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Strength Train First, Cardio Second, or Reverse?
TheBrock84
Posts: 68 Member
Should I do Strength Training first, then Cardio. Or should I do Cardio, First. Strength Training Second.
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Replies
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What is your goal?1
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I like to split them up into completely different workouts either on different days, or one am, one pm. If doing them back-to-back, I find that one or both suffers and you don't get your best workout out of either of them.7
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Then yes, I would strength train first.2
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Then do whichever suits you best and lets you perform your exercise the best.
Unless what's done first compromises the second it really doesn't matter.
My personal preference is separate days for cardio exercise and weights for focus and performance.3 -
I have seen this post two three times now in the forums..
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Why is this your favorite question!? there have to be other things you want to know about. This is the 3rd time you have posted about this, and the answers are always the same.2
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This is the 'Debate' Forum ... so I interpret that as you want to start a debate about which comes first rather than a question about what you personally ought to do. Am I correct in that assumption?
My take on it is ... don't do either or do them if you like. ... no, seriously. I think if you have a lifestyle that has you moving your body a lot, and doing a lot of physical stuff that taxes your muscles, then you don't have to do exercise per se. However, if you have a sedentary life style and do little or no physically challenging activity/work, then yes, do both cardio and strength training if you want to, like to.
Which one should you do first? I've read a lot of body builders/ fitness trainers talk about this topic, and worked with a couple of personal trainers during my lifetime. The information is way more scientifically inclined than I am able to comprehend completely.
However I did get this from it ... don't do both in the same workout session beyond warming up with a little bit of cardio. Also this ... if you are a beginner, then you can finish up a strength session with a short cardio workout ... like walking on a treadmill and follow that with a stretching session.
The last trainer I worked with had me do cardio in the morning followed by working with bands and chains and then, in the afternoon, a strength session were I only warmed up with weight balls and then did the strength training, and followed that with stretches. He only had me doing the strength training 3 times a week, while I did the cardio every day.
PS ... edited to say ... isometric stretches.
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for me I lift first if it's leg day...if it's non leg day I go for my walk/run/ride when I want.
However I have been doing early morning walks and haven't noticed my lifts suffering due to this...
do what works for you.1 -
I prefer to cardio first to "get it out of the way" it is the most challenging for me.2
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Cardio first... increase blood flow.. wake up the muscles... get all the right chemicals flowing... THEN hit the weights2
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Strength training all the way, when you are in a deficit the body may use up your lean muscle instead of fat, unless you stimulate your muscles and get enough protein0
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Whichever you want to have more energy for comes first. My focus is lifting, so I do that first. If cardio were my focus, I'd do that first.2
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Most important to you first. Everything else after.1
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It matters if you want to gain the most muscle and strength as possible. If that would be your goal then it's best to do cardio first for that bonus 2 to 5% strength/muscle gain. Cos doing cardio after weights undoes some of the gains, like 2% or something so you would get only 98% of strength/muscle gains you otherwise could have. That's what I have heard anyways from coaches and read online from fitness expert blogs.
But since your goal is to just lose weight and get healthy then it does not matter at all. Do what makes you feel the best. Personally I like to do cardio before weights because I know my body and joints are warmed up and so it's less risk of injury. It's really insignificant amount at my age but hey, better be safe than sorry. For older peeps it's more important.
On top of that, if I go do cardio after strength training I am already pretty tired and my muscles sore, so my cardio suffers. And cardio is my priority cos I want to get faster at running while weights are not that important to me. For some people it might be other way round, they might want to work towards getting those 100 push ups and do cardio just for calorie burn, and not care about running speed, so they might want to do strength training first to better use their energy.
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I disagree with most people on here... In order for you to become a good weightlifter, crossfiter, or whatever, you have to have your weight under control. There's a reason you don't see fat people doing snatches or clean and jerks... From personal experience...lose the weight, then shape your body with the lifting.1
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brucealfred3 wrote: »I disagree with most people on here... In order for you to become a good weightlifter, crossfiter, or whatever, you have to have your weight under control. There's a reason you don't see fat people doing snatches or clean and jerks... From personal experience...lose the weight, then shape your body with the lifting.
I absolutely disagree with this. There is no reason whatsoever that someone who is overweight should not lift as they are losing weight.
***EDITED TO ADD I am so glad that my trainer (actual, real, educated, experienced, knowledgable) didn't put me in the fat corner and tell me not to touch the weights until my "weight was under control".....she worked with me, made me more determined, challenged and taught me & didn't put limitations on *this* fat person.
