Cardio First or Last

RKJR925
RKJR925 Posts: 254
edited September 19 in Fitness and Exercise
I see many people at the gym doing cardio first and weight training second. I often question this method because of what I have been taught or read.

Many things I have read recently support the cardio last workout because it is believed that it increases fat burning.

Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions about this

Replies

  • RKJR925
    RKJR925 Posts: 254
    I see many people at the gym doing cardio first and weight training second. I often question this method because of what I have been taught or read.

    Many things I have read recently support the cardio last workout because it is believed that it increases fat burning.

    Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions about this
  • FloridaGranny
    FloridaGranny Posts: 154 Member
    I saw a TV show one day where they talked about the same thing -- some kind of exercise doctor.... anyway, he said to be more effective, do the cardio last. When I changed my routine accordingly I lost some of those dreaded pounds! Been doing it that way ever since.

    Would love to read some other posts regarding the same...........
  • mamashrub
    mamashrub Posts: 128
    i usually do my cardio last because a) Im too lazy to jump right into it and b) I find that after my cardio I am DONE...
  • hmo4
    hmo4 Posts: 1,673 Member
    I don my cardio first. I find it gets my HR up, has me warmed up for the weight training. I read you should do the cardio first because if you tire out your muscles, you won't be able to do cardio as well or for as long. Who knows?:huh:
  • RKJR925
    RKJR925 Posts: 254
    I don my cardio first. I find it gets my HR up, has me warmed up for the weight training. I read you should do the cardio first because if you tire out your muscles, you won't be able to do cardio as well or for as long. Who knows?:huh:

    I do do 10 minutes of warm up usually on the eliptical to get body temp up but then I do 30 minutes after lifting.
  • championchina
    championchina Posts: 3
    Yes definitely last. As a trainer who gets people ready for fitness shows we always recommend to people to get the cardio in after a weight session. The idea is that you burn the available sugar in your blood during the weight workout and the only source of energy (for the most part, hopefully) that your body has left is the stored body fat. That doesn't mean you should skip a warm up for the weights though....do some sort of dynamic warmup for 10-12 minutes and make sure every joint and muscle is thoroughly warmed up. Good luck!
  • MattySparky
    MattySparky Posts: 771
    I dont know if this helps at all, due to the fact that Im not really weight training yet. But I do my cardio at night after Im done eating for the day (usually around 7:30) and I've been losing weight like mad for the most part. Maybe this is just me I dont know and Im sure it will change once I start seriously into the weights. I do a bit of weights but it's really low weight, semi-high reps sort of stuff for toning.
  • melkman
    melkman Posts: 12
    Yes definitely last. As a trainer who gets people ready for fitness shows we always recommend to people to get the cardio in after a weight session. The idea is that you burn the available sugar in your blood during the weight workout and the only source of energy (for the most part, hopefully) that your body has left is the stored body fat. That doesn't mean you should skip a warm up for the weights though....do some sort of dynamic warmup for 10-12 minutes and make sure every joint and muscle is thoroughly warmed up. Good luck!

    never thought of it like that. good to know. thanks
  • ontheskinnyroad
    ontheskinnyroad Posts: 205 Member
    When I had a tranier he had me do at least 5-10 mins running on the treadmill first to get the heart rate up and last after my workout he would have me do 5 min cool down on the treadmill. It's all up to you what you feel is best for your body try them both first and see what works best for you.
  • wildkat318
    wildkat318 Posts: 326 Member
    Yes definitely last. As a trainer who gets people ready for fitness shows we always recommend to people to get the cardio in after a weight session. The idea is that you burn the available sugar in your blood during the weight workout and the only source of energy (for the most part, hopefully) that your body has left is the stored body fat. That doesn't mean you should skip a warm up for the weights though....do some sort of dynamic warmup for 10-12 minutes and make sure every joint and muscle is thoroughly warmed up. Good luck!

