I have heard all the theories out there and I know the "experts" say weights before cardio, always. However...
That's a hard and fast rule that is just crying out to be broken and I break it every time, if I am going to do both cardio and weights in the same session. Here's why:
1. The cardio warms up the body so that when I lift, I am not risking pulling a muscle and doing damage.
2. If I am doing both, I do not choose an all-out, balls to the wall workout like Drill Max or Intensity. Instead, I would do as the original poster did and choose the cardio from either the shorter CTX or 4 day split offerings or from a workout that has already taken into account the need to reduce the cardio because it is part of a circuit workout, like LIC, Cardio & Weights, etc.
3. When I lift weights, I go all out and I will never start a cardio session after weights, never. For two reasons: by then I am exhausted and I will have no interest in doing the cardio. You couldn't pay me to do cardio after weights.
4. I am not mentally able to do weights first, then cardio: I am mentally able to do cardio and then weights and do it every week. It works for me. I am able to do 40-60 mins cardio (powerwalk on high inline or 6 mile run) and then follow this with a full lower body resistance training session, plus core work. If upper body weights get into the equation, they are either a shorter upper body section that follows a shorter cardio or they are a part of a a total body all out weights effort at home.
5. A poster here suggests cardio tires the body out and then we can't put all effort into the weights that follow. True. And equally true is the reverse: when I do weights first, I do not have any energy to spare for cardio afterwards.
6. A poster here suggests cardio and then weights is the pathway to injury. Really? I suggest that the reverse is equally true, yet again. I cannot imagine doing the exhausting lower body workouts I do and then doing a 6 mile run. Pulled hamstring, twisted ankle, knee pain brought on by altered gait due to massive tiredness, all those would be possible. For me: run, then weights, is the safest option.
7. Let's not forget the enjoyment factor. If you hate your workouts and allow dread to get in there, you won't do them. Just the thought of starting cardio after weights disinterests me so much, I know I would not derive much enjoyment at all from my cardio. Cardio, for me, is the time to cut loose and work the kinks out. I can't do that after weights. What does your enjoyment level dictate?
So, either path can be justified. What matters to you? Do you need to always make sure that you are optimizing fat burn? Or are you able to be more relaxed about it and just accept that no matter which way you cut it, order it or combine it, if you do your cardio and your weights, separately, or together, you will be boosting that metabolism and ultimately improving your health.
Fat loss, maximum fat loss, this is not a goal for me. I don't need it. What I do need is the instant mood boost I get from leaping on the treadmill and starting my warm up and getting that first mile run and under my belt. After that, my mind is free, the stress is ebbing away and everything is possible. The weights session that follows allows me to push to the max because I have my run/powerwalk done and I'm feeling so much more relaxed, so much more mentally ready to focus.
Choose your own path, irrespective of what any "experts" might say. There are plenty of ways to skin a cat.
Clare
