Some things obviously go first. Like shampoo before conditioner. Some things should go first, usually. Like salad before dessert. Sometimes the correct order isn’t even clear. Like chicken vs egg.

As long as I’ve been involved with group exercise or personal training, people have wondered whether we should do cardio or strength training first, in a given session. Over the years I’ve seen the debate go both ways. I was wondering what the current State of the Art is.

TLDR. It depends. Sometimes the experts contradict each other. But here is some background info to help you decide for yourself.

ACE FITNESS

I first reviewed information from Ace Fitness. This is the organization that I, and many others, are certified through for group exercise and personal training. There are other organizations too that other instructors might be certified through. I don’t want you to necessarily think that ACE is the best certifying organization.

As you can see from the following table, your fitness goals matter. I’ve summarized the highlights below.. The complete article is here.

Is better endurance performance (i.e., shorter times or better performance when running, competing in triathlons, etc.) your main goal?	CARDIO first
Is your main goal to get leaner or lose weight?	STRENGTH first
Are you mostly concerned with improving strength?	STRENGTH first
Are you doing only upper-body strength training today?	EITHER one first
Are you doing lower-body strength training today?	STRENGTH first (Choose strength alone for serious strength goals.)
Do you have general fitness goals with no emphasis on strength or endurance?	YOUR CHOICE (Do the one you least enjoy first. You’ll ensure it gets done and you’ll do it when you are less fatigued.)

PELOTON

Earlier today I received an email newsletter/advertisement from the Peloton people on this subject. Bottom line. They also say that your fitness goals matter. I’ve copied the text from the newsletter below.

“All of this said, there are two general rules to follow when it comes to order. The exercise you prioritize first should be the one most aligned with your fitness goals. And second, it’s a good idea to complete the most strenuous effort at the beginning, when you have a fresh supply of energy. “

Benefits of Strength Training Before Cardio

If muscle gain is your main goal, you’ll want to grab your dumbbells before you start your HIT workout. “Prioritizing weight training ensures your muscles are primed and ready, allowing for heavier lifts and fostering muscle growth,” says Assal. 

Scheduling your strength training before you go for a run may also warm up your muscles so you can move with more ease. For example, if you work your legs at a moderate intensity, you may find that you can pick up the pace during your run. “Kick off with compound movements like squats, deadlifts, and bench presses. Mix in both heavy and moderate weights with fewer reps to induce muscle hypertrophy,” says Assal.

Disadvantages of Doing Weights Before Cardio

Of course, there are a few tradeoffs to remember if you decide to squat, deadlift, and bicep curl before you hop on the Peloton Bike. Research from the American Council of Exercise (ACE) indicates that doing cardio later in the workout increases heart rate overall compared to if cardio was performed first—even if the workout intensity level was the same. According to ACE, this can mean that your performance may take a hit if you’re doing a workout that feels harder than you aimed for. According to ACE guidance, saving strength training until after cardio can help ensure an effective workout that doesn’t feel overly difficult.

Benefits of Doing Cardio Before Strength Training

“If you’re gunning for enhanced endurance or cardiovascular health, kickstarting your session with cardio is the way to go. It readies your body for the challenges of weight training and lays the groundwork for a robust cardiovascular foundation,” Assal says. 

Choosing a cardio-before-weights approach is ideal for those who are training for an endurance event like a marathon or triathlon. “Prioritize cardio exercises like running or cycling initially, followed by weight training with higher reps and lower weights to enhance muscular endurance” says Assal. 

One study found that a brief, 20-minute cardio warm-up before strength training. (However, it’s important to note that the participants in the study did a cycling workout prior to doing a tricep strength exercise. So the results could vary if they did cycling followed by a lower body strength workout, for example.) “Initiating with cardio may stave off early fatigue during weight training, allowing for proper form and the lifting of heavier loads,” Assal explains. She adds that cardio even boosts your flexibility making you less prone to injuries during your strength training regimen.  

