Cardio Vs Strength

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chicorac
chicorac Posts: 34
in Fitness and Exercise
Good Morning and Happy Friday!!!


How long before or after a weight lifting class i.e. Bodypump should you wait to take a cardio class i.e. Zumba?

I don't want to hinder building muscle or hurt myself.

Should weight training and Cardio be on seperate days?

Replies

  • Marig0ld
    Marig0ld Posts: 671 Member
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    I usually do both on the same day, usually immediately after the other. It's been treating me well.

    There are some real gurus on here that will be able to tell you if it's better to do cardio or strength first, so I will patiently wait for more responses :-)
  • nab22
    nab22 Posts: 168
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    I think strength first, then cardio. And they don't necessarily have to be separate days, since you could take it easy in your cardio class if you lifted pretty hard. But you don't want to be fatigued and lazy when lifting, so do that first I would think!
  • JeffGDDG
    JeffGDDG Posts: 252 Member
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    I think it depends on your goals and schedule. Whichever is a priority for you should go first. It may help the second one more the more time in-between but mostly it is whatever works best for you and your schedule.
  • rachmaree
    rachmaree Posts: 782 Member
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    Weight training first, you want to be at your max energy to lift, and use up your glycogen stores, then move onto cardio as you'll be primed to burn fat. You can also do them on separate days. To be honest, it is really up to you. If your priority is endurance and you really prefer cardio, by all means go ahead and do that first. With the weight lifting, you want to give your muscles abour 48 hours to recover before working the same muscles again.
    I am sure someone else can go into more detail, or have a search of this topic.
  • Seanb_us
    Seanb_us Posts: 322 Member
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    I have read do strength first and cardio after that, if you want to build muscle. The reason is that you can move more weight with glycogen stores intact if you do strength first. Plus, apparently, if you use up the glycogen in strength training, then you are likely to burn more fat in cardio afterwards.

    Cheers,

    Sean
  • ChantalGG
    ChantalGG Posts: 2,404 Member
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    Cardio everyday and weights every other day unless you are doing different body parts then you can rotate it and do it everyday.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,679 Member
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    Good Morning and Happy Friday!!!


    How long before or after a weight lifting class i.e. Bodypump should you wait to take a cardio class i.e. Zumba?

    I don't want to hinder building muscle or hurt myself.

    Should weight training and Cardio be on seperate days?
    You're doing it right if you're doing cardio after weights.
    Quick note: if you're on a calorie deficit diet, the chances of building muscle are pretty nil. You need to be in calorie surplus to build muscle. Building muscle means gaining weight.
    You strength train to retain lean muscle you already have and make it stronger.
  • Dizzle_65
    Dizzle_65 Posts: 249 Member
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    They should be done on different days, no problem doing 15 mins cardio after a weights workout but realistically you shouldn't be doing a class after weights.

    Also you say you don't wante to hinder your muscle building, this means that you need to be careful how much cardio you do as to build muscle you need to increase calories not have a deficit.

    Depending on your goals (and gym time) I would do:

    Mon-Wed-Fri Weights
    Tues & Thurs Cardio (you could add Saturday depending on how much training you have done previously)
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    Ideally, separate days.

    But let's get real, that doesn't always fit in with peoples' lifestyles. So it's more important that you do them at all, rather than worry about what order to do them in.
  • Erica002
    Erica002 Posts: 293 Member
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    I'm working with a personal trainer and he has me doing cardio 5 days a week and strength training 3 days a week. We do cardio first and then the strength training, working every part of the body. Take a break the next day only doing cardio and then the next day do cardio and strength and continue on...or you can do cardio and legs one day, cardio and arms next day, cardio and abs next day...
  • MzMiller1215
    MzMiller1215 Posts: 633 Member
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    I have done both: cardio before lifting and lifting after cardio; I prefer doing cardio first--I feel like my burn is better after that.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,679 Member
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    I'm working with a personal trainer and he has me doing cardio 5 days a week and strength training 3 days a week. We do cardio first and then the strength training, working every part of the body. Take a break the next day only doing cardio and then the next day do cardio and strength and continue on...or you can do cardio and legs one day, cardio and arms next day, cardio and abs next day...
    Your trainer is giving you wrong info on doing cardio before weights. Ask you trainer if he knows what catabolism of muscle is.
    Good trainers know that strength training always comes before cardio because of the glycogen needed for ATP/ADP conversion. I would be concerned spending money on someone who doesn't know this basic info.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,679 Member
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    I have done both: cardio before lifting and lifting after cardio; I prefer doing cardio first--I feel like my burn is better after that.
    Science will show you that it's better to lift first then do cardio. Don't set yourself back by doing cardio first.
  • emay35
    emay35 Posts: 1
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    The research that I've been doing lately has told me that building muscle burns fat faster than straight cardio. And therefore, strength training more than cardio is essential. Recently I started been doing interval training only. When I want to build muscle I use heavier weights and when I want more of a cardio I don't use any weights and just do the excerises. So I find with interval training you can get the best of both worlds.
  • Seanb_us
    Seanb_us Posts: 322 Member
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    Science will show you that it's better to lift first then do cardio. Don't set yourself back by doing cardio first.

    About weights before cardio. I understand you move more weight if you go this route and thus build bigger muscles. And, I understand that this burns off glycogen and so leaves you with fat to burn for cardio. That makes sense.

    Here are my thoughts, see if they make sense. It has been said that this approach will cause a setback ... I am not sure why, because any exercise is good, right?

    So, I got into the habit of doing 10 minutes of cardio before weight training because I wanted to elevate my heart rate. Then, I got into the habit of just going for 30 minutes of cardio first because, why not. And then 45 - 60 minutes first because, well, the first 20 minutes only moved glycogen and not fat.

    And so I got into the habit of weight training second, because I really want endurance first, fat loss second, and toning and a little muscle gain third.

    Thirdly, after weight training, I got into the habit of doing 30 minutes more cardio.

    This 1-2-3 workout I do three times per week, with just cardio twice a week and two days off (random, but usually Saturday plus one other depending on my schedule snafus).

    Am I truly being an idiot with this approach? Until 10 weeks ago, I didn't exercise much. Right now, I really want endurance first, fat loss second, and toning and any muscle gain third.

    Cheers,

    Sean
  • Seanb_us
    Seanb_us Posts: 322 Member
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    The research that I've been doing lately has told me that building muscle burns fat faster than straight cardio. And therefore, strength training more than cardio is essential. Recently I started been doing interval training only. When I want to build muscle I use heavier weights and when I want more of a cardio I don't use any weights and just do the excerises. So I find with interval training you can get the best of both worlds.
    What exactly is interval training? Can you tell me of an example I could follow to try it?

    Cheers,

    Sean

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