Cardio or lifting first?

I do cardio after lifting for two reasons:

1 - I sweat profusely during a good treadmill/elliptical session so I'd rather not subject others to that for an extended period of time
2 - I like the effects lifting weights has on my body and want to be able to give it 100%, if I do it after cardio, I'm tired and likely won't do as much as I do before

For results, I do not think there would be a major difference either way as long as you are able to put in as much after a cardio session as you would before.

Good for you for starting, enjoy! It's awesome!

I don't think it really matters. I do a Body Pump class for 60 minutes and then an Insanity class for 30. And, believe me, the cardio comes with the Insanity class!

I do cardio on different days than lifting.

Generally speaking, do the one you want to focus on first. I run before I do upper body because I find it doesn't really affect my performance. But, I do not run before lower body because I want my legs to be as fresh as possible, and i don't want my form to suffer. Depending on how I feel, I might do some cardio after either of those, typically a 10 or 20 minutes video or videos.

There is a slight benefit in doing lifting first (after a proper warm-up). You cannot lift as much if you have tired yourself out with cardio. Some prefer the other way around, but I do my heavy lifting first.

This. It absolutely matters if you are lifting heavy.

I used to just do cardio and call it a day but I've started lifting after my cardio sessions lately and now it just hit me, does the order matters at all for efficient progression?

It depends. It depends a bit on your goals, and a bit on how hard/intense you are going.

You run a greater risk of injury when lifting, especially if it's at all heavy. That's why most people will suggest lifting first, when you are freshest and able to keep the best form while lifting the most weight.

However, if you have cardio specific goals, then you should probably do cardio first to get the most bang for the buck, so to speak. Just make sure you ease off the weights a bit so you can keep good form and hopefully not hurt yourself.

Obviously they ideal would be to do them on different days.

I work out first thing. On days I do my running in the gym (winter), then I do cardio first. I find it helps me wake up. If I start with lifting, in the dark, at 6am, I find that I don't focus as well.

On lifting days I do 10-15 minutes of intervals as a warm up before my lifting. Then after I lift if I still have time and energy I will do another 20 minute cardio session. On the days I don't lift then I do longer cardio sessions.

Lift first.

Intensive cardio prior to lifting will deplete muscle glycogen, needed to fuel taxing anaerobic activity. It would be more beneficial to lift heavy first, in order to have maximum energy and retain muscle.

YES! Many studies show that a good 30 min brisk walk after lifting actually contributes to burning strictly fat. I wish I could remember the references for you....but you can google it and find several legit sources of clinical studies.

Definitely lifting!!! Otherwise you won't have it in you to lift heavy!

i do cardio first since you need to warm up before lifting anyway. Plus i look more impressive lifting when i am all dripping in sweat:)

Definitely lifting!!! Otherwise you won't have it in you to lift heavy!

I do hard cardio for 30 minutes before I lift and have yet to be too tired to lift heavy afterwards.

Cardio before works for me because I won't do it after.

i used to do it before because i was affraid i wouldn't do it after.

if you really wont then i guess you have your answe

lifting depletes muscle glycogen, and supposedly this causes you to burn fat as fuel sooner... so if your looking for a reason to do one before the other that might be it.

I've read this, and heard it repeated a zillion times. Does anyone know if there is any current science to support it?

i used to do it before because i was affraid i wouldn't do it after.

if you really wont then i guess you have your answe

lifting depletes muscle glycogen, and supposedly this causes you to burn fat as fuel sooner... so if your looking for a reason to do one before the other that might be it.

I've read this, and heard it repeated a zillion times. Does anyone know if there is any current science to support it?

Honestly I don't think so, just anecdotal references. I guess the main thing is that if they had figured something factual and concrete by now, everyone would be doing it. So many different ways to do things work for many DIFFERENT people.

your asking if glycogen depletion will cause you to burn more fat during cardio?

not sure if its been proven to do that or not. also not sure if anything other then the utter basics haven been 'proven' beyond the shadow of arguable doubt when it comes to fitness.

Its surprizingly difficult to find real peer reviewed research articles on the web without knowing exactly what your looking for. this at least discusses the issue but i'm not sure if it answers your question (didn't read it because its not much of an issue for me).

http://courses.ucsd.edu/rhampton/bibc102/addn_reading/fat_burners.pdf

In Brief: Endurance athletes and dieters are eager to burn more fat during exercise; athletes
hope to conserve carbohydrate stores, while dieters wish to decrease fat stores. This article
briefly reviews the role of fat as an energy source for physical activity, discusses how exercise
intensity and duration affect fat and carbohydrate metabolism, and assesses the nutrition
strategies athletes are most likely to use in attempts to promote fat burning during exercise:
caffeine ingestion, L-carnitine supplements, medium-chain triglyceride supplements, and highfat
diets. Of this group, caffeine ingestion is the only strategy scientifically proven to enhance
athletic performance.

To be honest, the last thing i read on the subject said that you can burn more calories in fat durring the work out when your muscle glycogen is depeleted, but that you will have less of an 'after burn' effect where your body is burning calories for maintenance work following tough workouts.

I'd say in the end its a wash and your better off doing it when you feel you have the most energy for whatever is more difficult for you.