Fitness expert reveals the fascinating reason why you should do weights before cardio at the gym (muscles, lifting weights)
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The age old question of which to do first. I've always done weights before since I'd be too tired after cardio to maximize my strength gains.
Basically what this fitness guy appears to be saying is that it takes a while for your muscles to switch gears from doing one form of exercise to another. Therefore doing weights first will allow you to use your muscles most efficiently for strength gains, then doing cardio after is an easier transition than vice versa.
One major benefit from doing weights first is that it lessens the arterial stiffening that lifting weights causes. I can't remember where I read the study showing this, but I did come across this study showing how lifting weights caused arterial stiffness in a test group, while aerobic exercise decreased arterial stiffness and made it more 'flexible' which is better for blood flow and blood pressures. So doing cardio after lifting weights helps to mitigate the arterial stiffness damage from lifting weights.
According to Randal Claytor, Associate Professor of kinesiology, nutrition and health at Miami University, doing weight lifting before running can result in a 'small increase in lower-body muscular strength', compared to an opposite routine.
This order does not 'compromise all the other improvements in health-related physical fitness'.
He goes on to explain, in an article written for The Conversation, that the body adapts quickly to the type of exercise it is doing. During cardio, like running or cycling, the muscles play a crucial role in producing enough energy to keep you going.
When you stop doing this and start lifting weights, it takes a little while for the muscles to revert to normal. Therefore, the process of building new proteins is not as effective.
This is what experts call 'the interference effect.'
The age old question of which to do first. I've always done weights before since I'd be too tired after cardio to maximize my strength gains.
Basically what this fitness guy appears to be saying is that it takes a while for your muscles to switch gears from doing one form of exercise to another. Therefore doing weights first will allow you to use your muscles most efficiently for strength gains, then doing cardio after is an easier transition than vice versa.
One major benefit from doing weights first is that it lessens the arterial stiffening that lifting weights causes. I can't remember where I read the study showing this, but I did come across this study showing how lifting weights caused arterial stiffness in a test group, while aerobic exercise decreased arterial stiffness and made it more 'flexible' which is better for blood flow and blood pressures. So doing cardio after lifting weights helps to mitigate the arterial stiffness damage from lifting weights.
A controversial statement for sure. But I just want to focus on the bolded, to make this conversation spicy.
When I was growing up, it was commonly believed weight lifting increased BP. A lot of observational studies came out suggesting the opposite, and now it's believed weight lifting improves BP.
But, speaking from experience, weight lifting causes a temporary, and quite dramatic, increase in my BP, that will last at least a few hours after weight lifting. The changes don't need to be measured, they can be seen. I'm more vascular, and the muscles I worked are more swollen (with fluid/blood - known as the "pump"). Sometimes I can lose a lot of range of motions (struggling to take off my shirt as an example) because my arms can feel so swollen, they cannot do their normal range of motion.
And there are studies showing this.
Quote:
The greatest peak pressures occurred during the double-leg press where the mean value for the group was 320/250 mmHg, with pressures in one subject exceeding 480/350 mmHg. Peak pressures with the single-arm curl exercise reached a mean group value of 255/190 mmHg when repetitions were continued to failure. Mouth pressures of 30-50 Torr during a single maximum lift, or as subjects approached failure with a submaximal weight, indicate that a portion of the observed increase in blood pressure was caused by a Valsalva maneuver. It was concluded that when healthy young subjects perform weight-lifting exercises the mechanical compression of blood vessels combines with a potent pressor response and a Valsalva response to produce extreme elevations in blood pressure. Pressures are extreme even when exercise is performed with a relatively small muscle mass.
The CDC recommends you wait at least 30 minutes after weightlifting to measure your BP. By my experience, wait at least 4 hours if you worked out seriously. Basically, how long you get your pump (when I was young, I would do arms everyday just to have a pump, so I could pick up girls) is how long you don't want to measure your BP unless you want to scare your doc on putting you on hypertensive medication.
