Weights or Cardio first

tmtrack

Well I was told that you should warm up first with a little bit a cardio to get your heart rate up. then do your weights. Then do the rest of your cardio. I have done it both ways and have not seen a difference in either way though:ohwell: :

Crystals422

cardio warm up, 5-10 minutes, the weights, then cardio.

This. I have had two trainers at my gym tell me this.

ninerbuff

While doing a lite bout of 5-10 minutes of cardio can warm up the body, IMO dynamic stretching is a much better way to warm up the muscles for weight lifting than walking on a treadmill or elliptical. This way you warm up the back, shoulders, chest and arms too.


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engineman312

I've always been told cardio first. That way your muscles are getting plenty of blood to them and can work more efficiently.

While you'll get blood to them, you'll also be using glycogen which is more IMPORTANT for weight lifting than cardio. Lack of sufficient energy for weight lifting will usually break muscle down into amino acids for energy. That means losing lean muscle and lower resting metabolic rate.

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

i'm a little confused. you don't want to burn through the glycogen before strength training? so a lifting session should just be dynamic stretching, a light 5 minutes warm up, and then lift, and then cardio?

rustyrn

Your work out should be spread out over several days not just in one sitting. Warm up 5-10 then hit the weights and then 10-20 minutes of vigorous cardio. you should only be in the gym an 60-75 minutes. No breaks between sets and go straight from weights to cardio. that is for weight days
for cardio days it is the opposite warm up with some light calisthenics then hit the cardio hard for 30 minutes alternating from normal to high intensity and back in short intervals. like HIIT programs

em9371

i have always done cardio first, thats what I was shown at a gym years ago and I have stuck with it, I can only get to the gym 4x per week so really need to do both each time. I will try doing my weights first my next trip to the gym and see if I can lift more!

kyle4jem

I was advised to do strength training before cardio.

I cycle to the gym, do my strength program for 60mins... high reps, lowish weights... then I swim for about another 60mins and cycle home. I do that about twice a week... otherwise I just cycle to the gym and swim for an hour or so.

But it's what suits you best. I'm not going to lift heavy weights and have no intention of killing myself (my knees/ankles) on a treadmill. :smokin:

KiyaK

Thanks everyone for all the replies! Really helped me a lot