Disadvantages of Doing Cardio Before Weights

If your cardio session is intense, you may be fatigued by the time you switch gears and begin your resistance training. That’s why Assal recommends a specific approach for those focused on endurance training. 

“Prioritize cardio exercises like running or cycling initially, followed by weight training with higher reps and lower weights to enhance muscular endurance,” says Assal. Muscular endurance refers to your body’s ability to repeat the same muscle movement again and again over time. 

ASCENT CHIROPRACTIC

I’m really not familiar with this practice, but I’m showing their recommendations since they provide some opposing views. Here’s a link to their article. I’ve reproduced it below.

WORKOUTS: SHOULD YOU LIFT OR DO CARDIO FIRST?

I get it: we’re all insanely busy and it’s a miracle that we can get to the gym at all. So when we work out, most of us try to get in both strength training and cardio exercise in a single session.

But should you do weights or cardio first?

If you’re looking to get stronger, lose body fat, and save time in the gym, the science says it’s best to lift weights before doing cardio. For why, read on.

1. WEIGHTLIFTING FIRST HELPS BUILD MUSCLE STRENGTH & SIZE.

Getting stronger and building muscle requires progressive resistance (in which resistance is progressively increased as strength improves to facilitate muscle adaptation). That means you want to lift the most weight possible every workout. But when you do cardio before strength training you fatigue your muscles, which causes a decrease in the contractual force your muscles are able to produce, which means you can’t lift as much.

This is due to the ‘all or none principle’ of muscle contraction. Muscle fibers contract at 100%, or they don’t contract at all. So to lift something 70% of your max would require 70% of your muscle fibers to fire at 100%, rather than 100% of your muscle fibers to fire at 70%. Because of this, if muscle fibers are already fatigued from previous cardio, then less muscle fibers are available to contract for weight training.

In a study from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, researchers found that subjects who did a bout of treadmill running before lifting weights had a decrease in muscle power and performed fewer reps compared to when they lifted before running on the treadmill. Plus, when subjects ran before lifting, lifting just felt heavier – the rate of perceived effort increased.

What’s more, cardio actually reduces your short-term sensitivity to insulin – the hormone responsible for transporting amino acids from your blood stream into your muscle cells for protein synthesis. That means doing cardio first limits muscle growth.

2. LIFTING FIRST OPTIMIZES FAT BURNING.

Weight training relies on the glycogen stored in your muscles to fuel your workouts. Your working muscles will clear out any sugar floating around in your blood stream which prepares your body to turn to stored fat as a fuel source early in your cardio session.

Plus, while resistance training isn’t necessarily great at burning fat, it is good at mobilizing fat (releasing stored fat from your fat cells) because it increases levels of the hormone noradrenaline – fat that can be burned off later on the treadmill or stairclimber.

Knocking out your cardio after you crush the weights will burn more fat!

3. CARDIO FIRST INCREASES RISK OF INJURY.

Especially for beginners, there’s always an increased risk of injury if you lift weights while exhausted. Proper form is more likely to suffer when you’re tired and it only takes a little slip up to cause an injury that can keep you out of the gym for weeks or months. Cardio injuries, on the other hand, tend to come from overuse and sustained impacts.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Sure, whatever you do last in your workout is going to suffer, but simply put, weight training doesn’t hurt cardio as much as cardio hurts weight training.

Plus, it saves time: cardio fatigues your muscles so when you finally get to lifting, you may find yourself having to take longer rests between sets to complete your reps, lengthening the duration of your workout.

The exception to the rule: If you’re training for an endurance event, do cardio and weight training on different days. If you’re training for a 5K, a marathon, a mud run, etc. your goal is to maximize performance in that event, so you want to go as hard as you can when you train. Lifting weights before endurance training will prevent you from doing that, so endurance athletes should do their endurance training and weight training on different days to ensure adequate recovery between training sessions.