Strength training before or after cardio?
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I generally do cardio first. If weight loss is the goal.. that’s what I was taught. If it’s bulking and strength building, I guess the other way around might be more efficient.0
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I always lift before. Unless I'm working legs, then after.0
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Unless you have specific goals tied to cardio, lifting first would be more beneficial in general fitness.5
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My routine has been 15 minutes or so on the treadmill to warm up, walking and adjusting elevation as needed, then a series of light exercise to warm up particular problem areas (for me these are shoulders, hips and knees) and then the lifting. After lifting I do 10-15 minutes of intervals (not HIIT, just intervals) followed by foam rolling and stretching. Works for me.0
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I like to do about 10 minutes of warm up cardio to get the blood flowing, nothing major. Then I do my strength training and usually feel ready to push by that point. Once I'm done, I either do an easy treadmill walk or I do intervals and push my speed and heart rate up, depending on how long I strength trained. I do two short sessions a week and I like intervals after those. On my one long session, I usually do a steady state medium effort walk. Between strength days, I'm currently doing run/walk intervals. Basically, on the toughest cardio, I like to do it on different days entirely. Either way, though, I like to do the strength training first.0
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I generally do cardio first. If weight loss is the goal.. that’s what I was taught. If it’s bulking and strength building, I guess the other way around might be more efficient.
Not quite. If you are training for an endurance event of some sort, then you would probably want to do cardio first. If you are looking at general fitness (which could be in a surplus or deficit) you may want strength training first as you don't want to be tired while lifting. You won't be able to lift as much and your form may be off leading to a better chance at injury... general rule is, cardio after lifting if both on the same day, unless cardio is your primary goal (eg. training for a race)
for weight loss or bulking it doesn't really matter, though it is easier to bulk if you limit the amount of cardio you do, otherwise you will just have to eat even more.5 -
I generally do cardio first. If weight loss is the goal.. that’s what I was taught. If it’s bulking and strength building, I guess the other way around might be more efficient.
Not quite. If you are training for an event of some sort, then you would probably want to do cardio first. If you are looking at general fitness (which could be in a surplus or deficit) you may want strength training first as you don't want to be tired while lifting. You won't be able to lift as much and your form may be off leading to a better chance at injury... general rule is, cardio after lifting if both on the same day, unless cardio is your primary goal (eg. training for a race)
for weight loss or bulking it doesn't really matter, though it is easier to bulk if you limit the amount of cardio you do, otherwise you will just have to eat even more.
This ^3 -
I generally do cardio first. If weight loss is the goal.. that’s what I was taught. If it’s bulking and strength building, I guess the other way around might be more efficient.
Not quite. If you are training for an endurance event of some sort, then you would probably want to do cardio first. If you are looking at general fitness (which could be in a surplus or deficit) you may want strength training first as you don't want to be tired while lifting. You won't be able to lift as much and your form may be off leading to a better chance at injury... general rule is, cardio after lifting if both on the same day, unless cardio is your primary goal (eg. training for a race)
for weight loss or bulking it doesn't really matter, though it is easier to bulk if you limit the amount of cardio you do, otherwise you will just have to eat even more.
Going to also agree.
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I generally do cardio first. If weight loss is the goal.. that’s what I was taught. If it’s bulking and strength building, I guess the other way around might be more efficient.
Not quite. If you are training for an endurance event of some sort, then you would probably want to do cardio first. If you are looking at general fitness (which could be in a surplus or deficit) you may want strength training first as you don't want to be tired while lifting. You won't be able to lift as much and your form may be off leading to a better chance at injury... general rule is, cardio after lifting if both on the same day, unless cardio is your primary goal (eg. training for a race)
for weight loss or bulking it doesn't really matter, though it is easier to bulk if you limit the amount of cardio you do, otherwise you will just have to eat even more.
Going to also agree.
This well supported in the research...a lot of what is posted in these forums is solid but a lot is also just opinion that only applies to that poster. I would highly recommend a google scholar sea h if you really want to know.0 -
So the last two times I've been to the gym, I've done weights first. It seems to be working better for me. I did weights for ten minutes, then 45 minutes of cardio, then ten more minutes of weights. Often when I do cardio first I just go home and skip the weights, and by breaking it up, I'm doing my full workout with no fatigue.0
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It depends...currently I'm doing a full body lifting program 3x per week that takes me around 40 minutes or so...I usually follow up with about 20 minutes of easy spin on the stationary bike just to spin my legs out a bit...nothing particularly intense. I do actual training rides on completely different days and when I have an event I'm training for, I usually drop my lifting down to 2x per week and focus more on my training rides.
I'm not going to get a very good lifting session in after a training ride...conversely, I'm not going to have a good training ride after a lifting session either. Right now I'm not really training for anything specific, but my fitness rides are such that it's just better to keep them on different days.
If I were you, I'd look into an actual lifting routine...it will be far more efficient and effective than just doing whatever for 10 minutes.1 -
I honestly wouldn't worry about it for 10-20 minutes of lifting...
If breaking it up into two 10 min lifts with the cardio in between makes you feel best, go for it. That's better than skipping the lifting.
(^ Though an established program is even better)0 -
My personal preference is 10 minutes of cardio for a warm up to get my heart rate going, then my lifting routine, followed by about 20 minutes of more cardio. It ends up being about an hour in total (30 mins cardio and 30 minutes lifting). I also like to finish with some deep stretching. I have just found that stretching afterwards really helps me feel better the next day.
This is all personal preference though after some trial and error.0 -
My personal preference is 10 minutes of cardio for a warm up to get my heart rate going, then my lifting routine, followed by about 20 minutes of more cardio. It ends up being about an hour in total (30 mins cardio and 30 minutes lifting). I also like to finish with some deep stretching. I have just found that stretching afterwards really helps me feel better the next day.
This is all personal preference though after some trial and error.
What kind of lifting program are you doing? I couldn't imaging getting through mine in less than 45 minutes or an hour for the weight training alone.1 -
I usually split cardio and strength on separate days. That having been said, on strength days I do like to warm up with 15 minutes on the rowing machine. On my cardio days I'll finish with some body weight exercises (push ups, pull ups, hip thrusts {these are often weighted} whatever). On all days I do, at least, 15- 20 minutes of cool down stretches. I'm in the gym about 75 minutes most days.0
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