Cardio or Weights First For Faster Weight Loss?
One question that some people find themselves asking is whether they should perform cardio training or weights first if their desired goal is weight loss.
Cardio versus weights. It’s a classic argument that trips many people up time and time again. Making sure you’re not following for the wrong information here though will be vital to your seeing good weight loss results.
Here’s what you need to know.
Energy Systems
To get technical for a moment, the first thing you have to realize when making this decision is that the two types of training can use different energy systems.
Basically you have three main energy systems.
Energy System 1 – ATP-PCr system – this is the system that’s used for very intense, short-rep weight training as well as all out sprints. It relies primarily on stored ATP for fuel.
Energy System 2 – The Glycolytic System – this is the energy system that’s used for higher rep weight training and interval training that lasts for about a minute or so in length (coupled with rest periods). This system primarily uses glucose as fuel.
Energy System 3 – The Aerobic System – finally, this is the energy system that’s used if you go out and run for thirty minutes. It’s not used for very intense exercise and can utilize fat as fuel.
As you can see by the energy systems illustration, if you are doing interval training and weights, you’re utilizing the same energy system, hence you will become very, very fatigued.
It also should be noted that you should always be performing any exercises that uses energy systems 1 or 2 before exercise that uses energy system 3. Therefore, if you are going to be doing weights and cardio in the same session, the take home message is it’s generally not best to attempt weights and interval training (since they use the same system), but if you’re doing moderate intensity training, then you should be doing it after weight lifting since it’s energy system 3 and weights are 1 and 2.
So, keep this information in mind. Energy system use plays a critical role in not only determining the order of your exercises in your workout program but also how often you can exercise and how much time off you really need. Doing too much work with energy system 1 or 2 is likely to lead to overtraining and burn-out very rapidly, so that’s yet another thing that must be considered.
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