Is it better to do strength training before cardio or vice versa?

Answer 1

I find it's best to do strength training first, and much of what I have read supports it. If you lift before you do cardio, your metabolism will still be up when you do cardio. If you do cardio first, you will have less energy to do your strength training. I do however, do a little cardio to warm up my body before I do any strength training (10 min or so should be good).

Answer 2

I have found that it depends on which is the more important of the two in your workout. If you do 30-45 minutes of cardio and then move on to strength training, you will already have used a lot of energy and the strength training will suffer. Conversely, when I have an intense strength session FIRST I tend to slack on the cardio.

Answer 3

From what i have learned, strength training is best done after a short but brisk warm up (5-10Mins), followed by cardiovascular. the reason being is that your muscles are weaker after long cardio sessions. strength training is also best done in the afternoon/evening when your body is "fuelled" up from what you have eaten during the day. whereas cardio is best done first thing in the morning before eating to boost your metabolism! Hope this helps!

Answer 4

I do weights after cardio. That way, I'm already warmed up and there is less chance I'll injure muscles I'm trying to build. You're always supposed to warm up before weight training, either with stretching and light calisthenics or cardio.

Answer 5

Depends on your goals. It has been proven that doing weights before cardio burns more fat. So if that's your goal, that's what you should be doing. However, occasionally it's a good idea to swap them around, to keep some variety in your workout.