Cardio Before or After Lifting?

[iMerMaid]

I'm in the loosing stage, obviously, but GymJunkieTasha's thread about cardio got me to wondering something and I know you girls can answer:

Cardio before or after lifting? I'm very much in the learning stages here and according to my newbie logic, cardio before would get the heart and blood pumping so it's ready to rush into working muscles, but after lifting I assume it would help work off the lactic acid - am I completely wrong? Which is best?


Thanks so much for the help, I really appreciate getting to benefit from your experience and knowledge!

[tacdgb]

my opinion is that cardio would tire you out so you can't lift like you need to. I have a break inbetween my cardio and weight training. I do my cardio in the mornings and weight training later.

[lilramm]

I don't always do cardio, but when I do it's after lifting. I prefer to put all my energy into lifting I don't want to waste it doing cardio first

[rockangel]

Sorry, couldnt help it..

[iMerMaid]

Thanks girls! I appreciate all the replies - and artwork!

[rdferguson]

I'm in the loosing stage, obviously, but GymJunkieTasha's thread about cardio got me to wondering something and I know you girls can answer:

Cardio before or after lifting? I'm very much in the learning stages here and according to my newbie logic, cardio before would get the heart and blood pumping so it's ready to rush into working muscles, but after lifting I assume it would help work off the lactic acid - am I completely wrong? Which is best?


Thanks so much for the help, I really appreciate getting to benefit from your experience and knowledge!

A cardiovascular warm up would ge the heart and blood pumping, but bringing yourself towards cardiovascular fatigue may not be so great before lifting. Light cardio for 5-10min after training could definitely be good for clearing out lactic acid. Intense cardio, on the other hand, would amplify the lactic acid accumulated.

Most sources will tell you to leave cardio until after lifting if lifting is important, and all rationale indicates that the most important part of your training should come first. So, using logic I'd recommend that you leave cardio until after training. However, ignoring that same logic, I'm yet to go for a long enough walk or do enough running around before lifting for my lifting to suffer from it. I don't normally do cardio before lifting, mind you, but when life has aligned in such a way, my lifting has always been fine with it. I'm guessing the reason for this is the same reason why, when I was practicing the olympc lifts, I could do 2 hours of snatches and cleans, then start my heavy squats and have no more difficulty doing them than if they were the first thing I'd done. Of course, if you were to wreck yourself during cardio so that it'll be a couple days before your lungs feel normal again, then you won't be doing any productive lifting after that.

[lilramm]

Sorry, couldnt help it..

Literally LOLing right now!!! Rockangel, I am stealing that!! Didn't even realize thats what I wrote

[LegallyBlondee]

Sorry, couldnt help it..

lolol repped

[fropleyqk]

Doing a little light cardio prior to a workout is good. It loosens you up, gets the juices flowing and lubricates the joints. Light cardio being the key. I'll usually do a light jog for about 5 minutes on the treadmill. Everyone is different, listen to your body, if you're tired after, decrease. I found that my joints, especially knees and shoulders are MUCH better to go and ready to lift after a light jog. Hasn't impacted my lifts at all, only helped. Just my $0.02.

[BlueLady23]

I always do few minutes warm-up on treadmill or stair-stepper, then go right into my lifting in the afternoons. I want most of my energy to go to my lift, so I always do my cardio post lift or seperatly in the mornings. I use to do cardio before my lifts to get it "done," but my lifts are much better & stronger now doing cardio after-wards. Guess its personal preference & your goals

[happyplace]

Do whatever is your focus first. For most here, that will be lifting. Depends also what your cardio is. Walking on an incline before doing some upper body work is not going to impact your lifts significantly, whereas sprinting before squatting is asking for trouble.

[FoxBlossom]

Lots of people have their own preferences; certain methods that are more favored by the general lifting scene, or even those methods that allege to have research behind them to back up the claims, may or may not work for each individual, so I'd always suggest giving different techniques a go and test the water, see what works for you and what gives you the best results.

That being said, I prefer to do my 'serious' cardio after a lifting session. As someone else mentioned, I feel physically better in my joints and just in general to perform on the treadmill or whatever other option I take for a bit of cv work. According to sports science studies, LISS cardio is best performed after a weight lifting routine in order to achieve optimum benefits. The reason most people feel 'better' to do cardio after weights is because synovial fluid in the joints becomes less viscous and provides better lubrication, increasing pliability and enabling the joints (knees especially) to distribute footfall shock more efficiently, i.e. if you were to run on a treadmill. Also, ATP production is fully aerobic by this point so your lactic build up is lessened, which in turn slows down the rate of fatigue (than if you were doing HIIT or prior to lifting) and allows a better supply of oxygen to the muscles, so you'd find you can go for longer without discomfort. Also at this stage, your glycogen stores should be pretty depleted, so your body will start to turn to it's fat stores in order to supply your energy.

HTH.

[iMerMaid]

Thank you ladies . . . and gentlemen I really appreciate it! You each explained it a little differently (building a complete picture) and have helped me understand much better!


I don't have much "power" but 'reps' all around!

[DreamCreations]

I've always felt cardio is best done after the lifting to avoid injury when I do lift. The more tired I am the more likely I am to hurt something! I do like some light cardio though before my lifts

[healthyfemale]

after.
use your glycogen stores to power through your lifting session... burn the fat in your cardio sessions after these stores are depleted.
best way to cut.

or... fasted cardio in the am.

[SoJaded]

i usually do it after

[kimm4]

I don't always do cardio, but when I do it's after lifting. I prefer to put all my energy into lifting I don't want to waste it doing cardio first

Same here.^^

I do warmup sets to loosen things up.