Cardio before or after weights?
 

Does it matter which order you do them? And which do you prefer?

I prefer after.

A) It's dangerous to lift weights when you're fatigued, because you can't maintain good form and perform the movements properly.

B) You get the best 'bang for your buck' with resistance training, so I like to do weights first when my muscles are fresh and can contract hardest.

C) You are already warmed up/beginning to fatigue after weights, so you get a 'head start' to increase your endurance capacity within your muscles.

Um, these are really poor 'explanations' of the actual science behind it, sorry, but they convey the general message; personally, I prefer cardio after weights (when/if I bother).

Have fun! :hug:

I'd always heard you should do some sort of cardio warm-up before weights to get your blood flowing, so I just do my whole cardio workout first if I'm doing both on the same day. I've never experienced fatigue from cardio to the point where I was unable to manage my form.

Always weights before cardio. (Excluding a short cardio warm up if you want).

Cardio significantly saps your ability to lift heavy whereas lifting rarely effects cardio performance.

Jen

I used to do cardio before weight only because I hated cardio so much so that if I waited after the weights I would not have done it because i was tired from the weights...

Now I do cardio one day weights the next... Schedule just doesn't permit spending almost 2 hours at the gym... Plus I always do cardio outside now...

My trainer has me doing cardio before my weights. i'm not lifting super heavy so theres no worry it will affect my ability. His philosophy is i will have more energy to be at my maximal effort and for me he says cardio is where i should be focussing.

I also asked my former colleague who is also a personal trainer and he agreed - basically when you're first starting out and your stamina isn't that great it's not going to make or break you.

I do cardio after weights because I hate weights and that's the only way I'll do weights. If I did cardio first, I would mentally feel my exercise is done for the day and I would hit the lockerroom to change.

what exactly are you aiming for do the one you are mostly interested in first so if you want larger muscles lift weights first because you only have limited energy and doing cardio first would reduce the amount of reps you can do

I would do whichever one you dislike more first. I do cardio first because if I do weights first, I'll never get the cardio in. I don't know if there's any scientific reasoning behind doing either one first, so I would just go with whichever way you feel works best for you

This^. Every one of these reasons. I always walk or do elliptical for 5-10 minutes to fill the muscles with blood first. Then: 1.:strong: 2.:woops:

Also, when I lift I don't rest between sets, because I usually do a circuit of 3-5 exercises, which keeps my heart rate up. So by the time I get to cardio, I am pretty worn out. Then I just give the cardio whatever I have left.

I don't take cardiovascular workout and weight lifting at the same. I usually do it alternative because when I jog or run. I get so tired and I can't lift weights so I decided to do it alternately. I jog and run every monday, wednesday and friday morning and doing some weights every tuesday and thursday.

from my trainer cardio first 30 minutes to deplete the glycogene then weight to maximise the work out. Start weight with the larger muscles and finish with the small one. Alternating one day yes one day no for the weight, the days off you increase cardio.

Michou, your trainer is recommending cardio to specifically deplete glycogen stores BEFORE weight training? Odd, I've never actually heard of people doing that intentionally. But hey, if it works for you, keep with it! :)

I used to do it before. Now I try to do it after. Save your energy and effort for the big lifts!

Typically, I weight train before work. And run before lunch.

I usually does 10 minutes of fast walking on a treadmill to get my heartrate up to 120bpm and warm up.

Then I lift weights for 40 minutes.

I am not lifting heavy, since I have just gotten back in the gym, and I don't want too hurt myself.