Which way is better?

jkadel
jkadel Posts: 3 Member
edited January 10 in Fitness and Exercise
I just read this topic: (TOPIC: Large Collection of Info for Beginners - 2013 Edition) and it has great info in here but I haven't quite found my answer so I'm hoping someone can help me.

Is it better to do strength training machines prior to cardio exercises or vice versa? I've heard that you want to burn it on the treadmill before you do strength but then I've heard that you want to tone it and wake up the muscles before you do cardio. I"m so confused.

Please help me! Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • serenapitala
    serenapitala Posts: 441 Member
    I asked this question a while ago. People are split and there is logic both ways. The best answer I got was that it really only matters if you are at a high performance level. It seems like most people do them on seperate days. I do my cardio first because I do better in cardio when my muscles aren't tired and I do better in strength when my muscles are warmed up. To each their own.
  • notthatthis
    notthatthis Posts: 218
    The simplest answer is to understand what the difference is between strength training (alactic and anaerobic system) and cardio training (aerobic) and then to understand that in some exercises you will use anaerobic and aerobic systems and this training can be simply put as HIIT Resistance training.

    The next thing to consider is the type of muscle fibers in your body they being Type 1 and Type II a and b. If you research how these muscle fibers are fed energy by the body and what their purpose in the body is then you will quickly come to conclude that strength needs to be fed first and the cardio system can take second place. Ideally, you should strength train with heavy weights one day and do cardio on another day. Each training session should be 45 minutes to an hour, if that is too long then research HIIT workout that use resistance.

    Conclusion, preferably separate days but if you do both on the same day an ideal workout would look like this

    Warm UP - cardio 4 minutes
    Dynamic Stretching - 4 minutes
    Strenght Training Full Body Compound Lifts - 35 minutes
    Cardio - 10-15 minutes
    Static Stretch - 4 - 8 minutes
    Cool down - 4 - 6 minutes - cardio machine
This discussion has been closed.

Categories