Cardio before weight training, or vice versa?
I get this question monthly in the fitness centers I work, so here you go, the final word. The simplest answer to this question is “what are you trying to accomplish that particular workout?” Consider your fitness “game plan”: whether attempting to lose weight, training for your wedding or running a marathon, you should have a well rounded approach including improving your cardio endurance, strength training, proper nutrition, and incorporating sufficient rest, recovery and “de-stressing” activity.
*Note that I said your focus may be “improving your cardiovascular endurance”, not burning calories, when bringing up typical cardio exercise.. The days of coming in to do 60 minutes on the elliptical to burn your weekend calories are so yesterday, as research shows time and again the key to weight management is muscle preservation and a healthy, efficient metabolism, both primarily the result of strength training and nutrition.
Consider your goal for that workout, and use the bulk of your energy there. If your focus is strength that day, if you’ve planned to run outside or do the elliptical trainer Mon Wed and Fri, and you walk into the fitness center on Thursday afternoon, go ahead and dominate your workout with weight training. Do no more than 10 minutes of a cardio machine to warm up with, then do your weights.
So there you go, whatever your focus is, if it’s strength that day, begin with weights, when you are freshest. But if your focus is cardio, hit this right away when you are fresh. (Know #5: Always Know YOUR Nutritional and Physical Focus - one of the 8 Know’s of YOUR Success - from the Succeed the S.A.F.E. Way Program.)
Now, if you want more, if you want to leave the nutshell, we must consider your longer term goals, how many workouts you are getting in a week, and assess your strengths and weaknesses pertaining to your exercise program. If you are body building, or strength training, you should not follow a weight lifting bout with a significant cardio session, as this will only break down more muscle. This pertains to everyone, meaning that if you are a female, wanting to tone up your arms, don’t do arm exercises for 20 minutes, then go run 30 minutes on a treadmill afterwards.
To keep it simplest, when considering cardio and weight training for a 1 hour workout, you have 3 options:
1. CARDIO / weights: Begin with your cardio when you are fresh, perform 30-60 minutes, and use the remainder to either strength train one body part, (i.e. abs) or use the time for flexibility.
2. WEIGHTS / cardio: Warm up (at the most), with cardio, but dominate with strength training. Do an extra set of each exercise (3-4 sets per exercise), and really concentrate on getting stronger. The cardio end should consist of 10-15 minutes only of the entire workout.
3. CARDIO / WEIGHTS: Circuit or Interval Training! This training rocks. It involves getting a good warm up first, then lifting intensely for a few different exercises, then going over for shorter 2-5 minute cardio sprints (i.e. 4 mph walk with 12 incline on the treadmill or 10 mph run on treadmill) after each set of 3-4 exercises. Perform 3 strength exercises, then go do a treadmill sprint, then back to 3 strength exercises, then repeat, for 40-60 minutes.
Whatever you do first, just make sure you have a plan before heading into the gym or home to exercise each day. Keep it simple, jot it down on a piece of paper, or schedule it in your phone. Don’t just schedule a “workout” on Tuesday at 5:00 pm, or “after work”, but put “legs and abs” as your workout, or “30 min of treadmill intervals” in your scheduler for your workout. Having a focus keeps your workout efficient, having a plan keeps you on track.
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