Lift or Cardio First??

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  • Rhonnie
    Rhonnie Posts: 506 Member
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    While you get fanatics on both sides, it's mostly a personal choice... Whichever way makes it more likely for you to stick with an exercise program is best.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
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    I want my optimal performance first and foremost in the Weight room and will do some light Cardio afterwards..... Best of Luck...
  • M______
    M______ Posts: 288 Member
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    I wouldn't do cardio before lifting. Lifting/strength training uses glycogen as the primary fuel source. Cardio depletes glycogen stores so when you do cardio first, your glycogen stores will be depleted resulting in diminished results while lifting. In theory, this may or may not be true, when you lift first, then do cardio you will enter the fat burning mode quicker because the weight training depleted the glycogen stores, so when you do you cardio you have less glycogen to burn.
    Another option is to separate the two by a few hours. If that's not feasible I would lift and then do cardio as stated above. You will probably only need to do 12-15 min of cardio after lifting.

    That's interesting, thanks for sharing that. I'm cutting down some weight with a view to adding some muscle afterwards, I don't pretend to have anything other than an ignorant view on these things. I have a lot of incorrect assumptions taking up space in my brain that have been hard to budge. I'm slowly replacing them with a more correct view of a route to follow and I think your above info helps a lot with that. It's like an extra incentive to start on the weights right now.
  • jasonmclose
    jasonmclose Posts: 1
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    i think this depends on your body type, as well as the lifting and the type of cardio.

    7-10 minutes of cardio is a good warmup, regardless of the body part. but after that, you may be taxing yourself. i will feel the effects of 15+ minutes of cardio big time if i do it before deadlifts or squats. but, i also do fairly heavy weight, and 5+ sets. if you're going to hit arms or shoulders, cardio isn't going to affect you as much. and if you do stair stepper for 10-15 minutes before your leg day, your legs are going to be really tight before you even start lifting.

    i prefer to do the cardio last. lifting can be an absolute battle for me. it's intense, painful, and heavy (if it's not this way for you, you should probably step it up). cardio really gives me some time to come down from that emotional trauma of the lifting. by the time i'm done with the cardio, i'm back to a normal mindset.
  • LioshaM
    LioshaM Posts: 129 Member
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    Depends on your goals but I would suggest a warm-up, I go with 5mins of Cardio to get the Heart-Rate working.

    ^^^^ ME
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    The point of lifting for me is strength gains...and linear strength gains at that. I try to go up 5 Lbs in weight for each routine, each workout. I can't do that if my body is stressed from cardio. I have to be fresh for my lifts. I don't do any cardio on lift days except walking. I only do aerobic cardio on non-lifting days...even that is starting to impact my lifts so I'm probably going to cut my jogging down to 1x weekly for a nice long 3-5 mile run and do farmer's carries or something on my other cardio days.
  • Anthonydaman
    Anthonydaman Posts: 854 Member
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    I do both at separate intervals. with at least two hours in between
  • wiltl
    wiltl Posts: 188 Member
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    I wouldn't do cardio before lifting. Lifting/strength training uses glycogen as the primary fuel source. Cardio depletes glycogen stores so when you do cardio first, your glycogen stores will be depleted resulting in diminished results while lifting. In theory, this may or may not be true, when you lift first, then do cardio you will enter the fat burning mode quicker because the weight training depleted the glycogen stores, so when you do you cardio you have less glycogen to burn.
    Another option is to separate the two by a few hours. If that's not feasible I would lift and then do cardio as stated above. You will probably only need to do 12-15 min of cardio after lifting.

    This is how I was advised to go about it by a health coach at the gym for these reasons here. 5-10 minutes cardio warmup (usually brisk walk on treadmill), weight routine then 20 minutes cardio (usually recumbent bike). Then dinner!
  • grantdumas7
    grantdumas7 Posts: 802 Member
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    5-10 min of low intensity cardio before lifting is okay but you have to think about what you are going to train that day and the type cardio. If you are doing a fullbody or lowerbody workout then any type of cardio would be okay. If you are training upperbody then 5-10 min on the treadmill, stairstepper or bike is pointless.
  • NoXQuse
    NoXQuse Posts: 10
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    Thanks all for your input. I think we will start trying a 5 min warm up, weight lifting, then finish off with cardio.
  • Isakizza
    Isakizza Posts: 754 Member
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    I've always wondered this and always get different answers. Sooo I decided to see what works best for me. I found I like to lift first. I get a "power surge" after my lifting that makes my running faster, longer, and much more enjoyable. I love it that way, works for me!

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  • phjorg
    phjorg Posts: 252 Member
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    It's simple really. Unless you're training for something that requires cardio performance, then you ALWAYS do weights first.

    The reasoning is resistance training is best done with full energy reserves to be able to have the most energy to try and overload the muscles. if a ton of cardio is ton first, this energy is depleted somewhat.

    cardio on the other hand you can do it more tired tired and still get the same benefit from it.
  • katy_trail
    katy_trail Posts: 1,992 Member
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    Let your goals dictate which you do first... which ever you want/need to go harder during, do that first.

    That said, if you lift second, just be careful you can handle the weight.
  • Crankstr
    Crankstr Posts: 3,958 Member
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    I would rather lift first so i am not worn out when holding heavy things on my back\over my head\over my neck.

    this^

    I dont do cardio the days I lift...unless it is a walk at a different time of the day...mostly I do cardio and lifting and opposite days.
  • cmcollins001
    cmcollins001 Posts: 3,472 Member
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    I personally do cardio first then lift...mostly because this fits my current goals. Later on when my goals change, so will my routine. This is generally true with most things. Do what is going to fit your goals. There really isn't a "right" way or a "wrong" way.
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
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    I would rather lift first so i am not worn out when holding heavy things on my back\over my head\over my neck.

    this^

    I dont do cardio the days I lift...unless it is a walk at a different time of the day...mostly I do cardio and lifting and opposite days.

    yup
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
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    I personally do cardio first then lift...mostly because this fits my current goals. Later on when my goals change, so will my routine. This is generally true with most things. Do what is going to fit your goals. There really isn't a "right" way or a "wrong" way.

    I'm surprised by your answer on this one. (Not saying it's wrong, I'm just surprised.)

    I do my lifting and my cardio on different days...but if I had to do them together, I would do lifting first, then cardio.
  • sexymuffintop
    sexymuffintop Posts: 636
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    Let your goals dictate which you do first... which ever you want/need to go harder during, do that first.

    That said, if you lift second, just be careful you can handle the weight.

    Indeedy, priorities first. If you are serious about lifting, I would do it first.
  • cmcollins001
    cmcollins001 Posts: 3,472 Member
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    I personally do cardio first then lift...mostly because this fits my current goals. Later on when my goals change, so will my routine. This is generally true with most things. Do what is going to fit your goals. There really isn't a "right" way or a "wrong" way.

    I'm surprised by your answer on this one. (Not saying it's wrong, I'm just surprised.)

    I do my lifting and my cardio on different days...but if I had to do them together, I would do lifting first, then cardio.

    My current goals are more cardio oriented because my goals at the moment dictate that I need to work on building some cardio endurance. I've never been a runner, or jogger, or walk very fast for that matter, but I have signed up for a 5K event and have "plans" on doing a couple more in the very near future. If I had signed up for a lifting competition, I would be focused on that right now.

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