Cardio Before or After Weights

A question I get often is whether cardio should be done before a weight lifting workout or after.

There have been studies done that prove both can be beneficial, but I think the answer depends on what your goals are your personal preference.

If you have no personal preference on when you do your cardio I will give my take on it below depending on your goals…

If you are looking to lose weight/fat your focus might want to be on intense cardio workouts. If you lift weights before cardio you might not be able to go as hard with the cardio workouts, so with that said I would probably do my 20-30 minutes of cardio first and then do a weight lifting workout. Weight lifting is still important, so don’t skip out on the weight lifting workouts – just do them after your cardio workouts if you’re focus is 100% on losing fat.

Although I would say that cardio before weight lifting is best for fat loss, I don’t think it makes a big difference at all. Just make sure if you lift weights before cardio that you still go hard with your cardio workouts and don’t cut them short because you’ve already been in the gym for 30-40 minutes.

And then of course if your main goal is building muscle your main focus should be lifting weights, and that should be done before your cardio workouts (which are less important for someone who is looking to gain muscle mass). You don’t want to be wasting your energy on a cardio workout, as you will have less energy to lift weights. Less energy for lifting = lighter weights and less reps = less muscle growth.

So to finish my thoughts, basically whatever your personal preference is – but if you are focused on building muscle save the cardio for afterwards.

My Workout Today

Continuing on with my personal workout journal…

Today I had a back and shoulder workout, and hockey was cancelled tonight so I added some cardio as well.

It was a strength/hypertrophy day for my so my workout consisted of pull ups, 1 arm dumbbell shoulder presses, T-bar row, dumbbell lateral raises, high row finisher (30 seconds). The reps were in the 8-12 range for most exercises.

After that I hit up the stair master for 15 minutes of intervals and then finished with a stretch.

Today’s eating has been good so far – egg whites and one egg for breakfast with 3 slices turkey bacon, can of tuna with franks red hot sauce, and then pork chops with grilled peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, and onions for dinner with a mushroom sauce. I’ve got two snack meals left – one will be a protein shake and then possibly some hard boiled eggs.

Tomorrow I’ve got a chest/arm workout and I will be doing some core and then a hockey game at night. Less than a week until I’m in Mexico!