Cardio and Strength: Which one first?

olymp1a
olymp1a Posts: 1,766 Member
edited October 5 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi guys,

I wanted to ask you a question. Those of you who workout both cardio and strength which one do you do first?

Up to now I either did cardio (dance or zumba) or strength exercises (mostly power/ashtanga yoga) in one single day. Today that I have a lot of free time in the evening I am planning to have 1 full hour of Zumba and 1 full hour of Power Yoga. However I wanted to ask you in which order do you think is better? First yoga and then zumba or vice versa? I am a bit confused, I mean onb the one hand I would prefer to do yoga last so I could take a longer time in meditation and relaxation. On the other hand I am afraid 1 hr of Zumba may wear me off and I do not wish to miss my yoga practise.


What works better for you?

Replies

  • NyxDominique
    NyxDominique Posts: 271 Member
    hehe, this has long been up for debate.

    Normally, I go for cardio first. Get the heart pumping.
    Since this makes the body "activated" I then move on to strength training.

    Yet, that is just me ^.^ Have fun!
  • matthewdill83
    matthewdill83 Posts: 48
    hehe, this has long been up for debate.

    Normally, I go for cardio first. Get the heart pumping.
    Since this makes the body "activated" I then move on to strength training.

    Yet, that is just me ^.^ Have fun!

    Agreed..

    I personally go hard when I do strength training, and dont usually have much left in the tank after.. I push it when I do cardio, but no matter how much I do, I always have plenty in me for strength training..
  • TabChav
    TabChav Posts: 8
    I would do cardio first. Warm up those muscles!! Just tell yourself that missing yoga is just not an option today. Today you are going to be some kind of awesome!! Enjoy :wink:
  • cbmich1860
    cbmich1860 Posts: 11 Member
    I just got a sturn talk from my personal trainer cause i did cardio before meeting him... he says strength then cardio! He has the degrees so i will have to agree with him.:flowerforyou:
  • TabChav
    TabChav Posts: 8
    I just got a sturn talk from my personal trainer cause i did cardio before meeting him... he says strength then cardio! He has the degrees so i will have to agree with him.:flowerforyou:


    Oh Ok... cool good to know!
  • Rompa_87
    Rompa_87 Posts: 291 Member
    It really depends on your goals.

    I myself run triathlons so I tend to do cardio before strength as my priority is improving fitness and then muscle conditioning.

    Likewise if your goal was to build power it would be silly to lift weights after you were exhausted from cardio.

    However, if you just want to keep in shape, tone up and lose fat then do strength training first to help get the most out of your muscles and then work your heart a bit more with cardio.
  • Yakisoba
    Yakisoba Posts: 719 Member
    I usually do strength first because cardio makes me super tired.
  • laddyboy
    laddyboy Posts: 1,565 Member
    strenght 1st....then cardio. Here is why.

    You body stores energy in the liver. It's called Glycogen. Let's say you workout 1st thing in the morning. (which is another highly debated topic...When is the best time to workout?)...anyway. After fasting all night long you have about 20 minutes of stored energy. When you workout you want your best efforts to go into resistance so you can get the best results, those last few reps are the most important.. After all...Muscle burn Fat. Now, after you've burned thru that stored energy with resistance and you hit that cardio you have no more stored energy so you start burning Fat. Now that's what I'm talking about. Make sense?
  • rajivdubey
    rajivdubey Posts: 382 Member
    Cardio in the morning.

    Weights 2-3 times in a week, stand alone!
  • olymp1a
    olymp1a Posts: 1,766 Member
    strenght 1st....then cardio. Here is why.

    You body stores energy in the liver. It's called Glycogen. Let's say you workout 1st thing in the morning. (which is another highly debated topic...When is the best time to workout?)...anyway. After fasting all night long you have about 20 minutes of stored energy. When you workout you want your best efforts to go into resistance so you can get the best results, those last few reps are the most important.. After all...Muscle burn Fat. Now, after you've burned thru that stored energy with resistance and you hit that cardio you have no more stored energy so you start burning Fat. Now that's what I'm talking about. Make sense?

    Aha... totally makes sense.

    See the problem is that after 60 minutes of vivid cardio like Zumba I feel worn out and I am sweating like hell so there is no way I am doing any yoga afterwards. No to mention that yoga requires a lot of concentration which I won't have if I am too tired. But thought I should ask anyway!

    It's very nice to read all the different opinions! I guess different things work for different people :-)
  • olymp1a
    olymp1a Posts: 1,766 Member
    I just got a sturn talk from my personal trainer cause i did cardio before meeting him... he says strength then cardio! He has the degrees so i will have to agree with him.:flowerforyou:


    Nice to know that. Thanks! :flowerforyou:
  • broadsword7
    broadsword7 Posts: 411 Member
    Interesting topic. I downloaded a book for my nook (sorry, but it's really not an intentional rhyme) called "Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights?" It supposedly deals with "myths" regarding exercise, but to be honest, I haven't even peeked and scanned through it yet (it's two books away for now).

