Should I be doing Cardio or Strength Training First?

For those of you that are starting a new exercise program that has you doing cardio and strength training on the same day, you may be wondering which one you should be starting with. Generally speaking, what you choose to do first you will perform better at since you have not yet spent any of your energy, and therefore what you choose to do second may suffer a little. So when asking the question which one should you do first the answer is that it depends. Depending on what your goals are will dictate which one you should be doing first.

If you are someone who is prioritizing improving their cardiovascular shape, increasing their lung capacity, or you are an athlete that is competing in a long distance running event, then doing cardio first is most likely the best option for you. Doing it first will allow you to have the energy to run longer and faster as you have not used up any of your energy and your muscles are not already fatigued from lifting.

If you are prioritizing gaining muscle mass then it is much more beneficial to lift before you do cardio. Doing a warm up jog for 5-10 is fine and can actually help improve your strength training performance but going longer or doing sprints before lifting weights, will drain your energy stores and naturally decrease the amount of weight you can lift. This results in less muscle mass being broken down and therefore less ability to gain lean muscle mass.

For those who want to lose weight and tone up may be conflicted because for years we’ve been told that the best way to lose weight is to do cardio. The truth is that a combination of strength training and cardio is ideal as they both will aid in fat loss. Cardio may burn more calories in the moment but having muscle burns calories naturally throughout the day so the more muscle you have the more calories you are burning. Some experts suggest that doing strength training first is most ideal as it will be using your carbohydrate stores first and then when you get to the cardio portion you should be into burning fat. Another factor to consider is if you really dislike doing one more than the other you may want to do that one first so you don’t find your self skipping it entirely.