Which first Cardio or Strength Training?

Rachael2179
Rachael2179 Posts: 148 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
For weight loss which is the best to do first the cardio or the strength training. I looked this up on the internet and I am just curious if anyone else knows...everything I was able to find was stating find out what works best for you... Just curious if anyone knows if you are doing both in one session is it best to do the cardio first or the strength training first? Or should you do them on seperate days for best results... Any information you may have on this would be great.... Thanks

Replies

  • Rachael2179
    Rachael2179 Posts: 148 Member
    For weight loss which is the best to do first the cardio or the strength training. I looked this up on the internet and I am just curious if anyone else knows...everything I was able to find was stating find out what works best for you... Just curious if anyone knows if you are doing both in one session is it best to do the cardio first or the strength training first? Or should you do them on seperate days for best results... Any information you may have on this would be great.... Thanks
  • Quenofcrazzy
    Quenofcrazzy Posts: 358
    I am doing both on alternating days. I do alternating days because you want to give your muscles a day to relax, heal, just a day off between work outs.

    You want to do strength training to gain muscle, which in turn burns more calories just being there.
    You want to do cardio to burn energy and make your body use fat (energy).

    You will have to find a schedule that works for you..and just do it.

    Also with strength training you may not see your weight number drop, but if you measure parts of your body before you start, and then in a month, you will see the inches melting away.

    Good Luck :flowerforyou:
  • iluvsparkles
    iluvsparkles Posts: 1,730 Member
    im sure others will have alot to say about this, BUT in my experience:

    I find it best if i start my session out with cardio. That gets the metabolism pumping, so that by the time you get to the less heart rate elevating strength training, you are in prime calorie burning mode, so you can get the most efficiant cals burned by your muscles as they work.

    i also do strength training days with no hard cardio before, this is good for lengthening muscles and toning muscles. In my case, however, i have a decently layer of fat over my muscles, so you cant tell the tone i am getting as much as i would like. Cardio is the ONLY way to lose fat, BUT doing the strength training makes you gain muscle, which helps improve your metabolism, AND muscle burns fat, even at rest!

    so its important to do both, even tho you may not SEE the results of the muscle building right away, keeping up the cardio will help melt that fat right off of those muscles so they actually appear!
  • Phoenix_Rising
    Phoenix_Rising Posts: 11,417 Member
    No idea if it's right or wrong, but I do :25 of cardio, followed by strength training each weekday. I rotate what area I'm focusing on with strength training every day of the week. I always feel like cardio warms me up and loosens my muscles so that I can be ready to really focus on working them. (but I could be doing it all wrong....)


    PS - My favorite personal trainer at the gym was telling me last week that you must do both. He says that cardio burns off the fat, but the strength training tones the muscles, and he says it also helps to shrink the skin, lol. He said people who only do cardio loose weight but have sagging skin (typically) but those who do both tend to shrink in all the way around and tighten appropriately.
  • Lifeisgood2008
    Lifeisgood2008 Posts: 66 Member
    They say to find something you love to do and do it.. well I love to swim. So I have been doing laps, started out at being able to do only 5 laps (or 10 depending how you count them) and now I am up to being able to do 22 (44).. I then follow that with about 35 minutes of my own version of aquafit, which is alot of resistance strength training, my boyfriend has noticed that my arms are becoming more toned as are my legs.. that really made me feel good to hear that, I have noticed my stamina has vastly improved as well..

    Some people love to do weights and stuff...not me I must confess. The only things that I truly enjoy when it comes to "excercise" are dancing, swimming and putting the ipod on and walking to really upbeat music.

    I guess the secret is to find something that you really love and stick with it...
    :smile:
  • iluvsparkles
    iluvsparkles Posts: 1,730 Member
    dancing is what got me to love cardio. I take a class called Zumba which is Latin dance inspired aerobics. its so much fun! then i do pilates for my toning which is very enjoyable, especially if you are already a yoga fan!
  • shar0124
    shar0124 Posts: 21
    I am working with a personal trainer at the gym for an hour each session twice a week. I start off with easy cardio - bicycle, treadmill for 10 min. to warm up my muscles. Then with her for 50 min. of strength training with weights & machines. One day upper body and core and the next time, lower body. Then the final 10 min. with her is hard cardio - eliptical machine, treadmill or bicycle at an interval pace- fast as possible for a while then slow down to recover, then fast, etc.

    She says upper body should burn about 300-350 calories and lower body 400-450 calories plus the cardio. So an hour session burns over 500 calories. She also then insists that I do additional cardio at home at least 1 or 2 days a week. I haven't been able to accomplish the extra cardio with my schedule yet, but am working towards it. I understand that that extra cardio will speed up the weight loss.

