WHAT ORDER

heygirl1954

SHOULD I DO ABS 1ST, WEIGHTS NEXT THEN CARDIO FOR BEST RESULTS

alf1163

It depends on what you want to accomplish more from a session. If your goal is to build muscle then do weights first, you will feel more energized to lift heavier and longer. Of course, warm up first. If your goal is cardiovascular endurance then do your cardio first. I usually lift first and then do cardio. I usually work my abs after lifting or if just doing cardio then abs after. :flowerforyou:

leann_m_olson

i'm no expert but cardio will burn the fat off, the abs are under the fat so until you burn it off you won't see much results from doing just abs. So I say Cardio first, running burns the most calories in the shortest time. This is imho.

Good Luck.

heygirl1954

THANKS EVERYONE, I THINK I WILL SHAKE IT UP AND CHANGE TOMORROW AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS

Stephomie

I don't know that the order truly matters, but if you waste yourself with one workout, the next one will suffer because you won't have any gas left in the tank to really keep pushing. My advice is to engage your core in all your workouts, then you won't have to work your abs nearly as hard. Muscle burns fat, this is a proven fact, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn to keep those muscles working. So, when you see people who aren't making a lot of headway after weeks of sitting on an elliptical or stationary bike, that's why...your body gets used to the workouts and you stop burning at the same rate. Your endurance may improve, but the fat stays. I would recommend hard resistance workouts 3x/wk, working muscles in combination (squats with triceps extensions, lunges with biceps curls, etc), these moves make you engage your core and build muscle at the same time, you can even get a little cardio affect from them. Then, when you do cardio, set the machines on interval, or better yet, take a class that challenges you with both strength and cardio moves, interval training classes are a great option, as are kick-boxing.

Good luck!

adopt4

If you do weights first, you will burn the glycogen in your muscles so that with your cardio you will have already burned off the glycogen and your body will burn fat.

Georg

OK
Now I'm seriously confused!
:huh:

heygirl1954

LOL ME TOO BUT I'LL TRY ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

taryn_perry

Regardless of the order you choose, just remember that MUSCLE BURNS FAT. Cardio will burn calories, no doubt about that, but once you stop your cardio activity, so does the calorie burn. With strength training or weight training, you continue to burn calories throughout the day. It's important to incorporate both into your fitness regime, so find a routine/program that focus on your total body, not just your abs, butt, legs or certain part. Target it all and you'll maximize your calorie burn.

Also, I agree with an earlier post, engage your core/abs the entire time. Hope this helps.

P.S. I'm no professional, just an avid fitness fan that has learned from mistakes and had many plateaus! :smooched:

TheJackyl

I do cardio on an elliptical for 15-20 minutes then do a complete body workout 3 days a week. On non-lifting days I do 30 minutes on the elliptical and push harder than I would on the lifting days. I try and force myself to take one day a week as a rest day. Since I added the extra 3 days of cardio to my routine I've really noticed a difference in my results and energy levels being much higher.

Azdak

Regardless of the order you choose, just remember that MUSCLE BURNS FAT. Cardio will burn calories, no doubt about that, but once you stop your cardio activity, so does the calorie burn. With strength training or weight training, you continue to burn calories throughout the day. It's important to incorporate both into your fitness regime, so find a routine/program that focus on your total body, not just your abs, butt, legs or certain part. Target it all and you'll maximize your calorie burn.

Also, I agree with an earlier post, engage your core/abs the entire time. Hope this helps.

P.S. I'm no professional, just an avid fitness fan that has learned from mistakes and had many plateaus! :smooched:

You might want to look at this:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30826120/

SHBoss1673

So here's the deal. Cardio burns fat for the time you are doing it, the amount you burn depends on the intensity of the exercise, Weight training (if you are working to failure or that "burn" you get from a good hard weight training session) burns calories after you work out at an elevated level for up to a full day, but it's not a GIANT increase, and it's really not a ton of fat, mostly just the glycogen from the food you eat before and after.

The order you work out is less important then the understanding that exercise isn't the miracle cure that some think it is. It is GREAT for getting us more healthy, but in the end, eating small meals throughout the day, eating balanced and nutritious foods, and creating a moderate deficit in calories (INCLUDING exercise calories) is what will help us drop the fat and keep us healthy.

that being said, remember this, core shouldn't really factor into your calorie burn. That's not what it's for and your core are small "sheath type" muscles that don't burn a heck of a lot of calories, the core is what stabilizes you, which makes them ultra important, they give you balance, reduce the workload on major muscle groups, and allow you to twist, turn, bend, and sit down effectively, but they don't burn very many calories though, because of the type, size, and density of the muscles. So with that knowledge, understand that core is a great thing to work, but it's really not going to help you lose weight (other then freeing up your larger muscle groups to do the more focused work they were meant for).

taryn_perry

Regardless of the order you choose, just remember that MUSCLE BURNS FAT. Cardio will burn calories, no doubt about that, but once you stop your cardio activity, so does the calorie burn. With strength training or weight training, you continue to burn calories throughout the day. It's important to incorporate both into your fitness regime, so find a routine/program that focus on your total body, not just your abs, butt, legs or certain part. Target it all and you'll maximize your calorie burn.

Also, I agree with an earlier post, engage your core/abs the entire time. Hope this helps.

P.S. I'm no professional, just an avid fitness fan that has learned from mistakes and had many plateaus! :smooched:

You might want to look at this:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30826120/

Interesting article...not sure I agree with it in its entirety, although offers a different perspective. Everyone's body responds differently to diet and exercise. I think those are the key to being healthy.