Cardio, before or after weightlifting?

[Boxfan83]

Ive heard conflicting advice. What do you recommend for fighters/athletes & what do you recommend for the average Joe (if different)?

[juggernaut666]

On heavy days do minimal cardio last (You need more energy to lift heavier so you need to be fresher) ,on regular days do cardio first bc your going to expell less energy in a short amount of time lifting lighter ...Doing 10 min ,light cardio first in general helps get blood flowing .

Cardio is also not needed at every turn..if you could have leg day and intense cardio day on the same day it would give you more time on the upper body ...running more than 3 times hard a week is excessive ,HB work is also a useful cardio tool .

If you are doing cardio for a specific reason keep it minimal mileage on the legs ...3 hard sessions ..2 medium ones ,take 2 daysoff when you feel overworked at anytime out of the week either one or two at a time. Your legs need proper rest just like anything else . Always throw in light cardio and lift sessions in around once every 2 weeks .

[Redd Foxx]

Most pro athletes, bodybuilders, fitness models, etc do it afterward. That way, you're fresh for the hard stuff and already have your heart rate up when you go into cardio training at the end. Doing it in reverse often lends to a shytty strength/sport workout at the end.

[Madison Boxing]

dont really see how its conflicting, should be pretty obvious to do it after the session, why would you want to be knackered before you do your weights?

[Boxfan83]

dont really see how its conflicting, should be pretty obvious to do it after the session, why would you want to be knackered before you do your weights?

Well the reason I ask is because after a good weight lifting session I am so damn tight its hard to give my all in cardio. I guess its the same concept in reverse. I was just looking for opinions on the best results physically.

[_Maxi]

Well the reason I ask is because after a good weight lifting session I am so damn tight its hard to give my all in cardio. I guess its the same concept in reverse. I was just looking for opinions on the best results physically.

It's because you are trying to mix:

1) A good weight routine. And then.
2) A good cardio routine.

Guess what? you can't. It's not that easy.

You better keep the good cardio routine for the days you don't do weight lifting. Or do it afterwards and understand that you wont be able to give the 100% of you.

Also it's not recommended to work out for more than one hour.

[AddiX]

Neither, for lifters running Should be done in a separate session from lifting. Off days are prefered but long walks earlier or later in the day from lifting session are ok too.

If you want to gain muscle or strength your body should be allowed to focus on recovering after lifting weights. It can't do that efficiently if you do cardio after.

And if you do cardio before you won't be able to lift as much or do as many reps.

It took me a lot of time to learn this and respect this rule, but for natty lifters recovery is the key to gains. Once your not a beginner anymore you wont make gains without proper recovery.



For boxers running before or after is ok, because boxing is more conditioning and technique based sport than lifting weights. But even for boxers its preferred to run in the AM, eat, rest, and train boxing later.

[hectari]

I do my cardio on none lifting days.

I warm up with a brisk speed walk on the treadmill before lifting, and then I take some 5 or 10 pound aerobic dumbells and warm up with those doing shoulder presses, lateral raises, triceps, biceps just to get the blood flowing.

On leg day I walk on the treadmill after doing squats and deads for like 10 minutes on an slight incline, it helps big time with recovery getting the blood flowing.

Another thing never go heavy on biceps or triceps, you dont need to build big biceps or triceps with heavy isolation, you can actually cause more injury and ruin your biceps and triceps doing heavy weights.

I only do biceps and triceps once a week and use light weights ill do higher reps slowly and squeeze at the top my favorite finishing move is the 21's for biceps and 21 style for triceps, its the 7 reps 7 reps 7 reps best workout for the biceps.

I never go heavy on shoulers either, you will just cause bad damage to your shoulders, its better to lift lighter on shoulders as well.

[Unbirth]

Afterwards, fresher for the heavy work