Cardio on lifting days

Just don't do cardio right before you lift; if you're going to do both, lift first.

I was told the opposite by my trainer. I was told if i was going to do heavy cardio do it first, then lift

Just don't do cardio right before you lift; if you're going to do both, lift first.

I was told the opposite by my trainer. I was told if i was going to do heavy cardio do it first, then lift

Same here, trainer recommends cardio first then lift. I split it up 3 days cardio, 3 days weightlifting.

Agreed, your trainer is wrong.

I guess it depends on what kind of cardio you are doing. If you are doing hard core HIITs and stuff, I would do them after so I can get the most out of my lifting. If you are taking a stroll on the treadmill though, I don't think it would matter.

It works for me, maybe not for everyone else. I guess it all depends if you are trying to gain or lose weight. Im trying to gain weight so thats why I split it up.

I wasn't seeing results just doing cardio so I started lifting last week. I see a personal trainer on Fridays to help guide the way and this is his professional advice. Cardio for 5 minutes (I run just to get my heart rate up) lift for 30-45, then do medium intensity cardio after. I do about 45-60 minutes of 4mph at 6.5-10% incline. But I am doing a lot of leg stuff so around 45 minutes I am about ready to just fall of the treadmill and sleep. Good luck!

It's more like a boot camp kind of workout. I do lifting and cardio together. My trainer gives me a program once a week to do on my own. She has a degree in kinesiology (spelled wrong lol) and she knows her stuff. I also do boot camps with her twice a week.

Just don't do cardio right before you lift; if you're going to do both, lift first.

I was told the opposite by my trainer. I was told if i was going to do heavy cardio do it first, then lift

Same here, trainer recommends cardio first then lift. I split it up 3 days cardio, 3 days weightlifting.

that makes two trainers wrong then :ohwell:

Depends on your goals- whatever you do first is priority. If you have endurance or speed training goals, it makes sense to do cardio first. If weight loss or strength are your goals (which most of the MFP population does have) then strength training should be done first- that way you can utilize the hormonal changes from the lifting to accelerate fat burning during cardio, AND you have your full strength to get the most out of lifting.

Just don't do cardio right before you lift; if you're going to do both, lift first.

Ah yes, more advice spouted as if it is 100% empirical fact when in reality it is nothing more than a personal preference. You have no context to say this is how she must do it and your story about bad form, yadda yadda yadda is only half true.

If you're "lifting heavy" (a lame *kitten* term I wish people would stop using) you're going to be pretty tired within the first few reps anyway. In other words, whether you did cardio first or not, being focused on your form is ALWAYS a requirement for lifting. Never once did you ask the OP what her goals were, just assumed.

To the OP, there is no black and white answer for this, you have to decide what's best for you. I've done it both ways (cardio before and cardio after) and I can say both work equally as well and I've seen no ill effects of either. I do lift to failure in low reps (the infamous lifting heavy) and I've never found that Cardio first was inhibiting in that regard. In fact on some days it was nice to get that good warm-up first and then hit the weights hard. Other days I felt like just slamming the weights right away and did the cardio afterward.

These days I don't do both on the same days but that's just the structure of my personal workouts. Again your preference is what's important here.

My personal routine is:

-5 minute warm-up on elliptical (As hard as I can, no resistance)

-Lift (Whatever muscle group I'm doing that day. I lift heavy, so I prefer to do so before cardio)

-12-15 minutes HIIT style cardio on an elliptical or treadmill (which ever I feel like doing that day. I like to alternate). I do a 30 second warm up, then up the speed to as fast as I can go (usually 8.5) for a minute, then down to 6.5 for a minute, back up 8.5, etc. until I hit 12-15 minutes. [[The HIIT cardio definately does work- I burn more calories doing that for 15 minutes than if I were to run a steady pace for 30 mins. It tends to burn more fat because your heart rate is up and down, forcing your body to expend more energy. I could honestly run and run and run at 5.5 mph until my legs fall off, but doing HIIT on a treadmill for 15 minutes alternating between 6.5 & 8.5 mph- I can hardly drag my sweaty a*s out of the gym afterwards.]] I end cardio with a 3-4 minute walk.

-After the HIIT, I do a full body stretch, and then I'm outta there.

Usually takes around an hour & a half for my whole routine.

I'm the OP and my original question was to only find out *how much* cardio to do on lifting days. Not sure how it got sidetracked into what to do first

However much you want. Some people (a lot actually!) don't do any. Somewhere in the 15-40 min range is where you'll get the most amount of fat oxidation vs muscle catabolizing.

Depends on how much time you have.

I do 30 min. of cardio before I lift because that's all the time I have for cardio. As to when to do it (before or after) is completely up to you. You will hear everyone on here tell you that you must do your cardio after your weights. It's practically gospel here LOL but it's up to you. For me I have to do my cardio first otherwise I won't do it at all and I have to do cardio period because no matter how much or heavy I lift and no matter how good my diet is I will gain weight (and not muscle weight) without cardio. It's just how I am.