You’ll probably see many gym-goers out there who, before they head off for their weight-training sessions, hop onto the elliptical or stationary bike before they start with their strength training. It makes sense as it assists you with getting your muscles warmed up. In addition to this, cardio boosts your heart rate, thus burning fat, before you go over to some of the more muscle-toning weight exercises. However, according to an expert personal trainer, this is not necessary.
And don’t think that this is just one lone voice in the world of fitness and personal training who’s saying this. There are other, well-established trainers who’re saying this as well. They say that it’s a massive mistake to do your cardio first, and exhaust yourself, before you do your weight-training. In addition, they say that if you want the weight session to be completely effective, it is vital that you remain fresh.
Depletion of glycogen stores
Cardiovascular exercise will reduce the amount of glycogen that is stored in your muscles. This compound is essentially your energy that is stored and which you use for explosive activity. This means that if you do your cardio before your strength and weight training these will be far less effective. When it comes to weight lifting and resistance training, the form that you adopt is the most important aspect that you need to master. So, if you’re tired even before you even start a weight session, you’ll feel your workout routine in all the wrong places. This makes injury more likely.
Personal trainers who are pro cardio warm-ups
Those personal trainers who are pro-cardio warm-ups say that warming up your muscles by doing a cardiovascular exercise stint before you work out assist your muscles with adjusting to the physical movements which you’ll be doing, and it’s a great way to slowly increase your heart rate.
A cardiovascular warm-up could include activities such as:
- Taking a brisk walk,
- Going on a bike ride,
- Marching or jogging on the spot, or
- Doing some jumping jacks for between one and three minutes.
A proper total body warm-up for a period of between 5 and 10 minutes before doing any type of exercising is vital in order to prevent injuries as well as getting the body prepared for the workout.
A total-body warm-up can assist by increasing your body elasticity by 20% in addition to getting your synovial fluid going in your joints. A good indication of when you’re properly warmed up, as well as ready for stretching and exercising, is when you see sweat appearing on your forehead, at the back of your hands or under your nose.
100% cardio: good or bad?
The personal trainers who advocate switching your cardio and weight training say that long, steady-state cardio is one of the most terrible ways in which to transform your physique. Cardio – in order words, aerobic exercise – is fantastic for health reasons. This is because you will burn calories while you’re performing this action. However, your biggest concern when you’re attempting to lose weight is losing muscle.
If you lose fat – in addition to muscle along with it – it becomes more difficult to ensure that you keep the weight off in the long run as the more lean muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate is.
Fat-loss efforts that give results
If you want to get tangible results in the way that you look, it’s put forward that training with weights is the only way forward as this activity is a far more effective way to sculpt your body. Anaerobic activities, for example weight training as well as sprinting, are most efficient at building lean muscle mass. This will increase your metabolism and lessen your fat stores.
So, are you pro cardio first or pro weights first during your workouts?
Whatever you decide to do, make sure that it’s in keeping with what your body can handle and that you take it slowly because the faster that you perform an exercise, the easier it will be to cause yourself serious injury.
