Cardio before weight training?

Hey guys,

I'm having trouble figuring out when to do cardio. At the moment, I usually do 1 hour of spinning before starting to work out; is this bad? Should I be restricting my cardio for the off days?

Any help/advice is appreciated. Thanks.

[QUOTE=ikuze;697969741]Hey guys,

I'm having trouble figuring out when to do cardio. At the moment, I usually do 1 hour of spinning before starting to work out; is this bad? Should I be restricting my cardio for the off days?

Any help/advice is appreciated. Thanks.[/QUOTE]

i dont reccomend cardio before you work out. I do a slow 5 mins or so on the elliptical. You will use up alot of your glycogen doing too much cardio before you lift and wont have as much energy and strength to get a good workout. If you can i would say lift at some point early in the day and cardio later but i know thats not always possible.Or like you said if you only want a few cardio days just do them on your off days.

Cardio before weight training works perfect if you are working on your definition. Very good combination. Only thing is - cut it down to 15-20 min- otherwise you will run out of energy quick.
For more tips and info - type Triple Fitness Impact on google. You will find all you need on their website.
Take care

[QUOTE=ikuze;697969741]Hey guys,

I'm having trouble figuring out when to do cardio. At the moment, I usually do 1 hour of spinning before starting to work out; is this bad? Should I be restricting my cardio for the off days?

Any help/advice is appreciated. Thanks.[/QUOTE]

if you have to do cardio in the same workout, do it after.

If your primary focus is developing cardiovascular endurance, do your cardio workout first. There are many schools of thought about the effects of strength training on cardio endurance performance- some people advocate strength training before the cardio workout, and some people prefer doing the strength component after the cardio workout. While there is research to support both thought processes, for the general cardio enthusiast (non-competitive athlete) who wants to be able to do a long-term, sustained cardio workout (30 – 60 minutes) with ease and comfort, it may be best to perform the cardio workout when the muscles are fresh—before your strength workout.

It is important to develop the energy and neuromuscular systems necessary for endurance activities. An appropriate strength workout for an endurance athlete would be to develop muscular endurance first and then progress into a light strength program working all the major muscles with multi-joint, functional movement patterns that are more specific to the needs of the endurance activity (walking, jogging, running, biking, hiking, etc).

If you are working for strength gains, it is best to do your strength workout before your cardio workout. This allows the muscles optimal energy to complete the workout at maximal ability. If you did your cardio workout first, there would be an element of muscular fatigue present when going in to the strength workout; you want the muscles to be as fresh as possible to be able to exert maximal or near-maximal efforts. Performing the cardio workout immediately after the strength workout can help enhance recovery by supplying the muscles with more oxygen and nutrients, while also removing muscular waste products accumulated during strength training. As long as you keep the cardio workout at a low to moderate intensity level, it will help keep the muscles from getting too sore during your workout, and allow for improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness while facilitating muscle recovery following the intense strength training workout.

[QUOTE=skinsfan15;698051281]If your primary focus is developing cardiovascular endurance, do your cardio workout first. There are many schools of thought about the effects of strength training on cardio endurance performance- some people advocate strength training before the cardio workout, and some people prefer doing the strength component after the cardio workout. While there is research to support both thought processes, for the general cardio enthusiast (non-competitive athlete) who wants to be able to do a long-term, sustained cardio workout (30 – 60 minutes) with ease and comfort, it may be best to perform the cardio workout when the muscles are fresh—before your strength workout.

It is important to develop the energy and neuromuscular systems necessary for endurance activities. An appropriate strength workout for an endurance athlete would be to develop muscular endurance first and then progress into a light strength program working all the major muscles with multi-joint, functional movement patterns that are more specific to the needs of the endurance activity (walking, jogging, running, biking, hiking, etc).

If you are working for strength gains, it is best to do your strength workout before your cardio workout. This allows the muscles optimal energy to complete the workout at maximal ability. If you did your cardio workout first, there would be an element of muscular fatigue present when going in to the strength workout; you want the muscles to be as fresh as possible to be able to exert maximal or near-maximal efforts. Performing the cardio workout immediately after the strength workout can help enhance recovery by supplying the muscles with more oxygen and nutrients, while also removing muscular waste products accumulated during strength training. As long as you keep the cardio workout at a low to moderate intensity level, it will help keep the muscles from getting too sore during your workout, and allow for improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness while facilitating muscle recovery following the intense strength training workout.[/QUOTE]
More or less what's been said up here.

Just to throw in a personal experience, during offseason (I run xc) I'd focus on my weights with cardio on offdays. Preseason (and ofc during the season), my cardio would take precedence in every workout.

Comes down to what you're training for.

If there's no sport behind your routine there, might I ask if you're currently bulking/cutting ?

[QUOTE=Sverd;698104651]More or less what's been said up here.

Just to throw in a personal experience, during offseason (I run xc) I'd focus on my weights with cardio on offdays. Preseason (and ofc during the season), my cardio would take precedence in every workout.

Comes down to what you're training for.

If there's no sport behind your routine there, might I ask if you're currently bulking/cutting ?[/QUOTE]

Thanks a lot for your answers everyone.

There isn't necessarily a sport behind my routine, but I play on my university's soccer team, so I try to do a lot of cardio to keep my shape up. But ultimately I am striving to bulk up more than improve my soccer-related performance.

[QUOTE=TFI;698044221] before weight training works perfect if you are working on your definition. Very good combination. Only thing is - cut it down to 15-20 min- otherwise you will run out of energy quick.
For more tips and info - type Triple Fitness Impact on google. You will find all you need on their website.
Take care[/QUOTE]

How cardio before weight training help for a better definition??

Definition is about low body fat. Losing fat is about diet. Cardio before or after weight lifting has nothing to do with definition.

OP, if you do cardio before weight lifting, you will have less energy for the rest of your work out. If you prefer a better cardio vs a better shape\strength, its your call.

Why cardio before training?
Simple answer:
Normal way is to do cardio in the morning on empty stomach. Also you should not eat enything within 45-60min after your cardio session to improve body fat burn.
Weight training required big dose of carbs within 30min after training - to avoid muscles loss and dose of protein within 60-90min to build them.
So, if you do cardio to get in shape and increase your body fat burn, and want to do it after weight training - you have got a dilemma..
I can agree with previous posts - if you are working on your bulk or just on strenth -cardio should not be combined with weight training. I am power-lifter- and when I do my proper power-lifting training (usually 2 times a year -for a period of 4 months) I cut all cardio down and do it separate, just to save as much energy as possible for my lifting- that's obvious. But when I want to reduce my weight or do bodybuilding training - I always do the cardio before my weight workout.
Take care and stay steady
[QUOTE=Saintsqc;698481921]How cardio before weight training help for a better definition??

Definition is about low body fat. Losing fat is about diet. Cardio before or after weight lifting has nothing to do with definition.

OP, if you do cardio before weight lifting, you will have less energy for the rest of your work out. If you prefer a better cardio vs a better shape\strength, its your call.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=TFI;698044221]Cardio before weight training works perfect if you are working on your definition. Very good combination. Only thing is - cut it down to 15-20 min- otherwise you will run out of energy quick.
For more tips and info - type Triple Fitness Impact on google. You will find all you need on their website.
Take care[/QUOTE]

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