Does Exercise Order Matter?
Does the order of exercise make a different in my results? By Elizabeth Quinn
What should you do first, cardiovascular endurance exercises or weight lifting? Or does this even matter?
The answer really depends upon what you are trying to accomplish.
There isn’t any special magic in exercise order, but some reasons it may matter have to do with the available energy for exercise, the causes of muscle fatigue, and the risk of injury during exercise. In general, exercise you perform when you have adequate energy is performed at a higher intensity with more focus and efficiency. Exercise you perform when your energy supplies are low is less effective and more likely to result in injury.
Exercise order may also matter if you are trying to achieve a specific goal, such as building muscle or improving sports skills, or if you have an extremely high level of fitness already.
Exercise Order Recommendations
Most recreational athletes can avoid this question altogether by doing cardio and weight training on different days. Another option is to do both endurance and strength training at the same time with interval training or circuit training routines that give a full-body workout in limited time.
Even though there is no magic in exercise order, some things seem to work better than others. If you have specific goals, use the following advice regarding exercise order:
If Your Goal is Improving Overall Health
To improve overall health, it really doesn’t matter if you lift weights first or do endurance training first. In fact, you can do both at the same time with interval training or circuit training routines or you can alternate weight lifting and endurance days if you prefer.
If Your Goal is Increasing Cardiovascular Endurance
In order to build and maintain cardiovascular endurance, you should perform endurance exercise first, when you have plenty of energy for long-distance exercise. Add resistance exercises 2 to 3 times a week, either after or separate from the endurance work in order to develop muscular strength and reduce your risk of injury. Lifting prior to running is not recommended because you increase your risk of injury due to muscle fatigue.
If Your Goal is Increasing Muscle Size and Strength
Increasing muscle size can best be accomplished by lifting weights first when the body’s main source of energy for muscle contraction (glycogen) is high. If you do a hard cardio workout before lifting, you deplete glycogen, which makes the workout ineffective.
If Your Goal is Burning Calories for Fat Loss
If your primary goal is to burn as many calories as you can in a single session, it’s probably best to do cardio first and lift weights next. There isn’t any magic behind this; it’s simply easier for most people to burn more calories per exercise session when they do cardio first. However, almost any combination of burning more calories while eating fewer will result in fat loss.
Some people achieve significant weight loss exclusively though dietary changes; others do it simply through weight training. Weight lifting definitely burns calories; in fact, it often burns more calories per minute than performing endurance exercise. The problem is that most people fatigue quickly when lifting weights, and therefore cannot perform the exercise as long as they can walk, bike or use an elliptical machine. The end result is that the total calories burned per exercise session tends to be higher for those who do endurance exercise first, simply because the can exercise longer.
Ultimately, the best way to lose body fat is to combine endurance exercise and resistance exercise and, of course, to make dietary changes.
If Your Goal is to Improve Specific Sports Skills
If you are training for a specific sport, you’ll need to design your training to accommodate the needs of that sport. Whether you do resistance or endurance training first depends upon the requirements of the sport, your current level of fitness and your overall goals. If you aren’t sure what is the best type of training for your sport, it’s helpful to enlist the expertise of a coach or personal trainer.
Elite athletes perform a specific exercise order that encompasses days, weeks and months. Sport-specific training follows the competitive season and is carefully designed so that athletes will “peak” at the height of the season. Their training builds from a general foundation of overall fitness and becomes focused on specific skills, movements and even psychological components in order to provide an edge over the competition. These programs look like a pyramid and cover the entire spectrum of fitness (strength, endurance, flexibility, agility, psychology, etc…) over the course of a season.
If Your Goal is to be Consistent and Maintain an Exercise Program
In order to stick with exercise, it needs to fit into your daily routine and lifestyle. It also has to feel good to you. For this reason, it is helpful to pick the type of exercise, the order of exercise and the time of exercise according to what works the best for your body. You may be naturally inclined to feel best if you do endurance exercise first and then do weights. You may also find that your body responds best when you lift weights at one time of the day and go for a run at another. It’s OK to let your body, mood or interest determine when you exercise.