    Two women in my office have gone through a similar routine with a trainer and have made remarkable transformations. So I am very hopeful that I will get the same results.:happy:

    I love this site, too. There is such support and great ideas here. Thanks girls and guys for being here.
  • shar0124
    shar0124 Posts: 21
    dancing is what got me to love cardio. I take a class called Zumba which is Latin dance inspired aerobics. its so much fun! then i do pilates for my toning which is very enjoyable, especially if you are already a yoga fan!

    Dancing is a great way to excerise and it doesn't seem like exercise. I wish the gym would do more dance type classes. They are so less boring than the regular cardio classes. That Latin Zumba sounds like fun. Wish they had that at my gym.
  • douganl
    douganl Posts: 283 Member
    My personal trainer always has me warm up for 10 mins on the treadmill/elliptical. Then we do 1 hour of strenght training. In between the strength training, we do jumping jacks, kicks or anything that gets my heart rate up for 2 mins at a time. After each hourlong session, he always has me run on the treadmill for at least 25-30 mins or do the elliptical. He says the reason he doesn't have me do cardio before the sessions is because you are - supposed to be - tired after your cardio session!!!!

    Hope this helps!
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    I agree warm up 10 min, 45 strength and 10 cool down.

    30-60 minutes of cardio 3 days a week is a must to burn the F A T. But once you start, you will find you are getting cardio in the weirdest places.

    Now that i have started on this new journey I find myself breaking into a dance for a fast 5-10 minute workout. I am afraid my kids are going to start calling me 'Ellen'.

    I hit a 5 story building to bring paperwork to an attorney and actually stopped someone to ask where the stairs were located. I park at the back of the parking lot and race myself to the door!

    It is so much more fun now that my arteries are beginning to become unclogged.
  • sweetpea03b
    sweetpea03b Posts: 1,124 Member
    In the past I have worked with a personal trainer and they suggest you warm up with 15-20 min cardio to get your heart rate up. Then I follow most days with basic strength training, mostly core. However, I have also been told on days you are going to work MOSTLY your lower body... to cut the cardio short because you work your legs mostly in cardio.

    Building muscle helps you burn more fat and increase your metabolism. You'll want to do equal cardio and strength training. In my early weeks of getting into a daily workout routine... I did 25min cardio and only 5-10min strength training until I my endurance got a little better. You dont want to get over tired or worked too early.

    Hope this helps.
  • Poison5119
    Poison5119 Posts: 1,460 Member
    dancing is what got me to love cardio. I take a class called Zumba which is Latin dance inspired aerobics. its so much fun! then i do pilates for my toning which is very enjoyable, especially if you are already a yoga fan!

    YOu bring up a great subject - dancing - which has always been a passion of mine. I am sorely tempted to ask the director of the gym I go to (It is run by the hospital I work at) to consider and possibly requisition a brass pole!! It's a bit racy, a bit out there, but I have some experience with it and pole dancing is something I would definitely spend so much time on, it's ridiculous.

    If he can't get one, my next plan of action is to just go get one for myself. Good ones are $300, and I have to locate a spot in my house that it can be secured to.

    On top of that, I love elliptycal training. I walked hard today and my knees are paying the price, so no more walking except in a pinch.

    Weight training is still a little far off for me. I want to take this slow and easy and do it the right way so I don't hurt myself.
  • Rachael2179
    Rachael2179 Posts: 148 Member
    Thanks for all the tips...... So I went to the gym this morning and I paid attention more too the people around me..... I did the treadmill for 10 minutes just to warmup and get my heart rate going. Then I proceeded to do strength traing and then hoped back on the treadmill for 25 minutes... All I can say is OMG my workout seemed like I accomplished much more than usual.However I have to admit that I was kind of tired on the treadmill the second time... Funny thing is I was watching the fitted people in the gym I go to (All women) and they did the same thing so they must be doing something right. Maybe I will start to see more results again now... Maybe I have been doing things wrong. I lost the majority of my weight doing just cardio in the begining. We will see how my results are trying things this way... I will let you all know.... Once again THANK YOU to all of the tips. :happy: :happy: Hope you all have a wonderful day.
  • TNTPete
    TNTPete Posts: 701 Member
    Okay, so to really muddy things up as we all do things differently!!

    I do cardio first, somewhere between 25-50 minutes then I do 25 -35 min of circuit strength training. So, in all I keep my heart rate up for at least 50 minutes. The days I decide to not do circuit I will do additional cardio.

    It is good to incorporate jumping jack squats, jump rope, or whatever you like to keep heart rate during strength training cause you're doing two things at one time. Also engaging more than one muscle group (functional strength training) is great for multiple muscle groups getting used at the same time.

    Hope this helps!!:flowerforyou:

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