Cardio on lifting days

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Replies

  • jesz124
    jesz124 Posts: 1,004 Member
    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

    Your trainer is wrong.

    Very, very wrong.

    Reason why? Pretty please? ;-)
  • Onederchic
    Onederchic Posts: 128 Member
    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 :/

    Welcome to the MFP forums, second only to Mexico City in hijacking.

    The answer is do as much as you want. You haven't specified your goals so it's hard for us to give exact parameters. But if you want to do 15 mins of hiit, go ahead. Want to lift and follow it up with a 45 steady state run, knock yourself out. 3 hour hike, I'm not going to tell you no. All are legit ways to lose weight, and at times I've done them all to great success. The difference is in how much it may affect your other goals. Without knowing those, you get a general answer followed up by specific hijacking.

    By the way, you know you should do the cardio after, right........


    Edited to add: you answered the goals question as I was typing. Answer remains the same. Do as much as you like because at this stage you have a ways to go before worrying about reaching your strength muscle potential. Lift as heavy as you can, do as much cardio of whatever type you enjoy, watch your calorie intake. And welcome to MFP.

    Thank you!!! :flowerforyou:
  • vancemcdaniel
    vancemcdaniel Posts: 13
    Do as much cardio on those days as you have the energy and desire for. Sorry I did not read your OP properly. there is no rule of thumb as to how much cardio you do on a lifting day. Not unless you are doing sport specific training and are on a program that is geared towards a specific goal or sport. Since you are simply looking to get in overall great shape and shed pounds, have at it.!

    Simply listen to your body and go for it.

    When and if you attain a certain level of fitness and your goals change, then and only then should you worry about specific ways of training and why.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    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

    Your trainer is wrong.

    Very, very wrong.

    Reason why? Pretty please? ;-)

    Cardio will have more of a drain on your strength production than strength will have on your cardio production. Cardio first tends to lead to a lackluster lifting session. Heavy cardio will lead to a worthless lifting session with drastically higher chance of injury. If you've got a heavy cardio day and it's a priority, just lift on a different day.
  • montanadanni
    montanadanni Posts: 184 Member
    i seperate my cardio and lifting days but a good cardio warm-up before lifting is highly suggested (also light cardio isn't bad on lifting days, just heavy cardio isn't suggested)

    reasons

    1) then your not half assing one or the other work out because your already put out due to your weightlifing/cardio
    2) also less prone to injury because your exhusted
    3) weightlifting (when done right) is quite a bit of cardio in its self

    if you do them on the same day. do your lifting first, so your performance and form is ideal.

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