Doing Cardo then weights good or bad idea?

The_Kew_Tour

ok im trying loose bit of weight but at same time want to tone up especially get rid of fat in chest area which has improved in last month or so to be fair and getting see results.

Im 6ft 2ins tall, weight 17st (was 18st 9lbs, want to get down too 15 1/2 - 16 st) I workout about 4 times a week which is mainly Monday Wednesday Friday and Saturday.

My Routine at present is doing 30 minutes crosstrainer, 20 minutes rowing - then if feel good do another 20 minutes on cross trainer (looseing about 900-1200 calories at present per night) and then I go to weights do vary what i do each day although try to target all areas...now my friend tells me i should split and not do weight and cardo together..But for some reason when I do weights first I always end up doing way less Cardo or maybe thats a mental thing at present not sure.

Food wise i eat average want to improve do have take away once a week but im starting to improve and starting eat more fruit along with chicken etc and also have good breakfast although need to do this more often

My Goal is to loose another stone to stone and a half but also at same time to get lean and loose fat

So basically my question is my routine ok as it stands or if not what ye think is best??

thanks in advance

ronbyrne2005

Unless you are trying to gain significant amounts muscle can't see it being too much of a prob. Stay hydrated and maybe consume a carb&protein drink after cardo and before weights if you are strugling to do weights/increase amount of weight u lift. Your diet is most important thing at end of day. Doing four days a week of weights with good diet and little cardio could get your fat levels down to where you desire.
Maybe split your cardio half before weights,then consume protein/carbs,then do weights and then other half cardio.

Roper

It depends. Are you looking to gain muscle and strength? What are your cardio goals or are you just thinking in terms of calories burnt?

aye

adrian280582 wrote: »

My Routine at present is doing 30 minutes crosstrainer, 20 minutes rowing - then if feel good do another 20 minutes on cross trainer (looseing about 900-1200 calories at present per night) and then I go to weights do vary what i do each day although try to target all areas...now my friend tells me i should split and not do weight and cardo together..But for some reason when I do weights first I always end up doing way less Cardo or maybe thats a mental thing at present not sure.

i think your friend means doing them on separate days, not doing weights before cardio.

thats alot of cardio really to do before a weights session, is this all done at a low intensity?
you might benefit from upping the instensity a bit during your cardio, that way you wouldnt have to spend so much time on it.

cardio before weigths or weights before cardio.
many will say do weight before cardio, on the theory that the cardio will burn more fat because you would have used up your glucose stores duing the weights. the issue with this is that if you do a heavy weights session, your muscles are crying out for nutrients, but then you go pounding the treadmill for half an hour.
however, doing cardio before weights can tire you out and mean you wont lift as much weight means less muscle gains.

so doing them on separate days is a good option

or you could try doing a circuit based cardio weights training sessions.
do 10 mins on a cardio machine upping the speed each minute. then do two weight exercises in a superset fashion, say bench press and barbell row. then back on the cardio for the same type for ten mins, then another two weight exercises superseted.

this is another way to think about it.

hope this helps.

N00b2fitness

Someone posted this a while back - not all relelvant but you might find some of it useful...

Have a feed before the gym. Now you are full of energy, muscles full of glycogen (energy/power). Now you are able to lift to your best ability. This taxes the muscles more until they are zapped of energy. Your muscles are worked to the max and so stimulated to grow more.

Now you start your cardio. The muscles have little energy left in them, you are knackered, so your body starts looking for energy elsewhere- dipping into your fat stores more.

Now when you go home your body is buring calories building new muscle, and burning more calories maintaining new muscle.

Now the reverse, you go to the gym and do cardio first. You are burning off all the muscles energy first from your eating during the day. You body is getting its fuel from what is already in the muscles, not burning relatively much fat. Now you are knackered and cannot lift the weights to your best ability, so you do not stimulate much growth.

Some of the experts might correct some of that, or add more indepth info or technical terms, but it is basically why it is advised to lift first. If I wake in the morning I can only do ~80% of the reps I can after eating. In the morning your body is starved of glycogen, just like after a cardio workout.

