[MorticiaAddams]

Hi
I am currently 240 pounds I have been losing weight over the last year and half.. I was at 313 pounds.
I slowly made my way up to walking around the block to running on the tread.
My workout consists of a mile run on the tredmill then I move onto the eliptical walker and do a mile and bump up my restistance level then
I will head over to the crossramp and do a mile and bump up the resitance and
then I will hit the stationary bike and do two to three miles depending on how much energy I feel I have that day.
All in all I will do five to 6 miles of cardio.

Then after my cardio I will lift the weights. I move from machine to machine doing 12 reps twice.
My workouts last from about 1hr 30 mins on average.
I work out 6 days maybe 7 if I feel like it.

Heres the question part
My husband had recently mentioned to me I should lift then do my cardio ?
I thought well I do do my lifting but I do it after the cardio because I like to get my sweat going and I feel like I would have more energy to complete my cardio workout if I do it first.
Is there any difference as I feel as long as I am doing both whats the differance.
Any thoughts ????

[Ilene]

Hi Morticia congrats on your weightloss so far you're doing great...

I always do weights before cardio, just because I like it that way ... But here is a short article I found once that convinced me...

Cardio and Weight Training
The best way to incorporate cardio into your training is to do it in a completely different session then your weight training. If you plan on doing both weights and cardio in the same session, do the weights first. There are two major reasons for this:
• First, doing cardio before weights will pre-fatigue your muscles, limiting your weight training. Doing cardio after weights will not.
• Second, weight training will serve as a sort of pre-exhaust for cardio; lowering your blood sugar and allowing you to burn fat immediately after you start cardio. If you do cardio first, it will take about 20 minutes before you really start to burn fat

http://www.fitstep.com/Library/Info/Cardio_fitness1.htm

I also had another article which I can't find at the moment, sorry...

[MorticiaAddams]

Ill give it a try and see how it feels. I guess I just liked cardio a little more but one can always try something new.
I might even like it better and the benifits sounds awsome.
Thanks

[Ilene]

Actually if you alternate doing cardio/weights and weights/cardio it's a good thing because it keeps your workouts fresh and different to keep your body guessing...

[aok]

I vote for alternating. i'm studying to be a personal trainer and there are votes for both sides. the most important thing is to keep your body guessing because it can get comfortable with just one way and not burn as effectively. with the weights it's imporant to keep for form. sometimes you get a bit tired from the cardio and your form suffers and you lift incorectly.