Hey there. I've been lurking for a bit and thought I'd jump in with a question. I'm wondering if I should do my cardio before or after my workout. I looked around for other posts and I came across one, which it was suggested to do cardio after, this was for a mass building workout though. Is this advice going to differ w/different goals and/or workouts? At the moment, I'm building up my endurance so I only get in abt 20-25 min cardo then I do circuit training. I actually quite prefer doing my cardio before, but I'd hate to be doing it wrong, kwim?
If it does matter, can you tell me why?
or if I'm one of those ppl who is asking a question for the gamillionth time, cut me some slack and link me, k?

Thanks!! I look forward to getting to know ya'll (yeah, I'm sucking up, shut up).

Hey, when i went to my gym i was told do like walm up for about 15 mins on the bike or set a target of around 3000meters on the rowing machine around the same time for me.
Then after my strenth training, i was told again to 'cool down' on the bike again. but i am not entierly sure if this is correct.
But i am supriced no one has replyed yet.

(like your comment at the bottom )

Ovy.

Light excercise to warm up the heart for 5 to 7 minutes is fine (before the workout). Then strech the muscles you will be working. I recommend weight training before doing intense cardio.

ignore....posted under my husbands acct....

there, that's better. He never logs out - lol. I'll try doing my cardio after my workout tomorrow. It's just cardio today.
Is there a reason it should come after a workout? Maybe teh muscles are better warmed up and going to do their job better? talking out my butt here.

I have read, and honestly I can't say this is a fact because for the life of me I can't find the evidence to support this, but lifting prior to the cardio increases the duration of your HGH production (which is NOT a muscle-building thing) up to 3 times - whereas the other way around it's significantly less than this.

hmmmm, okay. Thanks for the input.

Is this to say lifting before cardio is a bad idea if you're trying to build muscle?

You'll get arguments from both sides on this issue. My opinion is simple...I do cardio first because it is easier to walk away from the gym after lifting weights than after doing cardio.

It is a motivation thing.

Not at all, quite the opposite, it should make it easier - I was just pointing out (because the poster had made mention of it) that HGH, even though it's Human GROWTH Hormone, is not muscle-building specific.

unless you are training to be a runner, do your weight training first.
The best method for losing fat, which is the main goal of many people, is resistance training. For this, you want to have as much energy as you can to lift loads (weights) that fatigue you. If you are already tired and have depleted energy stores from aerobic activities, you will not have the best strength training workout you can get. It's the same theory behind exercising the larger muscle groups first.

Hope this helps

Really? I have always heard that cardio was the main fat burner, but weight training built muscle mass, which made the cardio even more effective.

.....nope!

Gymcoch. Would you mind posting some more info on that? It's interesting to me. Always looking to learn more.

Basically, the greatest fat burning contributer is muscle mass. The more muscle you have, the more fat you'll burn. An individuals fat free mass increases BMR which burns 55-65% of the calories. An individuals activity (cardio, weight training, etc) only account for 15-30% of a person metabolic rate (efficiency to burn calories)....so, lifting weights increases muscle mass which in turn makes you weigh more and therefore burn more calories.

More weight=more work performed when doing cardio activities, so a heavier person will always burn more calories and hypertrophy will increase weight through muscle growth.

So, given between more emphasis on weight training vs cardio, weight training wins.