Thread: cardio before or after lifting?

I honestly doubt it would make a difference which one you did first. Cardio and lifting are a good supplement to diet, but that's were the real fat loss will come from, a solid diet plan. I would lift first though because I would be stronger before cardio.

Originally Posted by BringDaBlitz94

I am looking to lose serious fat and I mean SERIOUS!! I am so dedicated so time and effort will not be a problem but I was wondering what will be the best effect on my routine to maximize fat loss. My diet is pretty clean but my question is should I do my cardio before or after I lift? I have agruements for both and I am not sure which one is the most beneficial. Any input will help. Thanks!

i would suggest cardio on you off days!!

Damn I feel dumb, I didn't even think of that

Cardio is for homos and the homeless. Man up and do it with diet. I realize that I'm gonna die way before most people so I don't waste my time doing something I absolutely hate to do.

hmmm true. one more question guys: when will I see noticiable results? by that I mean I can tell I lost weight without having to step on a scale. The past week I have been eating about 800 calories below maintanience and doing cardio for about an hour burning baout 700 calories and I cant see any noticble difference. I feel so discouraged because I didnt take my starting weight so I am not sure whether I lost weight or not

How much fat do you have to lose?

You're clothes will feel looser as you lose fat.

I'll add that you are not burning 700 calories an hour.

Your best bet is to chuck the scale in the garbage can. It's gonna bring you down if you pay too much attention to it. Just stick to the diet. It's not gonna happen over night.

@marat
the tredmil says I do. is that not accurate? should I not follow that?

Originally Posted by BringDaBlitz94

hmmm true. one more question guys: when will I see noticiable results? by that I mean I can tell I lost weight without having to step on a scale. The past week I have been eating about 800 calories below maintanience and doing cardio for about an hour burning baout 700 calories and I cant see any noticble difference. I feel so discouraged because I didnt take my starting weight so I am not sure whether I lost weight or not

Fat is about 3500 calories a pound so don't expect to loose much more than 1-2 pounds a week. Also, 700 calories in an hour is not happening unless you are going at an olympic pace.

Originally Posted by BringDaBlitz94

@marat
the tredmil says I do. is that not accurate? should I not follow that?

How far do you go and at what speed?

usually around 5-5.5 mph and I run for approximately 4ish miles

Yea, ignore it. Don't worry about the calories burned through exercise. Think of it as just the cherry on top of the deficit created in your diet.

I don't know much about your training history but if you have a bunch of fat to lose, you would be well served to realize that you aren't going to get to your goal in a week or month. It's going to take some time.

Take it easy and let the caloric deficit work for you. You're going to make it much tougher than it needs to be if you get caught up with every pound that you lose.

I've always thought a 10 minute warm up to get the heart rate at 65% and keep it up and a 20 minute cool down was ideal.

Originally Posted by Justinbro

I've always thought a 10 minute warm up to get the heart rate at 65% ...

Some foam rolling and dynamic stretching would probably be a better way to spend those ten minutes to warm up.

Cardio afterwards is probably best. Only time id do it first is when cutting/

Cardio afterwards if you're going to do cardio on the same day, for whatever reason

Originally Posted by ahiggs

i would suggest cardio on you off days!!

That wouldn't be an off day then.

I do cardio. I love it with my headphones. However, dietary control will be your greatest asset. And everyone "eats clean"...many eat TOO clean with not enough fat.

I don't remember where I read these numbers. I'm not even sure the numbers are 100% accurate but, these are APPROXIMATELY the numbers I remember reading.

Fat burning with cardio last far as long as you're doing it. A 20-30 minute cardio session will burn fat for 20-30 minutes.

Fat burning with weights lasts for up to three hours after your weight session ends.

Fat burning by doing cardio then weights ADDS the 30 minutes to the up to three hours.

Fat burning by doing weights then cardio MULTIPLIES the affects so fat burning can last up to six hours.

In addtion to that; if you do an EFFECTIVE cardio session first, your blood will be too oxygen depleted to do an EFFECTIVE weight lifting session.