    Yes, this is the same info my trainer (when I had one!) gave me!
  • hopeitworks
    hopeitworks Posts: 284 Member
    I also do a 10 minute warm up on the bike or treadmill and then do my weight training. I do my cardio last, because I'm a big time sweater when I do cardio. I don't want to walk around the gym looking like a wet washcloth while I'm doing the weight training, although that does make me sweat also.
  • Mangoaddict
    Mangoaddict Posts: 1,236 Member
    Cardio first for me!
  • Chellekk
    Chellekk Posts: 421 Member
    It's funny. You read something different about what to do and when all the time. It's always changing. I figure if you're doing it. YAY! Keep it up and do what feels right for your workout routine. OH...and think about it this way...Changing up your routine is a good thing, so maybe go back and forth between making cardio first or last. :smile:
  • Livi_Loves_Pink
    Livi_Loves_Pink Posts: 754
    I do cardio first simply because I've found that if I don't I tend to skip it.
  • yellow_pepper
    yellow_pepper Posts: 708 Member
    I have a hard time understanding why you need to get your heart rate up if you're only going to let it fall back down for the next 30 minutes or hour of weight-lifting. If it's so important to keep your heart rate up, shouldn't you be doing intervals of cardio between weight-training sets? Maybe Songbyrd or some other expert can enlighten me about this.
  • rlpanch
    rlpanch Posts: 1
    Many people do begin their workout with cardio first and weight training after. It is effective, but not as effective if you were to perform cardio last.
    I was told to start with short warm-up. Anything from walking, biking, eliptical, etc. for about 10 - 12 mins. This gets blood flowing throughout your body.
    Then do all your weight training. This will burn the body's sugars that are produced and accumulate throughout the day.
    After your weight training, even though you're exhausted, bust out with hard-core cardio, for at least 25 mins. This burns your body's fat cells, not what you have taken in throughout the day.
    Good Luck:bigsmile:
  • amycakes812
    amycakes812 Posts: 441
    I was working with my trainer last week and he told me to warm up first for 5-10 minutes, then weights and finish with cardio. Before that I would fit in cardio before with a class and then do my weights. However after breaking a plateau and losing 2 pounds last week, I will definitely follow his advice!
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    Do it when you know you'll do it. The chances of depleting glycogen to levels that would force primarily fatty acid use within one workout are slim to none. You retain many calories' worth of sugar, and at 60% carbohydrates that MFP recommends, it will take more than one training session to use them all up. Just do it when you know you won't go "Gosh I'm tired, I don't feel like doing cardio."
  • yellow_pepper
    yellow_pepper Posts: 708 Member
    I was told to start with short warm-up. Anything from walking, biking, eliptical, etc. for about 10 - 12 mins. This gets blood flowing throughout your body.

    As far as I know my blood is already flowing when I get to the gym. Haven't noticed any gangrene yet.

    In all seriousness though, I need to walk up 3 flights of stairs to get to the gym. So I think I'm covered.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    I was told to start with short warm-up. Anything from walking, biking, eliptical, etc. for about 10 - 12 mins. This gets blood flowing throughout your body.

    As far as I know my blood is already flowing when I get to the gym. Haven't noticed any gangrene yet.

    In all seriousness though, I need to walk up 3 flights of stairs to get to the gym. So I think I'm covered.

    LOL "As far as I know..." :laugh:
  • drewzaun
    drewzaun Posts: 111
    Interesting. I was told to do cardio first. The reasoning is that when you hit the weights the activity can keep your HR up higher if it is already there, and you get an extra cardio bonus during strength training.
    Typically for me though I hit the gym at lunch for strength training and then again after dinner for cardio so I rarely put this into practice....
  • yellow_pepper
    yellow_pepper Posts: 708 Member
    But if you have a healthy heart, your heart rate should fall back to normal pretty quicky. That's why I don't get the rationale for warming up only to stop doing cardio while you lift/train for more than 5 min.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    But if you have a healthy heart, your heart rate should fall back to normal pretty quicky. That's why I don't get the rationale for warming up only to stop doing cardio while you lift/train for more than 5 min.

    Warming up will prevent injury while you lift. You don't have to do it with cardio. You can use dynamic stretching. This semester I'm doing some research on the negative effects of static stretching on strength, so I don't recommend static stretching, and especially not without some rhythmic movement beforehand. The aerobic activity or dynamic stretching improves laxity in connective tissues to prevent tears/sprains. It's not for your heart at all, but for your limbs. :smile:
  • Tamishumate
    Tamishumate Posts: 1,171 Member
    for me it depends on what I am doing. If I am doing lower body with weights, I need to do the cardio first, cause the weights kick my butt so much , that I dont have the proper energy for cardio after ,and I feel like I didnt get a good workout... if that makes sense?
  • mrhappy
    mrhappy Posts: 145 Member
    :noway:

    I'm confused... Other than a ten-minute warm-up, so you can then do stretches, I always thought you alternate cardio & strength training by days... I've never done both in the same day, much less same session.

    Thoughts?

    :glasses:
  • rosered51
    rosered51 Posts: 189
    I met with a trainer who said to do 10-15 minutes warm up on the treadmill to loosen up the muscles and get the juices flowing, then to do about 45-60 minutes of weight training following by 30 minutes more of the treadmill.

