We all know the importance of combining weight training with cardio for any exercise goal, whether it is weight loss, increasing muscle mass, decreasing body fat, or simply overall improved health. Yet whether you should be doing your treadmill run or pumping out those bicep curls first lays the question.
One of the most common questions out there when it comes to fitness is, “should I do weights before or after my cardio?” So here at NordicTrackCoupons.com we want you to be educated to know the benefits of both, cardio before weights as well as cardio after weights.
From all the research I’ve been doing, it seems like there is no clear cut solid answer as to which one is better.
Some say it’s better to do cardio before weights, some say it’s better after, while others suggest never doing them on the same days. So while you didn’t come here for me to tell you there is no answer, I will attempt to answer the question based on my knowledge and research.
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It depends on what your goal for your workout may be, whether you trying to lose weight/fat or trying to increase your muscle mass. With that in mind, if your goal is simply to increase overall health than the order makes no difference, just as long as you are out there working out.
Today we’ll go over the benefits of doing cardio before weight training, tomorrow we will show the benefits of weight training before cardio, then you be the judge as to which works best for you!
Doing cardio before weight training helps you to have the most energy for your cardio session. When you have more energy for your cardio workouts you are most likely able to engage in higher intensity workouts, leaving you with a better aerobic workout.
The higher intensity will leave you with a higher after burn as well. So while you are doing your strength training weight session your metabolism is revved up from the previous cardio workout, as well as the current strength training workout.
From a study shown in this article on weighttraining.about.com on 10 men at Brigham Young University, running before resistance proved to be very beneficial. The men did resistance only, run only, resistance before running, and then running before resistance sessions. From their workouts they found that when doing cardio before resistance:
- EPOC (the caloric after burn effect) was highest when cardio was done before weight training.
- Cardio after weight training was more physiologically difficult than cardio before weight training.
- The overall recommendation was to perform “aerobic exercise before resistance exercise when combining them into one exercise session.”
Now only 10 men were studied, so the results should be looked at with caution. Yet the results are still fascinating to see the after burn effect was highest when doing cardio first, which is beneficial to those looking to lose weight and burn more fat.
Now join us tomorrow to see what the benefits of weights before cardio are, to see if this may be a better option for you!
Check out Part Two!
Written By: Jentry
