Cardio before or after?

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  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
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    kaizaku wrote: »
    You shouldn't do cardio and weight together. Unless you do weightz in the morning and cardio. In the evening. Since you lose weight whilst doing weights. When you do too much you use your muscles for energy. If you do want to do cardio straight after working out then do 10-15mins max.

    nope
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
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    EllaLeahB wrote: »
    Any insight on whether cardio is best to do before or after lifting weights?
    Thanks in advance :)

    i think it's just what works best for you. partly depends on how hard you're doing either of them. so far in my experience as a lifter/bike commuter, the 'worst' workouts are my rides to work the day after a serious lifting session. i can still do those rides, but i can really feel the pep isn't there in my legs.

    everything else seems to be fine, either way. i can lift in the mornings and then ride to work, and that seems okay. or i can ride most of the way home and then lift before i go the last mile. it's just that overnight window that seems to have an effect, in my case.
  • jillDob
    jillDob Posts: 24 Member
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    I start off with 10-15 cardio to loosen up then weights then a little on the treadmill or cross trainer to cool down.
  • Iknewyouweretrouble
    Iknewyouweretrouble Posts: 561 Member
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    hot debate. i was told lift first. but after lifting i couldn't finish my cardio. so i cardio first. when i lift my muscles feel "warmed up" and ready to go. but i have a friend who does cardio last just fine.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,574 Member
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    kaizaku wrote: »
    You shouldn't do cardio and weight together. Unless you do weightz in the morning and cardio. In the evening. Since you lose weight whilst doing weights. When you do too much you use your muscles for energy. If you do want to do cardio straight after working out then do 10-15mins max.
    That's a no. It takes a lot of work (like up to 2 hours of really high intensity work) to completely deplete glycogen stores. That whole "muscles for energy" when combining weights and cardio the same session is broscience.

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  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I do about twenty minutes moderate cardio to warm up my muscles, some stretching, then lifting. That twenty minutes is not an intense workout.

    My goal is "avoid injury".
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Iknewyouweretrouble wrote: »
    hot debate. i was told lift first. but after lifting i couldn't finish my cardio. so i cardio first. when i lift my muscles feel "warmed up" and ready to go. but i have a friend who does cardio last just fine.

    I think it depends on your training objectives and/or whether or not you have training objectives or you're basically working out to workout.

    If someone is doing a program like strong lifts or something where you're supposed to progressively overload the barbell, one would be ill advised to do a bunch of cardio before hand as it is more likely than not that one would not be able to progress in a linear fashion in the weight room and/or at minimum, the session simply won't be quite as good as it could be...of course this would also depend on the duration and intensity of the cardio work.

    Conversely, if one has a specific training objective in regards to their cardiovascular work, it would be ill advised to lift and then go train that aspect afterwards as the training bout would be sub-optimal. For example, if one was training for a marathon or a century ride or something, they would want to optimize their run or ride and that won't happen after a hard lifting session...on the flip side, if one is just wanting to get a bit of cardio in for the sake of doing cardio, it's not really a big deal to go hit it up after a lifting session.

    At one point in time, most of my cardio was simply for the sake of doing cardio for my health...I'd usually lift and then go knock out a 5K, but I didn't care about time or performance, I was just doing it to do it. As it is now, I have certain training objectives I want to achieve in both the weight room and on my bike, so I separate those training bouts to maximize my performance in both.
  • donharkrn
    donharkrn Posts: 187 Member
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    I personally don't combine cardio with weights. If I had to, I'd do it after. When I do cardio on the same days, I do it in the evenings after a morning workout. Glycogen stores need time to rebuild.
  • Dead_Darling
    Dead_Darling Posts: 478 Member
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    I do about 10mins cardio for warm up, then lift and finish off with around 45mins cardio. I've always preferred it that way.
  • rugratz2015
    rugratz2015 Posts: 593 Member
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    I do cardio, core and stretching, cardio, weights and then finish off with more cardio. Although the scales aren't decreasing as fast as I would like I am wearing smaller clothes and I'm getting lots of compliments as to my changing body shape. Obviously this may not suit everyone.

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