Reasons to Weight Train Before Cardio

Time to get a little bit scientific. It's important to understand what happens to your body when you exercise and how it relates to working out. When working out it is a good idea to mix cardiovascular work with lifting weights.  This is because you build muscle and lose fat at one time. It is important to do weights before cardio work for a few reasons:

If you’re goal is to lose weight then doing cardio after your weight training is especially important. The simple reason is that weight training depletes glycogen is muscles. What is Glycogen? Glycogen is a primary a fuel source for cardiovascular exercise. When the glycogen depletes in your body it is more likely release fat from cells to be used as energy. When you do cardio without weight training before, it takes around 20-25 mins for glycogen levels to fall and fat cells to potentially be released. Here is a link discussing the role of carbs and glycogen for use in exercise.

You should save your maximum amount of energy for the weights. Lifting weights takes a lot of energy and it is important to use proper form to prevent injuries.  If your body is already tired from running there is an increased risk that you won't use proper form. This also limits your potential for muscle building  as you won’t be able to do as many reps that you otherwise could.

Here is a video I found on YouTube that talks about why you should weight train before doing cardio workouts

Why You Should Work Out Big Muscles First

When people do weight training sometimes they work body parts in the wrong order. It is important to realize that working out bigger muscles and then move to smaller muscles will enhance your workouts.

For example, when I do an upper body workout I will start with chest or back because those muscles are the biggest and are needed in order to workout the smaller muscles. I will do pushups, benchpress or other chest exercises and then move on to biceps or triceps. That is because if you workout the biceps or triceps first you won't be able to use those muscles later on in your workout because they will be tired due to being smaller muscles.

Anyone who has worked out biceps or triceps first and then try to do a chest workout will know that you won't be able to lift as much or do as many repetitions as you normally would. This is because the muscles became tired from working them out first and did not have enough energy left in them to help fully for the chest workouts.

If you want to get a good workout start with the bigger muscles and then work out the smaller muscles. You will have a better workout overall and be able to see improvement over time.