Hi MadNatsMom! I always tell people if they are looking to focus more on strength, then they should put their strength before cardio. If they are looking to focus more on cardio, then they should put their cardio first. If you are just focusing on overall improvements, then you can alternate starting with one one day and the other the next.
For me personally, if I am doing a combined workout (cardio/strength)I find myself mostly doing cardio first. This is mainly because after a 7 to 8 minute cardio based warm up I already feel that I am entering the cardio "zone". But this is simply a matter of preference.
I will say though that when I want to give my strength workouts my ALL (as in hardcore lifting), I generally do them completely separate from my cardio workouts. This way I go all out knowing I do not have anything following the workout but a nice stretch.
Hope this helps!
