{"id":171,"date":"2012-07-22T21:21:12","date_gmt":"2012-07-23T04:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vartafitness.com\/site\/?p=171"},"modified":"2014-03-17T13:00:08","modified_gmt":"2014-03-17T20:00:08","slug":"which-comes-first-lifting-or-running","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vartafitness.com\/site\/2012\/07\/which-comes-first-lifting-or-running\/","title":{"rendered":"Lift First, or Run?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a question that we are asked at Varta Fitness<\/a> quite a bit: “Should I do my cardio first, or hit the weights?” The answer is somewhat ambiguous because depends on your personal fitness goals. So…we always discuss it \ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/p>\n

First, we need to define what \u00a0the term “cardio<\/a>” means because you should be participating in a light cardiovascular warm up before executing your resistance training routine. An appropriate warm up consists of three to five minutes of light cardiovascular activity, which gets your heart pumping, pushing fluid to your extremities and in turn simultaneously preparing your body for optimum performance and injury prevention. However, do not go much longer than a few minutes, as you will begin to waste precious energy!<\/span><\/p>\n

For most individuals (i.e. those interested in improving overall fitness, preventing injury, maintaining joint strength, improving body composition, and the like) the weights should come first. We have a limited supply of energy to commit to each workout, and thus as you progress through your routine you have less and less energy to spend. Lifting with less energy means less repetitions and sets performed, which translates to less results. The consequences for your cardiovascular routine are not nearly as dire. While running with less energy means you may not be able to go quite as fast, you will still be able push yourself to a level of exertion relative to that which is possible at the beginning of your workout. An equivalent level of exertion means an equivalent heart rate, which means…equivalent results.<\/span><\/p>\n