Better to do cardio then strength or vice versa?

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journeyjessi
journeyjessi Posts: 15
in Fitness and Exercise
I've heard a lot of people say it is better to do strength/circuit training AFTER cardio. Is this true? What is the reasoning for this?

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  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
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    I've heard it both ways.. and the reason for cardio being after strength is so that you don't deplete your glycogyn stores before lifting.
    Some say do what is more comfortable for you.. some say you have to do it after, so really it sounds like it's up to you.

    Personally,I go all out when lifting.. so when I'm done, the last thing I want to do is hop a treadmill and do cardio. So I do mine on separate days, and it works out pretty well for me.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    I've heard it both ways.. and the reason for cardio being after strength is so that you don't deplete your glycogyn stores before lifting.
    Some say do what is more comfortable for you.. some say you have to do it after, so really it sounds like it's up to you.

    Personally,I go all out when lifting.. so when I'm done, the last thing I want to do is hop a treadmill and do cardio. So I do mine on separate days, and it works out pretty well for me.

    This! I do an 8 to 10 minute cardio warmup then lift. I'm pretty wiped out by the end. I'll do a bike ride a walk or a run on seperate days.
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
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    Warm-Up, Strength, Cardio, Cool-Down / Stretch.

    This is what I recommend to my clients because of the way the metabolic systems work during exercise. Strength training can't pull large percentages of fuel from fat stores because the intensity requires glycogen. Cardio can pull from glycogen and fat stores, with glycogen being the primary source of fuel at first and then it goes more to fat burning after the by-products of glycogen burning become available. If you do your strength training first, you will have plenty of glycogen to fuel the lifts, then when you get to cardio, you will pull more from fat stores. If you do cardio first, then you will burn mostly glycogen for the workout and won't have it available for your strength training, so your lifts will suffer and you won't burn as much fat from the same workout. If you do it on separate days, then you will have plenty of glycogen for your lifting, but you will burn more glycogen then fat for your cardio.
    16 years Certified Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor
    9 years Certified Sports Nutritionist
    Bachelors in Exercise Physiology with a Minor in Nutritional Science
    ACSM Certified Clinical Exercise Specialist
    NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist

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