I often am asked which is better to do first, Weights or Cardio. As always, there is a simple answer and a complex answer. Here is the simple answer.
First, do a good 10 minute warm-up of cardio and stretching, then do your weights. End with your cardio. Make sure to cool down before you leave the gym for your recovery and health.
The complex answer goes like this. We generally always use our stored carbohydrates, in the form of glycogen, first when we workout because it is the easiest form of energy, even when you are doing cardio.
When we do weight training we are doing anaerobic exercise, which translates to "without oxygen". Simply put that means that our primary source of energy for weight training is carbs because we are working too intensely to metabolize fat into energy fast enough to support the exercise. That being said, it makes sense that we would want to have as many carbs still in our system when we do our weight training so that we can push the hardest and get the most out of it. In addition, if we have significantly depleted our carb stores then we will more quickly begin to rely on fat stores for energy when we do our cardio.
Since you always use carbs first for movement it makes sense that you would like to have less of them available for cardio. Your body will still need the energy to exercise so it will pull a greater percentage of the energy from fats than it would have if you had done cardio first.
Do not forget to keep your body confused though. Most of the time it will be more effective to hit the weights and then hit the cardio, BUT mix it up sometimes. Once in a while hit the cardio hard first and I think that you will find that it can help break up the monotony and the plateaus. Nothing is set in stone when it comes to exercise, so use this info appropriately and you will get great results!
First, do a good 10 minute warm-up of cardio and stretching, then do your weights. End with your cardio. Make sure to cool down before you leave the gym for your recovery and health.
The complex answer goes like this. We generally always use our stored carbohydrates, in the form of glycogen, first when we workout because it is the easiest form of energy, even when you are doing cardio.
When we do weight training we are doing anaerobic exercise, which translates to "without oxygen". Simply put that means that our primary source of energy for weight training is carbs because we are working too intensely to metabolize fat into energy fast enough to support the exercise. That being said, it makes sense that we would want to have as many carbs still in our system when we do our weight training so that we can push the hardest and get the most out of it. In addition, if we have significantly depleted our carb stores then we will more quickly begin to rely on fat stores for energy when we do our cardio.
Since you always use carbs first for movement it makes sense that you would like to have less of them available for cardio. Your body will still need the energy to exercise so it will pull a greater percentage of the energy from fats than it would have if you had done cardio first.
Do not forget to keep your body confused though. Most of the time it will be more effective to hit the weights and then hit the cardio, BUT mix it up sometimes. Once in a while hit the cardio hard first and I think that you will find that it can help break up the monotony and the plateaus. Nothing is set in stone when it comes to exercise, so use this info appropriately and you will get great results!
