Cardio before or after lifting?
Replies
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I stretch, then lift, then do minimal cardio afterwards. But I lift heavy and do squats/bench/deadlifts all in 1 session 2x/week in addition to light upper/lower workouts. Light cardio after lifting has completely eliminated any muscle soreness for me1
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PowerliftingMom wrote: »I stretch, then lift, then do minimal cardio afterwards. But I lift heavy and do squats/bench/deadlifts all in 1 session 2x/week in addition to light upper/lower workouts. Light cardio after lifting has completely eliminated any muscle soreness for me
How would you define minimal cardio? I know everyone has different interpretations0 -
I prefer to do my cardio before my weight training. Gets me pumped up and ready to go, it’s my warm up exercise.3
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"Thank you for this! I failed to mention it’s a 10min HIIT workout."
That's a bit different to a warm up (which is very much personal preference)!
No I don't think that's a good idea before lifting.
"I’m ideally doing cardio for weight loss purposes."
Then ten minutes of cardio is a waste of time and in the case of high intensity work more likely to impact your lifting performance without burning any significant calories.
You can't beat long duration for big cardio burns.8 -
Personally, I think it's best to focus on one or the other. If the "cardio" is just a warm-up, fine. But HIIT is not that. Just lift one day, cardio the next, or split your day into one a.m. one p.m. I do cardio am, lift pm twice a week. The other days may be cardio only or some circuit training.4
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I used to do a 10 min warm up before other stuff (crunches, squats, weight machines) then 20-30 min cardio at the end. Last week, I did 30 min cardio first, then other stuff & found that I had way more energy & stamina! I got through my sets of squats & crunches, etc., with much less fatigue than I normally had. It's great for me because it saves me time & I don't have to go to the gym every single day. Plus as someone else said, I hate cardio so getting it out of the way first really helps! Whatever works for you1
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karla24687 wrote: »I used to do a 10 min warm up before other stuff (crunches, squats, weight machines) then 20-30 min cardio at the end. Last week, I did 30 min cardio first, then other stuff & found that I had way more energy & stamina! I got through my sets of squats & crunches, etc., with much less fatigue than I normally had. It's great for me because it saves me time & I don't have to go to the gym every single day. Plus as someone else said, I hate cardio so getting it out of the way first really helps! Whatever works for you
Thank you for this! I always hated cardio so it was hard for me to do more than just 10min. But I guess I just have find a machine I like and stick with it0 -
It really is individual I think. I do a brief warm-up like squats or jumping jacks just get the blood pumping before doing my weightlifting workout. After that, I’ll do a circuit cardio bodyweight workout. My favorite is Daily Burn 365. I find that if I do cardio first, my weightlifting form suffers. But if I do cardio after weightlifting I come into the cardio with a nice endorphin high and if I start to experience muscle fatigue I can just dial down the cardio portion of the work out. It’s easier to dial down cardio intensity then weightlifting intensity and still have good form in my opinion.1
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I work with a personal trainer, 10 minutes of cardio is a warmup before weights. I’ve been advised to save intensive cardio for after lifting. It’s much easier to hurt yourself weight lifting (especially with free weights) if you are fatigued from running.7
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Asjohnson6889 wrote: »I work with a personal trainer, 10 minutes of cardio is a warmup before weights. I’ve been advised to save intensive cardio for after lifting. It’s much easier to hurt yourself weight lifting (especially with free weights) if you are fatigued from running.
Oh I see! Thank you for this0 -
I'm working on building muscle but keep lean. For me, doing 5 minutes of cardio at a moderate pace (whether it be running, rowing, bike, elliptical) then 2 minutes cool down of going slow. Afterwards I do my weights then do another 15 minutes of fast walking or biking. The end part is easy because it's like cooling down while still burning calories Gets rid of the shakes before driving away!1
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I used to do strength training after cardio, but I found that I was too tired from the cardio and would cut my strength session short, or sometimes skip it. So I switched to doing strength training first, and it's worked out well for me. I feel energized for the cardio, and it's nice to just go home after the cardio. Since I switched, I always do my complete strength routine, and I've lost four pounds.1
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Asjohnson6889 wrote: »I work with a personal trainer, 10 minutes of cardio is a warmup before weights. I’ve been advised to save intensive cardio for after lifting. It’s much easier to hurt yourself weight lifting (especially with free weights) if you are fatigued from running.
This is also my take. If you are training for an event/specific purpose, prioritize that activity first (best case would be cardio and weights in split sessions during the day). If training for general fitness in one session do the weights first (after a brief warm up if you like). It's a lot easier to stop running if exhausted when running than with a barbell on your back.1 -
Packerjohn wrote: »Asjohnson6889 wrote: »I work with a personal trainer, 10 minutes of cardio is a warmup before weights. I’ve been advised to save intensive cardio for after lifting. It’s much easier to hurt yourself weight lifting (especially with free weights) if you are fatigued from running.
This is also my take. If you are training for an event/specific purpose, prioritize that activity first (best case would be cardio and weights in split sessions during the day). If training for general fitness in one session do the weights first (after a brief warm up if you like). It's a lot easier to stop running if exhausted when running than with a barbell on your back.
“For me, it's a lot easier to stop running if exhausted when running than with a barbell on my back, so that’s what I prefer. “
There—fixed that for you.5 -
kerrylkatriviera wrote: »I used to do strength training after cardio, but I found that I was too tired from the cardio and would cut my strength session short, or sometimes skip it. So I switched to doing strength training first, and it's worked out well for me. I feel energized for the cardio, and it's nice to just go home after the cardio. Since I switched, I always do my complete strength routine, and I've lost four pounds.
Congrats on dropping 4lbs! I’ll take that into consideration, thank ya!0 -
PowerliftingMom wrote: »I stretch, then lift, then do minimal cardio afterwards. But I lift heavy and do squats/bench/deadlifts all in 1 session 2x/week in addition to light upper/lower workouts. Light cardio after lifting has completely eliminated any muscle soreness for me
How would you define minimal cardio? I know everyone has different interpretations
I just walk on the treadmill for 10-15 minutes1 -
I alternate between days for cardio and days for body-weight resistance exercises. One day I do cardio--jogging 2 miles weekdays and longer on weekends. The next day I do body-weight resistance exercises--squats, heel raisers, pull up, push ups, and bicycle crunches.1
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I do about 5 min walking or on the bike now to warm-up..I also do an active recovery day and cardio then..if I have time I will do cardio for a bit after lifting.1
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10 min cardio before lifting isnt bad and doesnt matter much since in the end it boils down to simply burning calories. However this is assuming the cardio isnt too intense. For example, Hiit Cardio or Plyometric type cardio- Id do after lifting. You want more energy going into weight lifting since building muscle burns fat.2
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I've been doing 15 minutes on the Arc Trainer, at a fairly high resistance setting, to get my blood pumping. Then I go lift for 30-40 minutes. This combination seems to help me.1
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