Weights before cardio?

Calee

Cathlete
I've read all over the place that it's better to do weights first while you are fresh, and it makes sense to me. I'm doing 4DS and Cathe always starts with cardio. Should I do my workouts backwards? I'd love to hear more thoughts and oppinions!
Calee
 
I'm also interested it what the community has to say about this as I've read this too somewhere and wondered if it is true why do Cathe's Dvd's start with cardio first?

Tami
 
It seems like this has been a hot topic lately. I know VF had some long threads on this very topic, too. Just as a personal preference, I like to do weights first. I seem to be too tired after a good cardio session to do much else.
 
hmmm. personally I'd rather get cardio knocked out first ;) I'm not sure about which is more effective I don't mind doing weights after cardio though.
 
I just read BodySculting Bible for women and here is what they say and I have been doing this method

"In order for aerobic exercise to be an effective fat burner it needs to be performed at the appropriate times. There are 2 ideal times when aerobic exercise is most effective in burning fat. The first ideal time is first thing in the morning on an empty stomach after drinking 16-24 oz of water in order to prevent dehydration. When performed at this time you burn 300 % more body fat than at any other time in the day because your body does not have any glycogen (stored carbs) in its system to burn. Therefore it has to go directly into the fat stores in order to get the energy necessary to complete the activity. The other time The other time is immediately after a weight training session when the glycogen stores have already been depleted. Because of this, once you start doing cardio you will burn fat as soon as you elevate your heart rate since it will be the only fuel available.

When aerobic exercise is not performed first thing in the morning or right after the weight training session it takes your body 20-30 minutes to start burning fat. This is how long it takes the body to deplete its glycogen stores and switch to fat burning environment. Therefore, it is not as efficient to perform aerobic exercise alone at other times of the day because you would need to work out for 20-30 minutes just to get to the fat burning stage and then continue to work out for an additional 20 minutes to burn fat . This means a grand total of 50 minutes a day. In our opinion, aerobic exercise shouldn't be performed more than 6 times a week for 40 minutes max each session, in order to avoid losing muscle mass."

Now if you think about it most of Cathe's exercise programs are at least an hour.
beth6395

"Double Knot your laces and let's move on"
-Cathe Friedrich

http://www.picturetrail.com/juicyfruities2002
 
sheesh why is everything so complicated lol. I work out at night because its more convienient.. maybe I'll move to mornings now. ;)
 
> The first ideal time is first thing in the
>morning on an empty stomach after drinking 16-24 oz of water
>in order to prevent dehydration. When performed at this time
>you burn 300 % more body fat than at any other time in the day
>because your body does not have any glycogen (stored carbs) in
>its system to burn. Therefore it has to go directly into the
>fat stores in order to get the energy necessary to complete
>the activity.

I think for as many 'experts' who say this, there are as many who say it's a fallacy.

I've read that whatever glycogen stores you have in your body are from the day before, so working out on an empty stomach wouldn't mean not using glycogen. Also, some people don't have enough energy to workout as intensely if they do it on an empty stomach, so eating before working out may actually help them burn more overall calories because they can put more energy into their workout, and thus fat as well.


As for what to do first, I personally like to do a long cardio warm-up (12-15 minutes, something like the warm-up to Cardio Kicks, or Kick Max), then do weights, then finish off with the rest of the cardio.

What I've seen Cathe recommend several times is to do whatever you want to work on most first. So if you are interested in muscle/strength building, do weights first. If you are more interested in working on aerobic capacity, do cardio first.

Given this advice, I'm not sure why all of Cathe's workouts are cardio first, then weights (except for the fact that the cardio serves partially as a warm-up to the weights?), but 4DS has premixes that put the weight work first.
 
Kathryn,
I agree with you on the empty stomach myth. Our bodies use fuel from the day before, and I am one of those people who can't work as hard without breakfast.
It's good to hear that Cathe recommends working what your focus is first. I like the idea of being able to put my all into weights then using what is left for cardio. I just wondered if there were certain PROVEN reasons for the order she put things in.
Thanks.
 
You want to be the "freshest and most focused" on what you are trying to accomplish.

If increasing muscle definition and gaining strength is your primary focus, do your weights first.
If fat burning/cardio endurance is your goal, do your cardio first.

For me personally, I always see better results in the way my body looks when I strength train first, then cardio. But that could just be me.


Take care, Lynn M.
 

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