Do you do cardio before lifting?

[BrandonXJ]

Just curious.. that's how I've always done it, about 30-40 minutes of alternating running/walking.. 6 minutes run, 3mins walk.. I'm thinking of moving cardio to non-workout days though.. any thoughts on this? should I have been doing this all along? Does cardio before lifting have any negative/positive side effects? I searched on this but you try searching for "cardio and lifting" or "running and workout" and see what pops up..

 

[zxe003]

If you're going to do cardio and lift in the same workout, you should always lift first. By doing cardio first, you are expending a lot of your energy (depleting glycogen storage), so when you go to lift, you won't be able to lift at maximum performance because you've already burnt up your fuel.

 

[BrandonXJ]

If you're going to do cardio and lift in the same workout, you should always lift first. By doing cardio first, you are expending a lot of your energy (depleting glycogen storage), so when you go to lift, you won't be able to lift at maximum performance because you've already burnt up your fuel.

That what I was thinking... I think I've been screwing myself over all this time.

 

[zxe003]

Change it up on your next workout, and I bet you'll have some better lifts, or at least more muscle endurance.

 

[SoreArms]

If you're going to do cardio and lift in the same workout, you should always lift first. By doing cardio first, you are expending a lot of your energy (depleting glycogen storage), so when you go to lift, you won't be able to lift at maximum performance because you've already burnt up your fuel.

correct

If you want to run and lift on the same session, save the running for the end. I also made that mistake when I first started about a year ago. Now I run in the mornings and train at night.

 

[delldell2]

If someone was doing cardio just for fitness instead of losing weight, wouldn't it be catabolic after lifting? When would you have your post workout drink?

 

[wnt2bBeast]

If you're going to do cardio and lift in the same workout, you should always lift first. By doing cardio first, you are expending a lot of your energy (depleting glycogen storage), so when you go to lift, you won't be able to lift at maximum performance because you've already burnt up your fuel.

what he said..

 

[zxe003]

If someone was doing cardio just for fitness instead of losing weight, wouldn't it be catabolic after lifting? When would you have your post workout drink?

I'd say that if you had no intention of losing weight then you'd probably want to do your cardio on a different day than your weight training or at least at another time in the day (not the same session.) ...And if it's purely for general fitness, and you want to sustain and/or gain muscle mass, there shouldn't be more than maybe 2 days a week devoted to it.

 

[BrandonXJ]

well holy mother of crap.. that definitely made a difference.. I was able to go a hell of a lot longer and fatigue the beaatch out of back and bi's today.. this cardio before workout stuff is crap! i'm moving cardio to it's own day, and running 10-15 mins after workouts now.

 

[vinylgroover]

If someone was doing cardio just for fitness instead of losing weight, wouldn't it be catabolic after lifting? When would you have your post workout drink?

It's a good thing to take a sports drink and drink it in between or during your cardio, otherwise you do risk going catabolic.

Just a simple gatorade or other type of sports drink that has dextrose or maltodextrin in it is fine.