Weights first, or cardio?

sweetgreenpear

sweetgreenpear

New member
to the pros . . .

i didn't realize it made a difference, but i have recently been advised that i should cardio AFTER strength training. so, i have two requests of posters on this forum:

1) can you confirm?
2) can you explain why?

many thanks.
 
I'm not a pro, but I am a poster on the forum and...

I have been told to do Strength training first, because you need to have the energy to maintain proper posture so as not to hurt yourself or have exhausted muscles, however, I'm sure there is a better explanation or possible better reasoning behind this.
 
I've heard it's simply because you're less exhausted while doing weight training if you do the cardio after. I've also remember hearing about how it has to do with depleting the energy reserves in your muscles, so cardio can burn more body fat, but it seems like a quack answer.
 
I am very new, but this is coming directly from my personal trainer...

He said that I should do resistance training first because for the first 20 minutes of any workout your body gets its energy from glycogen, rather than from stored fat. Since resistance training focuses on building muscle rather than burning fat, it shouldn't matter so much where the energy is coming. After this 20 minute mark, energy comes from fat, which would allow you to get the most out of your cardio workout.

Hope this helps!
 
kristib135 said:
He said that I should do resistance training first because for the first 20 minutes of any workout your body gets its energy from glycogen, rather than from stored fat. Since resistance training focuses on building muscle rather than burning fat, it shouldn't matter so much where the energy is coming. After this 20 minute mark, energy comes from fat, which would allow you to get the most out of your cardio workout.
Click to expand...

Fast twitch muscles are what you'd be using for lifting weights, and that is what uses glycogen. Once you deplete the available glycogen, it is hard to restore it. Plus, these muscles make a ton of lactic acid and tire easily. So, if you did cardio first, assuming you did it for quite a while and pretty intense, you'd be going in to weight training with tired muscles that have no energy, and therefore cannot perform at maximum capacity. Without that ability, you won't be able to overload your muscles and cause the breakdowns that your body needs to rebuild and overcompensate, which is what makes you stronger. So, obviously this is a huge disadvantage.
 
I have a hard time not doing cardio first. But I am trying to dedicate one to two day of doing just strength training and weights. I wonder if that is better than doing them after my cardio. Seperating the two things on different days.
 
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