you would have a really sh!tty cardio workout that would not last long enough to do much of anything, and three, the fuel you burn during an exercise session has almost no effect on overall fat loss. So each and every one of the "standard" reasons usually given for doing strength before cardio does not hold up under the most cursory of scrutiny. This is one of those situations where something that might be of importance to a tiny group of people with unique physiological needs (e.g. guys who are already at, say 6% body fat who need to get to 3% body fat) has been improperly generalized to the general population.

The practical effect of which to do first depends on what is most important to you and how your body responds to different types of exercise. Someone who wants to emphasize lifting and who pushes themselves really hard should probably lift first or lift separately. The reverse for someone who is looking to emphasize their cardio performance.

Basically I am saying there is no compelling scientific reason to arbitrarily arrange a workout routine because of some alleged fat loss benefit. If cardio is more important to you and you want to have all your physical reserves available to maximize your cardio workout and performance, you can do that and still realize significant strength gains and fat loss by lifting after your cardio. You can train yourself to lift heavy after doing cardio with no deterioration of form.

Will doing one first affect the quality of the other? Most likely. Once again, it comes down to your individual preference for what aspect of training you want to emphasize.

kymillion

I am going to try this thanks

LeenaRuns

Completely agree here if you are doing both in the same session.

This. I try to explain this to people all the time, but sometimes it's hard to get through to them. Thank you for posting this.