Some will purposely do cardio on an empty stomach- no glycogen for many reasons. The following is from a great book, "feed the muscle burn the fat" from here
http://www.burnthefat.com/
Quote:
Any time of day that suits your schedule is a good time for cardio. The important
thing is that you just do it. However, many bodybuilders and fitness models believe that
early morning fasted cardio burns more body fat. Although this is still controversial, the
evidence is strong and there are many reasons to consider doing cardio first thing in the
morning on an empty stomach. The argument in favor of fasted early morning cardio goes
something like this:
1. After an overnight 8-12 hour fast, your body's stores of glycogen are depleted and you
burn more fat when glycogen is low.
2. Eating causes a release of insulin. Insulin interferes with the mobilization of body fat.
Less insulin is present in the morning; so more body fat is burned when cardio is done in
the morning.
3. There is less carbohydrate (glucose) in the bloodstream when you wake up after an
overnight fast. With less glucose available, you burn more fat.
4. If you eat immediately before a workout, you have to burn off what you just ate first
before tapping into stored body fat (and insulin is elevated after a meal.)
5. When you do cardio in the morning, your metabolism stays elevated for a period of
time after the workout is over. If you do cardio in the evening, you burn calories during
the session, but you fail to take advantage of the "afterburn" effect because your
metabolic rate drops dramatically as soon as you go to sleep.
6. Morning cardio gives you a feeling of accomplishment and makes you feel great all day
by releasing mood-enhancing endorphins.
7. Morning cardio "energizes" you and "wakes you up."
8. Morning cardio may help regulate your appetite for the rest of the day.
9. Your body’s circadian rhythm adjusts to your morning routine, making it easier to
wake up at the same time every day.
10. You’ll be less likely to "blow off" your workout when it’s out of the way early (like
when you’re exhausted after work or when friends ask you to join them at the pub for
happy hour).
11. You can always "make time" for exercise by setting your alarm earlier in the morning

aye

N00b2fitness wrote: »

Someone posted this a while back - not all relelvant but you might find some of it useful...

Have a feed before the gym. Now you are full of energy, muscles full of glycogen (energy/power). Now you are able to lift to your best ability. This taxes the muscles more until they are zapped of energy. Your muscles are worked to the max and so stimulated to grow more.

Now you start your cardio. The muscles have little energy left in them, you are knackered, so your body starts looking for energy elsewhere- dipping into your fat stores more.

while the theory is out there and is popular and to some extent correct, it should be remembered that your body doesnt get fuel from solely one source each time. It also must be remembered that some glucose is needed to actually assist in fat burning.

N00b2fitness wrote: »

Now when you go home your body is buring calories building new muscle, and burning more calories maintaining new muscle.

the problem is that when you finish as weight session you have a maybe 40 minute window to get some protain and carbs into you to help fuel the muscles. so if that time is spent doing cardio, you may in fact hinder muscle gain.

N00b2fitness wrote: »

Now the reverse, you go to the gym and do cardio first. You are burning off all the muscles energy first from your eating during the day. You body is getting its fuel from what is already in the muscles, not burning relatively much fat. Now you are knackered and cannot lift the weights to your best ability, so you do not stimulate much growth.

i agree here, doing cardio before weights can knacker you and make you lift less.


many people will talk about high intensity cardio as the the best, the reason is that low intensity cardio tends to take energy from the muscles.
remember fat is the bodies storage and its not to happy about giving it up.
high intensity cardio however will increase metabolism, as does weight training, which will assist in fat loss by making the body require more calories per day.

The_Kew_Tour

Roper wrote: »

It depends. Are you looking to gain muscle and strength? What are your cardio goals or are you just thinking in terms of calories burnt?

More looking too look lean then gain muscle although if I did gain muscle I would not complain.

My cardio goals is just basically to maybe move up some levels in both rowing machine and cross trainer but really cant do anymore then hour of cardio per session ass dont have the time mostly.

i do notice the amount of calories and always try burn 700+ if I can