First don't go by cals on machines.For one they are set up for a 150lb person(unless you program it)
The best way to know is heart rate.
Get your diet in check(easy to just eat 300less then running to burn 300)
I myself am in to conditioning so i eat alot but train even more.
Morning 45min 560cal,mid-morn 300+cals and lifting in eve with post training(prowler,sled,ect)
treadmills,ellipticals,steppers suck to me!Only time i use treadmill is for recovery for 10min running after the above and for hiit(rainy days if cold)
If your going to do cardio nothing beats some pushs with weight or some hill sprints after lifting doing it today!did the hills yesturday.
Diet,weights,cardio works like a charm if you know how to do it.So play around to find what works and you enjoy!

HIIT baybay

You can split your cardio if you want. You do 15/20 minutes cardio before your weight training and another 15/20 after . This is what i do when i am trying to get lean and it's very effective.

good info

great post

i would say cardio is useless why not just super set your workout and that away you will get a cardio workout while working out. but if u have to do it then do it on your off days

Cardio machines broadly overestimate calories burned.
Don't make the same mistake I made for years. Fat loss will not come from exercise, that will help you keep your muscle mass. Diet does the trick

Originally Posted by ihateschoolmt

Also, 700 calories in an hour is not happening unless you are going at an olympic pace.

700 kcal/hr is hardly Olympic. Olympic rate is closer to 2000 kcal/hr. Do the math on 80ml/kg VO2 max and you can see for yourself. 5 kcal per liter of O2, 90 kilo guy at 80ml/kg would be 7.2 liters per minute, or 432 liters per hour, which is 2160-ish calories. Olympians in endurance sports can sustain 85-90% of VO2 Max, so you're looking at 1800 or more calories an hour. Less if they weigh less, of course.

700 kcals an hour is a whopping 175-ish watts, which is about 9 km/hr (5-ish miles/hr) on a 2% incline for a 90 kilo (200 lb) guy on a treadmill. Slower if you weigh more.

If you're doing an hour of cardio, make the most of it by going all-out for 30 seconds once every 5 minutes. It's not quite HIIT, but it'll give you the muscle maintaining and stamina increasing advantages of HIIT along with extra calories burned.

Originally Posted by Justinbro

I've always thought a 10 minute warm up to get the heart rate at 65% and keep it up and a 20 minute cool down was ideal.

Preworkout - no.

Originally Posted by Marat

Some foam rolling and dynamic stretching would probably be a better way to spend those ten minutes to warm up.

^This.

Originally Posted by jack1970

Cardio afterwards is probably best. Only time id do it first is when cutting/

Why do it first, ever?

Originally Posted by ThreeGigs

700 kcal/hr is hardly Olympic. Olympic rate is closer to 2000 kcal/hr. Do the math on 80ml/kg VO2 max and you can see for yourself. 5 kcal per liter of O2, 90 kilo guy at 80ml/kg would be 7.2 liters per minute, or 432 liters per hour, which is 2160-ish calories. Olympians in endurance sports can sustain 85-90% of VO2 Max, so you're looking at 1800 or more calories an hour. Less if they weigh less, of course.

700 kcals an hour is a whopping 175-ish watts, which is about 9 km/hr (5-ish miles/hr) on a 2% incline for a 90 kilo (200 lb) guy on a treadmill. Slower if you weigh more.

If you're doing an hour of cardio, make the most of it by going all-out for 30 seconds once every 5 minutes. It's not quite HIIT, but it'll give you the muscle maintaining and stamina increasing advantages of HIIT along with extra calories burned.

^Excellent suggestion - if you're not ready for HIIT yet, you might be able to do this. Even if you can't go all out for the burst, just ramping it up is helpful for these intervals.

Are you guys kidding me, light to medium cardio always before you work out. At least 10 minutes minimum. Bike, stair, elliptical you gotta bring your core temp up and get your blood flowing before you lift. All the good advise you guys give on here and you shun this? I'm not saying you gotta full all out sprint on a treadmill but your crazy to walk over cold and just start lifting. All major athletes have some kind exercises, stretching or warm up before they compete to get their bodies ready. I don't follow you guys logic on this one.

Nothing wrong with a warm up on the treadmill or bike. I do foam rolling/rotator cuffs etc. before lifting, but it's not enough to get me warm so I do a little light cardio before too.