Post by Admin on Mar 2, 2015 17:43:23 GMT -5
WHY YOU SHOULD LIFT WEIGHTS BEFORE DOING CARDIO --
In honor of Leonard Nimoy, I will quote what Star Trek's Mr. Spock might have said when asked about performing resistance exercise and cardio on the same day ...... "Logic dictates one should lift weights before doing cardiovascular exercise".
Why is this the case ?
Although there are exceptions to every rule in life, the fact is 95% of people concerned with fitness are trying to lose fat while building (or maintaining) healthy, lean muscle fiber.
With this in mind, a few basic facts should be mentioned ...
1) In order to exert maximum force, muscles require a good supply in the form of glycogen.
2) In order to "burn fat", the body must be in a state of carbohydrate and glycogen deficit in order to force the metabolic pathways to start digging into the body's fat deposits to get energy.
When you weight train (perform resistance exercise) first, your muscles have all the glycogen needed to lift more an pusher harder.
Near the end of your weight training portion, you will have depleted many of these reserves.
This means when you begin doing your 30-45 minutes of cardio, your body will more readily begin digging into your fat reserves to help you burn excess body fat.
In this sequence you can see you have maximized the benefits of both your resistance training and cardio.
Conversely, you can also now see how reversing this order is counter-productive.
If you perform cardio first, you will certainly get the same heart and lung benefits -- but since your body has full glycogen reserves when you start, more likely than not you will never get to the point where your body is forced to dig into fat reserves for energy.
Just about the time you have finished your cardio , you will have just reached the point of energy depletion.
Now when you go to lift those weights, you will find you feel weaker and pre-fatigued.
You will not be able to push as hard or train as heavy.
As a result, you fail to fully stimulate the muscle tissue for optimum results.
When you think about it, Mr Spock would have been correct ..... "For optimum results from the time and effort you dedicate to fitness -- Left the weights first, and finish up with the cardio".
Michael Spitzer - Author - FITNESS At 40,50,60 AND BEYOND
Contributor - TRAIN magazine.
In honor of Leonard Nimoy, I will quote what Star Trek's Mr. Spock might have said when asked about performing resistance exercise and cardio on the same day ...... "Logic dictates one should lift weights before doing cardiovascular exercise".
Why is this the case ?
Although there are exceptions to every rule in life, the fact is 95% of people concerned with fitness are trying to lose fat while building (or maintaining) healthy, lean muscle fiber.
With this in mind, a few basic facts should be mentioned ...
1) In order to exert maximum force, muscles require a good supply in the form of glycogen.
2) In order to "burn fat", the body must be in a state of carbohydrate and glycogen deficit in order to force the metabolic pathways to start digging into the body's fat deposits to get energy.
When you weight train (perform resistance exercise) first, your muscles have all the glycogen needed to lift more an pusher harder.
Near the end of your weight training portion, you will have depleted many of these reserves.
This means when you begin doing your 30-45 minutes of cardio, your body will more readily begin digging into your fat reserves to help you burn excess body fat.
In this sequence you can see you have maximized the benefits of both your resistance training and cardio.
Conversely, you can also now see how reversing this order is counter-productive.
If you perform cardio first, you will certainly get the same heart and lung benefits -- but since your body has full glycogen reserves when you start, more likely than not you will never get to the point where your body is forced to dig into fat reserves for energy.
Just about the time you have finished your cardio , you will have just reached the point of energy depletion.
Now when you go to lift those weights, you will find you feel weaker and pre-fatigued.
You will not be able to push as hard or train as heavy.
As a result, you fail to fully stimulate the muscle tissue for optimum results.
When you think about it, Mr Spock would have been correct ..... "For optimum results from the time and effort you dedicate to fitness -- Left the weights first, and finish up with the cardio".
Michael Spitzer - Author - FITNESS At 40,50,60 AND BEYOND
Contributor - TRAIN magazine.