What to do first - strength or cardio

BrenB150
BrenB150 Posts: 132 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
On days that I am going to do strength and cardio, which one do I do first?

Replies

  • ImtheOnethatsCool
    ImtheOnethatsCool Posts: 212 Member
    a little bit of cardio to warm up your muscles before lifting. Then lift. If you want, more cardio after. You don't want your muscles to already be tired when you start your lifting for the day.
  • writtingonthewalls
    writtingonthewalls Posts: 28
    a little bit of cardio to warm up your muscles before lifting. Then lift. If you want, more cardio after. You don't want your muscles to already be tired when you start your lifting for the day.

    agreed! I do 5-10 min of cardio, 15-20 min of lifting, 30-35 min of cardio, and wait 5-10 min after cardio to stretch.
  • BrenB150
    BrenB150 Posts: 132 Member
    Thank you! Makes sense!
  • phjorg1
    phjorg1 Posts: 642 Member
    There's what "works". Then there is what's "best".

    What works is pretty much anything. It doesn't matter which you do first.

    What's best is do weights before cardio training. Unless you're specifically training for performance with cardio. Like if you're racing. The reason being is the point of lifting is to damage your muscles. To push them past the point of what they can handle. Then while resting this damage is healed and strengthened to adapt to that sort of stress. If you spend a bunch of time running first, then you will have less energy to accomplish this lifting goal. Might be too tired and your muscles will be unable to push themselves to that level of damage that they otherwise could if they were rested.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    It depends on where your focus is...what are your primary goals? If your primary goals are endurance and the like, then you would want to do your cardio work first and then lift to support your endurance goals. In that case, lifting would be more of an ancillary, support type of exercise to help improve your endurance, running time, whatever.

    If strength and muscle is your goal then definitely strength first...maybe cardio afterwards if you can...I'm pretty much shot by the end of a good strength session and rarely do anything more than a nice slow walk to cool down, along with some stretching. I do my cardio on non-lifting days and my cardio is done with the thought in mind of, "how is this going to help me improve my lifts."
  • mescle
    mescle Posts: 7 Member
    I was told the same thing by my personal trainer.
  • Showcase_Brodown
    Showcase_Brodown Posts: 919 Member
    I might do 5-10 minutes of cardio before and after weights. You might save your extended cardio adventures for a day that doesn't involve weights, but I guess if I had to on the same day, I would do weights first.

    Muscles want. Muscles need. Give them things.

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