OP, whatever your primary goal are matter most for choosing one over the other. I lift first because I need my energy more for that, then follow up with cardio.4 -
brucealfred3 wrote: »I disagree with most people on here... In order for you to become a good weightlifter, crossfiter, or whatever, you have to have your weight under control. There's a reason you don't see fat people doing snatches or clean and jerks... From personal experience...lose the weight, then shape your body with the lifting.
Huh? You are aware that regularly lifting heavy weights is the single most effective strategy for retaining muscle mass while in caloric deficit, right?
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So here is my take on this discussion.... December I was back up to 272lbs (mainy due to an injury & I stopped exercising and my diet went south). I started back to my program of hitting the gym.... I lost close to 20lbs fairly quickly by hitting the weights for 45 minutes then doing 20 minutes on a stationary bike. Once I lost the 20 lbs I noticed I could do a lot more things easier without the excess body weight... I joined Crossfit 2 months ago and have had nothing but way more success. Since joining i have lost another 19lbs! I love Crossfit!! So do what you think is best and feels good!0
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If you're talking about overall as in "which do I start this month and which do I save for next year", then I say do both.
But if you're talking about which to do in the sense of what do you start your workout with and what do you finish with, I prefer to do strength training, first. I simply find that cardio is more forgiving if I'm fatigued and need to slow down or my form degrades.2 -
It depends on what you're trying to accomplish...from a purely exercise/workout standpoint, it doesn't much matter...from an actual training standpoint it does.
What I mean is, for example, right now I'm training for a time trial series on my bike...so I keep that work separate from my lifting because I want to be able to give my training bout everything and I wouldn't be able to do that after a good lifting session...conversely, after I do a training ride I'm pretty well shot so there's no way I would want to get under a heavy barbell either...and if I did I can guarantee my session would just suck. I do them on opposing days and on the days I do both, I do one in the AM and the other in the PM so I have plenty of time and food for recovery.
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If you're talking about overall as in "which do I start this month and which do I save for next year", then I say do both.
But if you're talking about which to do in the sense of what do you start your workout with and what do you finish with, I prefer to do strength training, first. I simply find that cardio is more forgiving if I'm fatigued and need to slow down or my form degrades.
I have to agree. It is, in my opinion, safer and easier to slow down on your cardio if you get gassed than it may be holding a too heavy weight over any portion of your body. I usually do cardio and strength on different days.0 -
When I do both on the same day, I do strength first because cardio tires me out and I end up not being able to put as much effort into the strength workout otherwise. But I almost always do them on separate days, so I can give full effort to each.
And strength training is so beneficial to people who are overweight! Increase strength, retain muscle mass, feel like superman/woman, and look better once the weight drops than you would have without strength training.2 -
I do cardio first because I hate it and need to get it over with. If I lifted first, I'd leave the gym half the time before I get to the cardio.2
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brucealfred3 wrote: »I disagree with most people on here... In order for you to become a good weightlifter, crossfiter, or whatever, you have to have your weight under control. There's a reason you don't see fat people doing snatches or clean and jerks... From personal experience...lose the weight, then shape your body with the lifting.
You never really gave a reason0 -
If you're talking about overall as in "which do I start this month and which do I save for next year", then I say do both.
But if you're talking about which to do in the sense of what do you start your workout with and what do you finish with, I prefer to do strength training, first. I simply find that cardio is more forgiving if I'm fatigued and need to slow down or my form degrades.
Even though I am more focused on cardio than strength, I find this too, if I do them as part of the same session. More often I do them in separate sessions (morning/evening or one of those/lunch) and if so it doesn't much matter to me vs. convenience of schedule.
I also agree that starting strength training when one is overweight vs. waiting is the way to go.0 -
Do you mean in long term, or just as like a workout routine?
If long term, I would say a mix of both, mostly focusing on cardio if you want to lose weight since you burn more calories that way, and to lift to retain some of the muscles you would possibly lose when losing weight
If during a workout, I'd say that based on experience/preference, I'd rather lift then do cardio (HIIT). Tried doing 10 minutes of HIIT today before lifting, and I couldn't lift as heavy as my last workout (which was 2 days ago)0 -
I have to lift first. If I run c25k first, my legs are already a bit sore...and I can't lift properly.
If I lift properly, I have no strength left in my legs to run afterwards.
So I have to do my runs on non-lifting days.
M - 45 min lift 20 min light walk
T- 35 min c25k + golf
W- 45 min lift 20 min light walk
Th- 35 min c25k + golf
F- 45 min lift 20 min light walk
S- 35 min c25k
Su - rest
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