Cardio, Weights, when?

[Hearnsz]

For already 3 months I have been gowing to a weights/cardio gym 2 times a week.

One of the owners their made a regime for me after we did some strength and cardio tests, and after we talked about my goals. (I told him I wanted to gain explosive strength for boxing)

He made me a program where I do, in chronological order;
1. 10min warmup
2. 45min weighttraining
3. 45min cardio

But I've recently been reading on this forum cardio after weights is bad...
Can anyone explain to me why and where you heard it please? I'm finding it strange a professional fitness coach would be wrong. But it probably wouldn't be the first time.

I've also heard weights after cardio is bad...

Can anyone tell me when to do what and howmuch time to leave in between for a workout to be good?

Thanks in advance.

[PunchDrunk]

If you have to do both in the same workout, I definitely agree with the weights before cardio. Lifting heavy weights when you're fatigued (as cardio should make you!), is not a good idea! Your strength will be depleted, and the chance of injury through the roof. Your stamina might be a little less after you've lifted, but you should still have enough in the tank to be able to get your heart pumping, and that is the general idea with cardio.

Put it this way: Strength training is quality over quantity, and cardio is quantity over quality. Quality is harder, so do that first, and you'll still be able to pour some quantity on afterwards. It doesn't work very well, the other way around.

[Hearnsz]

Thanks for the info!

But I've heard people say cardio after weights was bad for another reason than fatigue. It had something to do with burning up glycogen suply but I don't really understand how that can be a bad thing. After you burn up all your glucogen you just start burning fat right?
They said something about burning muscles :O

Can anyone explain that to me please?

Thanks in advance!

Btw, I normally do the following:

Sat: 1hr legs/triceps weightwork
50min cardio

Sun: 1hr back/shoulders weightwork
50min cardio

How should I change that then knowing I only have sat+sun to work on cardio and weights?

[hinduw]

when u do heavy weight lifting your break you muscle tissues, after the workout your body starts healing your muscles but it needs kcals to do that.

If you do cardio after your workout your body will use all the kcals you have eaten for energy instead of rebuilding your muscles.

Im not sure but i think it has to do with that.

[Hearnsz]

ah merci
A trainer at my weightsgym told me the ideal thing I could do in my limited available time is do warmup first, then weights and then 30min low intensity cardio. I forgot to ask what low intensity exactly is... I did a 30min run with only a 130 heartbeat because I was scared to burn muscle Should I up the heartbeat (because I think you only start conditioning above 150) or is 130 okay?

thanks in advance

[PunchDrunk]

when u do heavy weight lifting your break you muscle tissues, after the workout your body starts healing your muscles but it needs kcals to do that.

If you do cardio after your workout your body will use all the kcals you have eaten for energy instead of rebuilding your muscles.

Im not sure but i think it has to do with that.

When you do this, you're doing it all in one workout, it's not like the body knows you've gone on to the second part of your program - it starts recovering when you're done. A post workout recovery shake plus a meal about an hour after training will make sure you recover properly.

[Landon S]

If the gym has a rowing machine hop on that after you hit the weights. I like to do 500m intervals as fast as I can with 1 minute to 30 seconds rest in between intervals, its pretty close to the work rest ratio in a fight and you can really poop yourself out on that thing. 20 minutes of really intense cardio will be alot better than 45 minutes of slow crumby cardio in my opinion because it more closely resembles what you go through in a fight, which is what your training for. I wouldnt recomend having someone punch you in the head while rowing though....for obvious reasons

[Kayo]

If you are forced to do both cardio and weights at the same time do Weights first then cardio. Cardio depletes your glycogene cells which you need for heavy lifting, so if you do cardio first your going to have a ****ty weight workout opposed to if u lift first you can have a good workout and still have a close to optimal cardio workout

[Hearnsz]

If the gym has a rowing machine hop on that after you hit the weights. I like to do 500m intervals as fast as I can with 1 minute to 30 seconds rest in between intervals, its pretty close to the work rest ratio in a fight and you can really poop yourself out on that thing. 20 minutes of really intense cardio will be alot better than 45 minutes of slow crumby cardio in my opinion because it more closely resembles what you go through in a fight, which is what your training for. I wouldnt recomend having someone punch you in the head while rowing though....for obvious reasons

If you are forced to do both cardio and weights at the same time do Weights first then cardio. Cardio depletes your glycogene cells which you need for heavy lifting, so if you do cardio first your going to have a ****ty weight workout opposed to if u lift first you can have a good workout and still have a close to optimal cardio workout

Thanks!
I already figured I should do weights first and cardio after.
But I've been told it's not good to do intense cardio after a weights workout because then you're burning muscle.
But you're right that low intensity cardio probably isn't the best thing for boxing. It's just the only harmless thing I can do in the limited time.

I now have a new scheme for the weekend btw:
sat: weights (all muscles, 1hour 30min) + cardio (low intensity, 30min)
sun: swimming (1hour)

I first did weights on sat AND sun. So then there wasn't really any room for more intense cardio.
I now stuffed all the weightlifting in 1 day so I can go swimming the next day, which conditions all the muscles, including the heart. (I also chose swimming because I think it's a lot more fun than running, rowing or cycling.)

[Landon S]

This is pretty much the short version of a quote from "full throttle conditioning" by Ross Enamait

Actually, the low intensity stuff will hurt muscle mass far more. The human body adapts to whatever stimulus you place upon it. With that said if you run long distances then isnt it easier with less weight (aka muscle)? low intensity cardio will keep lean muscle mass levels down because its easier to run long distance if your lighter and have less muscle (less oxygen consumption), your body doesnt care that you WANT to be buff & strong it just cares that it can carry out what you tell it to do.

With high intensity your using your muscle in strenuous ways so you need that muscle to even be able to do it. Take a sprinter for example, he runs short but intense distances such as the 100, 200 or 400m runner, he runs all out. Look at a sprinter, theyre buff and obviously powerful. Now look at a marathon runner, hes skinny with very little lean muscle and generally weak and definately not powerful.

The reason most personal trainers tell people to do low intensity stuff is because fat is the primary fuel for that kind of training WHILE your running (they also dont know what a boxer needs in terms of fitness, its not theyre fault, theyve just never boxed). With the intense stuff muscle glycogen is the primary fuel but AFTER your done it takes alot of calories to replenish the glycogen in your muscles (which you keep) and your metabolism is sky high all day resulting in lower bodyfat %'s.