When you get to the gym, which area do you hit first? Are you straight to the treadmills? Or perhaps you like to start your session with strength training?
Whether it’s best to do cardio before or after lifting weights is a longstanding debate, and we spoke to a personal trainer to find out the correct order.
Cardio before or after weight
Ronny Garcia told The Focus the order you do your workout depends on your primary fitness goal. You should always put what you want to improve the most at the beginning of the workout to ensure you have the “most physical and mental energy to devote to it”.
“So if your primary goal is increasing aerobic capacity, cardio first. If your primary goal is building muscle or gaining strength, weights first,” he explained. “Putting cardio first will allow you to progress more with aerobic capacity. Putting weights first will allow you to progress more with strength and building muscle.”
However, it also come down to personal preference. If your goals are improving your fitness overall, try both orders and see what works best for you. Find out which order gives you the most motivation and above all, you enjoy the most.
You could also use a fitness watch to track your performance output and see how many calories you burned doing cardio before weights and after. The results could then sway your decision.
“You should choose an order because it will allow you to devote a higher amount of your physical and mental energy into whatever you perform first,” the personal trainer concluded.
It’s important to do both
Ultimately, the order doesn’t matter and probably won’t change your performance or results that much – it’s just important to do both to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
The NHS says adults should aim to do 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week, or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity a week.
You should also do strengthening activities that work all the major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms) on at least two days.
Moderate activity is exercise that raises your heart rate, makes you breathe faster and feel warmer, like brisk walking, cycling, dancing or playing tennis. Vigorous activity makes you breathe hard and fast, like running, swimming, football, aerobics and walking up stairs.
Muscle strengthening doesn’t just have to involve lifting weights. Yoga, pilates, push-ups and sit-ups are great options too. However, everyday activities like carrying heavy shopping bags, gardening, carrying children and pushing a wheelchair are all just as effective.
Ronny Garcia is a certified Personal Trainer with the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) who currently works as an Area Personal Training Manager at Blink Fitness, based in New York.
