cardio or weight training 1st

I've been told that weight training first so that you're muscles aren't already tired from whatever cardio you do. I've done it both cardio then weight and weight then cardio. They each have their benefits. I can really give 100% when I weight train first, and I do Turbo Fire so all the punching tires out my muscles if I do that first. However, my heart rate is higher if I do cardio first and therefore I burn more calories during the weight training in the second half of the workout, but I can't lift as heavy or as long. So, it's a tradeoff. Lately, I've been going for the calorie burn since I'm really focusing on fat loss still. However once I'm closer to my goal weight, I'll focus more on lifting heavier and building muscle.

It's generally recommended that you lift weights first and do cardio second. You will do a better job lifting and get your metablism burning. With that said, if you are doing two different cardio sessions each time...I would do 30 min of cardio, then lift weights, and finish up with 30 min of cardio. That would be pretty intense! Otherwise, you could also do a 10 min warmup, then lift weights, and then do the remaining minutes of your cardio. This is probably the best strategy (technically speaking).

Back in the days when I could be bothered with the gym, my personal trainer told me that you're best to do a warm up first to get the system pumping and then do the weights, so that when you come up to do the cardio, your muscles have already worked hard and you are pushing them a bit more again, so not only do you get Cardio from it, but you get more muscle workout too...

But then I remember the amount of times I nearly died on the treadmill when my legs turned to jelly cos they were already knackered from weights... :op

I do 15 min of cardio first, to warm up. Then stretching and weight training. Then I go back and do more cardio. Elliptical on the days I do arms and abs, or the bike when I do legs (so I can sit down, lol). Good luck.

Weights first makes sure your glycogen stores are depleted making cardio more effective.

You should do whatever fits your goals and whatever feels most comfortable. The idea that "doing weights first burns more fat during cardio" might be technically true under certain conditions, however, the fuel substrate you burn during exercise has almost no long-term effect on stored body fat. This is just another one of those fitness cliches that is parroted ad infinitum, but turns out not to be true. If you burn more fat during the workout, the body burns less fat the rest of the day, and vice-versa, so that, in the end, there is no difference.

Some people want to focus on their cardio performance, so they do it first when the muscles are less fatigued, others do the opposite for the same reason. Decide on your goals and then structure your workouts so that they support your goals.

Every action has an opposite and equal reaction. Darn, I hate when facts get in the way of a great "truism".

Yeah, as Grglandr mentioned there, you don't have to start w/ a cardio-style warm up at all, as long as you warm up with some light sets before lifting the weight that actually challenges your muscles. And then do the cardio after.

The point that's been made is simply that you don't want to exhaust your body with cardio and then hit the weights and find you have no strength or motivation to push yourself. The whole point of weight-lifting to begin with isn't so much about burning calories, it's about overloading your muscles such that slight tears happen and they are rebuilt stronger and larger than before. So if your drained when you get to the weight machine, chances are you're not gonna care to really stress those guys.

For me I tried skipping the cardio warm up and going straight to doing some warm up set, but I find that my mindset just isn't there. I'm not "pumped" mentally to push myself. Now I know that I get a better workout if I spend about 12 minutes jogging on the treadmill or on the elliptical before hitting the weights - I do enough to get pumped and get the adrenaline rush but not enough to feel fatigued. Then after the weights I'm pretty exhausted and I usually just leave, lol. But that happens either way. I find myself doing the extended cardio routines on rest and recovery days.

The point is, it really comes down to where you feel you're doing yourself the best service. For me, other than building endurance or enjoyment, I don't see a need to do cardio for the sake of burning calories, it's way easier just to eat a little less than it is to eat more and then spend more time to jog it off.