By Rich Weil M.Ed., CDE
Transformation Weight Control
transformationweightcontrol.com
I’ll cut right to the chase. If you want to develop your muscular strength, power, or endurance more than your aerobic fitness (cardio, short for cardiorespiratory), then do resistance exercise first (machines, free weights, Pilates, or calisthenics – burpees, pushups, planks, etc.). If you prefer to develop your aerobic fitness more than muscular strength, power, and endurance, then do cardio first. If you elect to do resistance exercise first, you could spend 5 minutes on any cardio machine to get some blood pumping and muscles warmer, and if you want to feel looser before your resistance exercise, then do 5 minutes of cardio, followed by some light stretching, then the resistance exercise. Otherwise, you can go ahead and just get right to resistance exercise.
The reason for this answer is that whichever one you perform first will reduce your energy level, burn up stored fuel, and decrease your ability to put 100% effort into the second activity. Also, aerobic exercise is known as catabolic, whereas resistance exercise is anabolic. Catabolic is the breakdown of tissue (such as muscle) or depletion of fuel such as protein or fats. Anabolic is the production of complex compounds from simpler ones which builds body tissue. Anabolic steroids, which build muscle, is a good example. If you always perform aerobic
exercise first, then it will compromise your ability to put 100% into building your muscle and break that tissue down.
A good example of catabolic vs anabolic is to look at the physiques of elite athletes such as Olympians. Elite marathoners have very low body fat, but they don’t have nearly the muscle mass as an Olympic sprinter or wrestler (sprint training has a huge effect on thigh muscles, just like strength training – just look at the thighs
of elite 100-yard dash sprinters). Elite marathoners have lower muscle mass than those other athletes because they put in 60+ miles per week of running training; that’s a lot of catabolic training, or catabolism. But all that running it builds their cardiorespiratory system, which is what they need to run a marathon at record-setting times.
Another way to look at is specificity of training. If you perform a sport that requires a lot of aerobic fitness, such as long distance running or cycling, then do aerobic first most of the time, but don’t neglect muscle training, because you still need muscular strength, power, and endurance to perform well at events such as these. If you play a sport that requires both muscular and aerobic development, such as tennis or soccer, then alternate days where you work on resistance exercise first, then on another day do cardio first.
Finally, keep in mind that both cardio and resistance training have positive effects on your health, so no matter how you train, you’re always better off afterward! Enjoy your training.
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