Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Which should I do first: Cardio or Strength?

When people want to be efficient in the gym a common question they have is what should they do first to get the most benefit out of their workout: cardiovascular exercise or resistance training?

Are you ready for the answer? *drum role* Do which ever one you care about more first. This means that if your goal is to get stronger, focus on your strength training, and if you want to improve your cardio, do that first. I know this sounds too simple, but it is. The reason for it is that you will have more energy for the type of training you do first, be able to push harder at it and therefore improve at it faster. Conversely, improvements will be limited for your second type of training because your body will already be fatigued and you won't be able to push as hard.
For those of you who frequent the gym as more of a stress release or a way to get your daily exercise, rather than looking for enhanced physical performance, your choice is a bit easier. Do which ever you want to do first. My recommendation is to do cardio first as I find that endurance exercise helps to warm my body up more and better prepare me mentally and physically for the resistance training later on.

No comments:

Post a Comment