OK, I know this gets asked a lot...CARDIO Before or After???

amandavictoria80

I know this question has probably been asked many times.

Cardio before or after strength? I have read that doing cardio first can put fatigue on your muscles and make strength more difficult. But I wanted to get opinions from my fellow MFP people.

What's is everyones opinion/advice on this?

Thanks!!!

BobbyDaniel

I usually do about 20 minutes of cardio warm up prior to weights.

munkeyfunk

Cardio after weights is better as it raises HGH which is good for muscle growth. I read a study somewhere lol. good luck!!

stephanielindley422

My boss (a personal trainer for 27 years) Says weights AFTER cardio

rockerbabyy

the trainer i met with at my gym yesterday said 5 minute cardio warm up, then weights, then 20 minute cardio.
normally i lift at home and dont have many options for a lot of cardio, so i just follow the program i found on bodybuilding.com.. lifting first, then cardio

firesoforion

Everything I ever read says warm up, then weights, then cardio.

This is because:
1) It's safer to lift weights when your muscles aren't as tired.
2) You have energy to do the work needed to build more muscle by lifting more/better if your muscles aren't as tired.
3) Since you've used the energy running around your body for the weights (anaerobic exercise), you're forcing yourself to tap into your fat reserves for your aerobic exercise (which is significantly better at tapping into them, anaerobic really doesn't), whereas the other way around it's opposite.
4) (For this reason) doing cardio after lifting weights raises your metabolism and burns more calories than any other time except in the morning, when similar conditions are present in your body.

c2sky

I usually do it after weights, but really it is based on how intense either of the two workouts are, and what your body type is. The best thing to do is separate them, so you can kick butt in BOTH your workouts, unless it's combined like in a boot camp class or something similar.

Warming up on cardio before weights does warm the core temperature, but it's also important to warm up the muscles you're going to work. If you split muscles up, then do some assisted pullups or light weight rows on "pull days" or pushups on "push days". A warm up simply means preparing the body for your chosen activity with a lighter version of that activity.

The more intense your workout is going to be, the longer warm up you need.

There, you heard it from one of your MFP PALS, and an experienced personal trainer.

Good luck.