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Doing cardio. Before or after weights

post #1 of 11
8/11/11 at 6:23am
Thread Starter 
I have the habit of doing a short 1.6km which is 1 mile for about 8 mins or so right before I do my weights. I treat it as sort of a warm up to get my body going.

I was wondering, which should I do first to get the best effect of both.
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post #2 of 11
8/11/11 at 9:14am
The idea is not to do anything intense so that your lifting is affected negatively. Since it's only 1 mile, it's a good warm up as you suggested.

I typically like to jog for a bit, stretch lightly and then lift. If I plan on doing any intense cardio, I'll save it after lifting.
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post #3 of 11
8/11/11 at 10:21am
High intensity sprints are a better idea. Short, ATPCP work - like 20 seconds or less. Poliquin has a blog post about it.

Cardio is best after weights, or completely removed from them.
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post #4 of 11
8/11/11 at 10:36am
well from my personal experience in getting fit, i did 30 minutes of cardio warm up before my weight lifting regimen
did it affect me negatively, no idea... but cardio is definitely necessary if not mandatory for overall health
but i lost 9% body fat in 3 months while gaining body muscle % and holding the same weight...
i started out @ 150lbs and 18% bodyfat after 2 months lay off and now i am 9% bodyfat and 150lbs..

if you dont do cardio, you will never get shreded..
i am doing two-a-days now and splitting cardio with weight lifting, as i am pushing for 6% body fat @ 150lbs...
so its like an 45-60 minutes of cardio separate from 1.25-1.5 hours of weights (with 15 minutes of stairmaster warm up)
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post #5 of 11
8/11/11 at 8:13pm
I used to do the cardio before and was completely drained of energy by the time it came to a workout. I didn't stop lifting because my muscles were sore, I stopped doing reps because I just ran out of general energy. so my 2cents is to do it after or on a recovery day instead.
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post #6 of 11
8/11/11 at 10:47pm
ive had good strength gains lately by going straight to weights. im not doing much if any cardio though due to a leg injury
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post #7 of 11
8/12/11 at 10:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Master-Classter View Post

I used to do the cardio before and was completely drained of energy by the time it came to a workout. I didn't stop lifting because my muscles were sore, I stopped doing reps because I just ran out of general energy. so my 2cents is to do it after or on a recovery day instead.

Sounds like you were doing too much

I used to bike to the gym when I lived like a mile away from it, and that 10 minute or w/e ride warmed me up enough that I could jump into the weights. I think 10-15 mins beforehand is the max... and that should just be to warm up. I cycle a bit now, big ride is about an hour and a half, and that is on a completely separate day from any lift days.
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post #8 of 11
8/18/11 at 12:34am
I would say after to use up fat in the body
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post #9 of 11
8/18/11 at 1:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by scientific View Post

ive had good strength gains lately by going straight to weights. im not doing much if any cardio though due to a leg injury

Same here, haven't done steady state cardio in over a year, occasional high intensity work.

Without cardio I can choose to maintain fat/muscle how I please.
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post #10 of 11
8/19/11 at 2:26pm
I do them separately, I lift at the gym and cycle and very occaisonally run outside but that's because I like to actually ride my bike and be in the fresh air rather than it improving performance.
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post #11 of 11
8/19/11 at 9:40pm
You should do something to get your central nervous system going before you lift... anything to get your heart pumping quickly, sprints, jump rope, etc, get the heart pumping hard for a few minutes before you lift and you will have a better lift experience.
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