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[jwright25]

Originally Posted by CutiePie2000

Lift first, cardio second: ALWAYS

This is intriguing. I always heard the opposite - and that you should do cardio first to get the blood flowing to your muscles and to "warm" them up. Would you mind to elaborate on the physiological reasons why it is best to do cardio second?

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by jwright25

This is intriguing. I always heard the opposite - and that you should do cardio first to get the blood flowing to your muscles and to "warm" them up. Would you mind to elaborate on the physiological reasons why it is best to do cardio second?

There is competing evidence, but most agree that it's better to lift after having a little bit of an increase in body temperature - there's actually increasing evidence that stretching is differently important than we thought (it might be better for lifting than running, for example), but sweating a little might improve pliability and make your lifting more effective (and safer).

However, there are noted advantages to lifting first (IIRC, mostly related to ATP replenishment and etc. being better at that point, plus metabolic benefits), then doing cardio, so most suggest a brief warmup, then weight work, then cardio work.

Realistically, if you're a novice, you should probably start with the one you're most serious about - the percentage gains at first won't really matter a ton. After a while, you can get with recent research and tailor your program a little better.

[CutiePie2000]

Originally Posted by jwright25

This is intriguing. I always heard the opposite - and that you should do cardio first to get the blood flowing to your muscles and to "warm" them up. Would you mind to elaborate on the physiological reasons why it is best to do cardio second?

You can do a "warm up", such as 5-10 minutes on the bike/elliptical/treadmill/stairmaster before you lift, but you should do your resistance training before you do your cardio (i.e. an aerobics class).

The rationale: when you do lift first, you deplete the glycogen stores in your muscles & you are a bit tired This is not a problem when you are doing cardio, because you are not bearing a load (i.e. lifting weights). You are also getting into fat burning stores, rather than glycogen burning stores

If you were to do cardio first (like an hour STEP Class or something like that), you will have depleted the glycogen stores in your muscles, and THEN if you were to try to go and lift thereafter you are more tired, and you risk compromising your form and potentially injuring yourself.

A lil' warmup beforehand is fine, but then after you are warmed up, you should endeavor to lift before cardio. (i.e. A 10 minute warmup on the machines should not constitute "cardio").

[jwright25]

Originally Posted by CutiePie2000

A lil' warmup beforehand is fine, but then after you are warmed up, you should endeavor to lift before cardio. (i.e. A 10 minute warmup on the machines should not constitute "cardio").

OK - So I modified my workout yesterday to this way and I really liked it better! I know that every workout and how you feel differs from day to day and other outside factors, but I did 10 min on the treadmill, about 45 minutes of weights, then 45 minutes on the treadmill again and felt really good and the good kind of tired and sore! Thanks for the suggestions and for the explanations to both CutiePie and KSig RC.

[CutiePie2000]

Originally Posted by jwright25

Thanks for the suggestions and for the explanations to both CutiePie and KSig RC.

You're welcome...I'm preparing for a show right now (I compete in "Figure") which is on June 2nd, so it's kinda where my focus is right now.

[James]

Some motivation.

The UK's Biggest loser . .. transformation. If she can do it, then those of you that only need to lose a 10-40 pounds should have no trouble at all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBf7krmojtc

I think she made an impressive body composition change.

Oh and 1 stone equals 14 pounds. So she started at approximately 252 pounds. At 5'3". 252 at 5'3!

So she lost 8 stone and 7 pounds which is 119 pounds.

She weighs 9 stone and 7 pounds now = 133 pounds.

Nice job.

What I don't understand is why everyone else is all emotional around her. I mean her being excited is understandable . . everyone else being weepy is just wierd. Think they script it?