    What he told me was that as I was doing light weights with more reps because I didn't want to build bulging muscle but was looking for toning and definition (as a woman), I could do this on a daily basis. Whereas he (as a man) was working on building muscle so he would altenate the muscle groups he worked on...say today would be legs, tomorrow arms...etc...

    Does that help at all?
  • metalpalace
    metalpalace Posts: 576
    After all the studying I have done on exercise science and the bodys response to all difference modalities of exercise both acute and chronic I can very confidently say that if you are going to combine cardio and weights you should NEVER do cardio first unless both workouts are going to be relatively short in duration, otherwise you risk breaking down and eating away at your own muscle tissue to extract protein for energy. It only takes a little less than an hour of vigorous exercise to deplete muscle glycogen. If your weight lifting routine is going to last a half hour to an hour there is no reason to do a cardio workout first. If your reasoning to do cardio first is because you just may not feel like doing it next, then take that chance and lift weights instead. There is nothing more counter productive then catabolizing your own muscle tissue, except injury. Lift weights first! And dont forget to warm up with light to moderate cardio and stretching for 5 - 10 minutes before lifting.

    An ideal day of doubles with the goal of loosing weight would be this:
    1. Get up out of bed, drink some water and do 20 - 30 minutes of light to moderate cardio never exceeding 60% of your maximum heart rate. Maximum heart rate Karvonen Method = 220 - age

    2. Eat, rest.

    3. Hours later and preferably two - three hours after you last ate lift weights for 30 minutes to an hour.

    4. Eat a high glycemic carbohydrate with some whey protein right away.

    5. Enjoy the rest of your day and eat your last meal 2 to 3 hours before bed time.
  • Fitness_Chick
    Fitness_Chick Posts: 6,648 Member
    :noway:

    I'm confused... Other than a ten-minute warm-up, so you can then do stretches, I always thought you alternate cardio & strength training by days... I've never done both in the same day, much less same session.

    Thoughts?

    :glasses:
    I do cardio 6 days a week and 3 days of strength training (ST every other day), so the days I do ST I'm also doing cardio as well, whether it be a class or machines... But I enjoy my time at the gym and usually spend 2-3 hours there daily if I can. It's just really positive environment for me to be in. I toss in some Mind & Body classes in the mix as well..:flowerforyou:

    ST first then I do my cardio...but I do warm up a bit before jumping right into Strength Training or I feel it otherwise:ohwell:

    FC:heart:
  • RKJR925
    RKJR925 Posts: 254
    Warming up will prevent injury while you lift. You don't have to do it with cardio. You can use dynamic stretching. This semester I'm doing some research on the negative effects of static stretching on strength, so I don't recommend static stretching, and especially not without some rhythmic movement beforehand. The aerobic activity or dynamic stretching improves laxity in connective tissues to prevent tears/sprains. It's not for your heart at all, but for your limbs. :smile:
    [/quote]

    What you are studying is very interesting to me because I have read that static stretching before a workout can actually weaken your muscles during the workout following the static stretching.

    Now this may be just gains made from working out but since I started doing 10 minutes on an elliptical before lifting instead of 10 minutes of statict stretching, I have noticed several differences in my workout including increased intensity, my HR stays higher (1 minute rest between sets), and the Delayed muscle soreness is not as significant
  • MisoSoup79
    MisoSoup79 Posts: 517
    I personally like to split my cardio in half when I do weight training. I'll do about 20 mins on the elliptical, then my 30-60 mins of lifting, then another 20-30 on the elliptical or treadmill.

    For my body, I've learned through trial and error that I just don't have the energy or motivation to lift unless I start with cardio. I have to do something for a good 15-20 mins just to build up motivation and get into the proper mental state. Without it, I lift lower weights and tend to feel exhausted through my session, yawning a lot... And then I get sore faster and give up sooner.

    I do the cardio again afterward because it really helps me loosen up and avoid extreme stiffness later in the day or the day after.

    Also, when I was in the Air Force, I would get to the gym early on the day of my annual fitness test and use the elliptical before the timed run. If I did not get my 15-20 minute warm-up cardio, I just couldn't push myself during the run. And I would get cramps and practically be unable to walk the next day. I just can't "work" on cold muscles. For some people, peak performance is right at the beginning of the workout, but for others like me, peak performance only comes after the first 20 minutes at a minimum.

    This is what works for my body... so I do it. I'm getting results and I'm happy about the way I feel after my workouts. Whatever works for you may be different.
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