i have gotten a few questions over the years about A LOT of different things.  Some of which come up over and over, so from time to time  I will be writing about them in my blog.  One question asked frequently is should cardio be done BEFORE lifting weights, or should it be done AFTER lifting weights?  I have another option, which i will get into in a minute.

So, the answer to this question is simple, but complex.  Yeah, I know, that doesn’t make any sense.  But the answer does.  There are, in my opinion, THREE different answers to this question.  And the following will tell you why.

You Should do Cardio BEFORE your weights when:

You are low on energy.  I feel if you get a few good minutes, say 5-10 jumping rope, or riding a bike, etc. it will give you a spike in your energy level.  Now that’s not to say do a full-on 45 minute workout before your weights, because then, what energy will you have for your resistance training workout?

Your main goal is fat loss.  This way, you can focus on the intensity of your cardio workout, without having your muscles be tired or run down from your weight workout.  But still, I would limit the cardio portion to 45 minutes to an hour if you are lifting weights after it.

You hate cardio.  I hate cardio.  So i know if i HAVE to do it, I’ll get it over with and weights can be my “reward”.

You should do cardio AFTER weights when:

Your main goal is to gain muscle.  How are you going to gain muscle if your strength has decreased from the amount of energy you put forth in cardio?  Your muscles will not be working optimally to get great gains, if they are already run down somewhat from your cardio session.

Your main goal is to get stronger.  Pretty much the same reasons as above.

You are trying to gain weight.  If this is the case, i would limit the amount of cardio you are doing in the first place. 

I have a third option to this question as well.  What if you did your cardio DURING your weight training session.. It’s kind of an overlooked aspect of working out, but I think this is more effective than either of the above answers for any of the above reasons as well.  Doing this, you can maximize the effect of both weight training and cardio.  For example, let’s say you are doing bench presses.  Do your set, with your working weight, but then right after that set is done, bust out 50 mountain climbers.  So now you have your strength and your cardio working together, and it doesn’t take nearly as long.  Try this for a few resistance exercises a week, see what happens.  You’ll find that you are obviously tired, but you’ll feel a lot stronger in the long run as well.  You save time, and the fat comes right off. 

Ok. I’m tired.  And that’s the beauty of these blogs. I can just stop when i’m done:)  no wrap up, nothing.  I would like input from you guys.  Maybe topics you would like me to write about, etc.  Guys, have a good day.  and check out my site for more info. Tonycress.com

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