Quote:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends waiting at least 30 minutes after exercise to take a reading, but it could be a couple hours before your blood pressure completely returns to normal. If it stays elevated for longer than that, consider getting it checked out, Dr. Segal advises.
And of course, if I would do cardio right after weight lifting, I would lose most if not all of my pump.
I do believe that weight lifting will gradually lead to lower BP over time, but not immediately following a workout. You basically put your body through pressure test, and adjustments are made to better handle these spikes in the future. But, for us people who chase the dopamine of lifting weights and sculpting our bodies, we keep progressively loading our workouts to chase that pump and chase that pump.
So often on forums like these, people always get so caught up on nuances that really don't relate to the general population. Most people are probably not going to do both in the same day and doing either is going to benefit them. For those that are enthusiastic enough to do both, I think they should do whatever they feel more comfortable with and not get so caught up with the science behind it. It's still going to be beneficial if they switch the order so have it. I've worked with plenty of people that tell me they couldn't possibly do cardio after doing weights as they'd be wiped out, but feel the reverse works for them as the bodies are more warmed up. To each their own. I don't think too many are going to get so caught up with the "small increase".
I've always done cardio before weights and will keep doing it that way. It gets me going for my weight sets
Same here. Actually I don’t do weights but after a run is my
favorite time to do push-ups or pull-ups because my body is warmed up, making the exercises more comfortable and relatively easier.
As an alternative, 80 degree air temperature works pretty good.
I've always done cardio before weights and will keep doing it that way. It gets me going for my weight sets
I don't know how you do that, I'm dripping in sweat after cardio and I would **** off the entire gym if I went to weights right after (besides the loss of amount I could lift).
Same here. Actually I don’t do weights but after a run is my
favorite time to do push-ups or pull-ups because my body is warmed up, making the exercises more comfortable and relatively easier.
As an alternative, 80 degree air temperature works pretty good.
Or use a sweatshirt/hoody.
If I'm cold, I will do 5-10 minutes of cardio as a warm up. But then do my main body of cardio well later.
I don't know how you do that, I'm dripping in sweat after cardio and I would **** off the entire gym if I went to weights right after (besides the loss of amount I could lift).
Or you could simply change your shirt and drink some cold water to get your body temperature down (maybe even take in a small amount of carbs on the energy front). I suspect most people aren't going into sprints when they talk about cardio
Or you could simply change your shirt and drink some cold water to get your body temperature down (maybe even take in a small amount of carbs on the energy front). I suspect most people aren't going into sprints when they talk about cardio
Sure, and take a shower, etc. But then that's my psychological switch. If I go to the locker room to change and shower and put on new clothes, mentally I already left the gym.
Also, lol, I sweat so much doing any form of rigorous cardio that it won't be just my shirt but my shorts and sometimes even shoes are soaked in sweat and need to be changed. I bring towels because I will leave pools of sweat by the equipment.
But if you don't sweat that much or your "cardio" is more mild to moderate, then I guess that wouldn't be your problem. And in that case, probably won't interfere with weight lifting either. Besides the sweat aspect, all my lifts will go down because all that sweat is essentially stored muscle glycogen I'd normally use to lift the weights.
Sure, and take a shower, etc. But then that's my psychological switch. If I go to the locker room to change and shower and put on new clothes, mentally I already left the gym.
Also, lol, I sweat so much doing any form of rigorous cardio that it won't be just my shirt but my shorts and sometimes even shoes are soaked in sweat and need to be changed. I bring towels because I will leave pools of sweat by the equipment.
But if you don't sweat that much or your "cardio" is more mild to moderate, then I guess that wouldn't be your problem. And in that case, probably won't interfere with weight lifting either. Besides the sweat aspect, all my lifts will go down because all that sweat is essentially stored muscle glycogen I'd normally use to lift the weights.
Ok. That's interesting.
And I already made the comment regarding the muscle glycogen, but again that's probably not most people's problem and my comment is related to the masses.
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