Hi everyone!

I just thought that I would post a little piece of info on here that I heard recently. Now, I either read somewhere or someone told me (I can't remember) that you shouldn't start your workout with cardio b/c it takes the body 15 minutes to warm up, so if you do 30 minutes of cardio, you're only burning fat for the last 15 minutes. You should apparently start with weight training and then do cardio last so you burn fat through the entire cardio workout. Am I the only one that didn't realize this, b/c I've been starting my workouts with cardio?

I'm in the same boat as you... I always do about 1/2 hour of cardio, and then move on to weights. I'd be really interested to read the article or whatever you got this from.

My trainer told me that also.

He said it's best to do weights first, then do cardio. -but I don't recall why exactly.

Ooo, really? I always do cardio first... I might have to change things up a bit.

It's is indeed better to do weights first, and another good reason is because your body does need to be full force when lifting, then when you do cardio it's better of course to run off of your stores. I have heard the 15 minute thing before, but keep in mind whenever you move you burn calories, and the fat burning thing is going to be a little different for everyone. It doesn't really matter if you are burning food calories of fat store calories because it really all evens out in the end. When I was training I did always tell my clients to do weights first!

I don't do the traditional workout thing often (mostly I just play squash) but when I do, I always do cardio first.... weights just wreck me and when I'm done I'm all sore and the last thing I want to do is get on a treadmill.

If you do weights first, it's a good idea to start with a few minutes of cardio, because it gets your blood pumping and your muscles warmed up.

It doesn't have to be just weights though, right? You could say... hop on the gazelle or treadmill for 15-20 first to warm up, right?

I hope....

Hmmm.. i guess it doesn't matter for me because te way i do things it makes me feel better and not sore.

2 miles...
hour of strength training...
finish off with anothe two miles.

I'm no expert, but my understanding is that cardio comes first to warm up your muscles and reduce the risk of injury during weight training...

From what I understand, you should do a 5 or 10 minute warm up before weights. Then do weights. When you do weights first, all of you sugar stores are used in the weight training so you start out using fat when you go to cardio. So, yes, you should do weights first with a 5 or so minute warm up first to warm up your muscles.

Amber

yes - Amber is right - do 5-10 minute cardio warm up - then weights. One of hte reasons as someone else mentioned is you need all your power to do the weights - that way you will get a much more effective weight lifting work out, your body is not tired yet. You all should be able to do cardio anytime now! It's easier (not only did the trainer tell me to do it this way, but so did my bro the doctor (orthopod))

so the second question I also ponder is how do we make time for all of this? well technically you should not be doing weights every day - usually 3-4 times a week. You could split things up - like upper body then lower body and do one big day of all big muscle groups. or back and chest and abs then arms and legs.

And if you can't think of hopping on a machine after your weights, maybe think of switching your cardio routine untill you can - maybe take a class - or do the eliptical - or go on a track - or go swimming (if you are a strong swimmer! becaue it is harder to go swimming when your arms are tired - I tried this once - what a workout!) or do something with a friend - racquetball, tennis etc. remember cardio does not just mean go on a treadmill

jeez I sound like some magazine article or something - sorry! I need to work on getting my weights in better - it's hard though!

Thanks for letting me know this... I usually do the eliptical for 30 minutes, and then move on to my weights... Lol I want those 30 minutes to count 100%!!

um i dont think it matters...
if you do cardio (30 mins) first then you are burning fat for 15 mins and then burning fat during the weights ?? right? your rate remains elevated for a while after you get off the machine, esp when you are exerting yourself with weights.

just my .02