Weights or cardio first?

[pr3ttybr0wn]

Please settle this debate between a friend of mine. I think it's better to do weights before doing cardio but my friend thinks the opposite.it might not matter a whole lot but I'm just curious which has the slight advantage

[MyNameIsJonas]

Weights before cardio always. Especially if your doing big compound movements.

Reason: weight training is more taxing on the nervous system. In order to get your best lifts do them before cardiovascular activity. Then move on to cardio which is usually one contentious pattern over and over.

I saw a video awhile back that explained it a bit better but I can't find it for you.

Im not sure what kind of weight training you are doing. For me personally there is no way I'm going to be able to preform cleans to over head press after I do 30 minutes of cardio... I get better lifts and better focus on the lifts if I'm well rested and prepared with a steady heart rate and plenty of hydration and food in my belly... I always do my heavy stuff first then wind down with the cardio.

[martyfellow]

You shouldn't do them one right after the other, except when you are doing circuit training, where the weights are light and are there mainly to speed up your heartbeat and get a better aerobic workout.

Otherwise, you should wait several hours between sessions of each, if you're really lifting a lot of weight.

As long as you do that, it's not that important which one comes first.

But I prefer to do the cardio first, since that won't seriously impact your weight session. But the weight session will cut down on how intense your cardio workout will be. Weights just make you too dang tired if you're on a stenuous weight regimen.

[WavyCherry]

I've always done cardio first, then weights.

I start with cardio to bring up my heart rate, then I do weights. I don't want to be tired right off the bat.

I have done weights first before though. That was mostly because all the machines were full. The times I did this though, I found that I was more tired and didn't want to do as much cardio.

[unighted]

I read in a healths magazine that it is better to do cardio in the morning because you sart up the day better, the metabolism gets right on track and what you eat gets processed better

then the best time to do weights is in the afternoon, but I don't really remember why, sorry

[jamesma87]

I assume by cardio you are referring to running and such, because you can build cardio through weights...You're both right, it depends what you are training. You should get the blood going a bit and stretch prior to any exercise though.

If you're wanting to do a strong workout with weights, open with some cardio to get the blood going and then lift.

If you want to do a lot of intense cardio, you can lift a bit of weights first since you won't have much left in the tank after a good cardio workout

[kheserthorpe]

That depends on your goals. I believe if you're doing them back to back, the hormonal response will be more driven by the one you do first. So weights then steady state aerobic work would be better for lean mass preservation, doing weights when exhausted would be more catabolic. For most people, this means weights first.

[WeaponZero]

Light intensity cardio for a few minutes just as warmup, then weights, then higher intensity cardio.

Weights pretty much have to come first because if you start your weightlifting session with muscles that are already fatigued you won't see much benefit from it at all.

[beastman88]

id say cardio would be a good warm up so you don't pull anything when you're lifting. muscles are like elastic, the warmer they are the more they can stretch. every body seems hell bent on lifting first, but id say it even more necessary to do a warm up especially as we age as our muscle and body in general start to shrink

[MaskofInsanity]

My personal trainer told me it's better to do weights first, as it burns your carbs, and then the cardio burns stored fat.

[front2back]

WEIGHTS FIRST. ALWAYS.

If you do cardio first, you will tire yourself out before you even lift. Then you can't move the weight as much. Besides, weight training is a type of cardio in itself. I hate when we do sprints then lift, my quads are tight and I can't breathe as well.

Trust me, I play football. If anyone knows weight training, it's football players.

[sovetskii13]

There is no right or wrong without having a plan first. It depends on what your goals are. Why are you exercising? What is the main reason? After you figure that out, there will be a correct answer.

[SpoiledJeano]

It depends on what you want. If you want a personal plan please message me and I can shape you in which ever way you wish

[rdavis801]

Of what I have read on bodybuilder websites doing weights first and then cardio builds mucsle much faster, and with personal experience, doing cardio makes me too tired to lift weights when I am doing them one after another.

[lauramor]

why don't you switch it up all the time.

[palek]

Donuts first.

[tiredofwaiting]

I'd go with weights.