Cardio before or after weights?
By: David Fernández
It’s one of the most common questions at the gym: is it better to do cardio before or after strength training?
Treadmill, bike, elliptical or rowing before lifting weights… or do we leave cardio for the end?
The answer is simple: it depends on your goal.
If your goal is to build strength or muscle mass
If your priority is to improve strength or increase muscle mass, it generally makes sense to do your weight training first.
A demanding cardio session before training strength can cause fatigue and leave you with less energy for your main exercises, especially if you’ll be working the same muscle groups.
For example, doing an intense cycling session before training legs is probably not the best strategy if you want to perform at your best on squats, leg press or deadlifts.
In these cases, you can do a few minutes of light cardio as a warm-up and leave the main cardiovascular work for afterward.
If your goal is to improve endurance
Here we can flip it around.
If your priority is to run better, improve your cardiovascular capacity or prepare for an endurance event, it may be a good idea to do cardio first.
Why?
Because we usually perform better at the start of a workout. If we always leave what we want to improve for the end, we’ll be training it while already fatigued.
A simple rule can help: train whatever matters most for your goal first.
What if I want to lose fat?
This is one of the gym’s great classics.
Doing cardio after weights doesn’t automatically mean you’ll lose more body fat.
To reduce fat, what really matters is your energy balance over time, along with proper nutrition, strength training, physical activity and consistency.
Order can help you perform better, but there’s no magic combination that makes fat disappear just by doing 30 minutes on the treadmill right after lifting weights.
Can strength and cardio be combined?
Of course. In fact, combining both can be an excellent strategy for improving overall fitness.
What matters is controlling intensity, volume and recovery.
If you do demanding sessions of both strength and cardio, you can also split them into different times of the day or even do them on different days. Not everything has to fit into the same workout.
So, what should I do first?
As a simple reference:
- Is your priority strength or building muscle mass? Weights first.
- Is your priority improving your endurance? Cardio first.
- Looking to improve your overall fitness? You can combine both and adapt the order to your preferences and planning.
- Just doing a few minutes of cardio to warm up? Perfect before weights, as long as the intensity doesn’t create unnecessary fatigue.
Train according to your goal
There’s no perfect order for everyone. Before deciding whether to start with the treadmill or the weights, think first about what you want to achieve with your training.
If you have questions about how to combine strength and cardio, ask our gym floor instructors.
At MegaSport Centre you can request your free coaching consultation to review your training and adapt it to your goals.
Because order matters, but knowing your goal clearly matters much more.