    Whether it's actually good for me or not, my routine at a gym usually has me warming up before any strength workouts. Nuthin major, just a quick trot on a treadmill, then I hit weights or machines. When I do strength at home, and usually before I do any vigorous cardio activity, I do a little bit of stretching.
  • Asher213
    Asher213 Posts: 46
    Funnily enough I was reading up on this very topic last night on various sites and there seems to be different views on which is best to do first. I suppose it is one of those things where you've just got to try it and see what your body likes best as it won't be the same for everyone. It would depend on your goals, my goal is to burn fat/lose weight and when I first started at the gym I would do cardio first. However, recently I read that the body would burn fat quicker if you used up most your energy doing weights first and then cardio afterwards, so I'm not really sure what to believe! I've still been losing weight (not always the 2lb per week I would like, but for most weeks I have managed this) regardless of how I structure my workout and I suppose that's the main thing!

    One thing I would like to ask is do many people tend to do leg workouts (leg curl, leg press, squats etc) on the same day as cardio? If so would it be better to do cardio first if this is the case? I find that if I tend to use something like the leg press and rotary calf first, and then try doing some cardio (elliptical or treadmill) afterwards my legs feel really heavy and I struggle to complete a good cardio workout. I was thinking of maybe having a day just to do leg workouts (with maybe some light cardio - stationary bike) and then not do any leg workouts on the days when I am planning longer cardio sessions on the treadmill or elliptical. I would love to hear other peoples thoughts on this...

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  • Meggles63
    Meggles63 Posts: 916 Member
    Cardio in the morning.

    Weights 2-3 times in a week, stand alone!

    Me too!
  • Classalete
    Classalete Posts: 464 Member
    strenght 1st....then cardio. Here is why.

    You body stores energy in the liver. It's called Glycogen. Let's say you workout 1st thing in the morning. (which is another highly debated topic...When is the best time to workout?)...anyway. After fasting all night long you have about 20 minutes of stored energy. When you workout you want your best efforts to go into resistance so you can get the best results, those last few reps are the most important.. After all...Muscle burn Fat. Now, after you've burned thru that stored energy with resistance and you hit that cardio you have no more stored energy so you start burning Fat. Now that's what I'm talking about. Make sense?

    This.

    Beat me to it but great explanation none the less.
  • ramseyrose
    ramseyrose Posts: 421 Member
    I read somewhere that it should be strength first because once the muscles are working you burn more fat during the cardio.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    I always do Strength training before Cardio, I normally am weight lifting for an hour and a half and I do 30-40 seconds rest between sets to maintain some cardio while lifting. (I am not trying to bulk up, just tone up) I then do atleast 30 minutes of Cardio (treadmill, elliptical) to finish up with. I too believe you burn more from fat storage doing cardio last......
  • summertime_girl
    summertime_girl Posts: 3,945 Member
    I do cardio first.
  • Goal_Seeker_1988
    Goal_Seeker_1988 Posts: 1,619 Member
    I read online once for weightloss do cardio first for building muscle do cardio second.

    I've always done my cardio last bc I wanna have all the energy I have to weight train. If you have the time to workout twice a day you could do your cardio on an empty stomach then go back in later after you fueled up on carbs and proteins and do your weight training.
  • lacroyx
    lacroyx Posts: 5,754 Member
    strength then cardio. I don't wanna be tired from doing cardio first and then be lifting heavy, have poor form etc. etc. and possible injury.
  • rajivdubey
    rajivdubey Posts: 382 Member
    I always do Strength training before Cardio, I normally am weight lifting for an hour and a half and I do 30-40 seconds rest between sets to maintain some cardio while lifting. (I am not trying to bulk up, just tone up) I then do atleast 30 minutes of Cardio (treadmill, elliptical) to finish up with. I too believe you burn more from fat storage doing cardio last......

    You have got two people out of your body!!
  • kaylenlawrence
    kaylenlawrence Posts: 211 Member
    I just got a sturn talk from my personal trainer cause i did cardio before meeting him... he says strength then cardio! He has the degrees so i will have to agree with him.:flowerforyou:


    I have heard that as well..
    Do a 10 minute cardio warm up
    then strength training because you have more blood glucose and you have more powerful contractions and you get the most of your muscle
    then cardio because since you burned through most the blood glucose you are working into the stored fat
  • raige123
    raige123 Posts: 352
    strenght 1st....then cardio. Here is why.

    You body stores energy in the liver. It's called Glycogen. Let's say you workout 1st thing in the morning. (which is another highly debated topic...When is the best time to workout?)...anyway. After fasting all night long you have about 20 minutes of stored energy. When you workout you want your best efforts to go into resistance so you can get the best results, those last few reps are the most important.. After all...Muscle burn Fat. Now, after you've burned thru that stored energy with resistance and you hit that cardio you have no more stored energy so you start burning Fat. Now that's what I'm talking about. Make sense?

    This is why I was always told to do weights first ... to burn my glycogen stores. :) That way, I'm burning pure fat on cardio.
  • Lt_Hawkeye
    Lt_Hawkeye Posts: 22
    I heard that it's better to do strength first, so that way, you don't lose muscle from burning them through cardio?? Or something like that...idk...this was all random info I found on the internet ages ago and didn't really pay attention to them because I wasn't sure if it was true or not (plus all that biological and medical terminology kept on throwing me off lol). All I just know that it's better to do strength first then cardio since every seemed to generally agree on that, and that it does help ease with the muscle soreness a bit if you do it in that order.
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