Cardio or Weights: Which Exercise Should I Do First?
Aerobics and weight-training are part of a balanced workout program. Both workout routines offer unique and also overlapping benefits that can improve your health and quality of life. So, if you’re committed to fitness, doing a combination of both is the best way to get and stay in shape. The question is, which one should you do first during your workout routine?
In short, it depends. Here’s why:
Why Is Cardio Important?
Cardio exercises have a long list of physical as well as mental health benefits. Not only does it strengthen your heart, it also:
Improves mood
Improves quality of sleep
Can help control appetite and burns calories, which contributes to fat loss
Improves stamina
Lowers blood pressure and regulates blood sugar
Boosts immunity
Slows the process of brain-tissue loss
Aerobic exercises are any movements that increase your heart rate and engage your major muscle groups, such as:
Jogging
Cycling/spinning
Swimming
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
Team sports
Why Is Weight Training Important?
While cardio does strengthen your body, weight training can completely transform your physique. Here are some other important benefits:
Increase lean muscle mass as well as muscle and joint strength
Mitigates symptoms of depression
Improves balance and coordination
Decreases the risk of injury
Helps maintain bone density
Burns calories
Reduces the risk of diabetes &cardiovascular disease
Strength training, also known as resistance training, is any form of exercise that taxes your muscles through the use of weights, such as:
Free weights (kettlebells, barbells, dumbbells)
Resistance bands
Bodyweight / calisthenics
Weight machines
What’s More Important to You?
What exercise should you do first? It depends on what’s more important to you. Both forms of training provide a long list of health benefits. But, when you want to know which exercise should come first, the answer depends on what your workout goals are.
Do you want to focus on endurance or cardiovascular performance? Your primary focus should be on aerobic exercises. Do you want to increase your strength and build a more muscular physique? Start with weight training. Once you have determined what your workout goals are, it’s important to remain consistent so that you can maximise your workout.
Why Choose the Most Important Workout First?
Whether you’re pushing yourself on the ellipticals or you’re doing heavy deadlifts, both cardio and strength-training exercises are taxing on the body. By the time you get to the second part of your workout, your muscles are already fatigued. The first workout will be the better quality of the two.
What About the Interference Effect?
If you haven’t heard about this phenomenon, the interference effect happens when you combine both cardio and weight-training exercises concurrently. Because the body adapts to these two types of workouts differently, your strength-training gains may be compromised. In other words, doing both exercises one right after the other may slow down your resistance training results.
The Best Advice: Split Them Up
Ideally, you want your body to give 100% every time you work out. To avoid fatigue, consider splitting up your workouts, so that you only spend time on one form of exercise every day. Separating strength training from cardio prevents compromise. If this doesn’t sound feasible to you, try leaving at least six hours in between your workouts to give your muscles a small break.
If, however, you still want to do both exercises concurrently, try working the different muscle groups for each type of workout to reduce fatigue. For example, upper-body strength-training followed by a spinning class or thirty minutes on the rowing machine followed by a lower-body resistance training.
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