Aerobics and strength training can go together, but which one should be done first? A study dispels the doubt
For years, the belief prevailed among fitness enthusiasts that it was essential to choose: either focus on cardiovascular training or weight training, to develop muscular strength and endurance. But this rigid division over time proved to be limiting. And science has shown that a complete and balanced fitness program should include both components: while incorporating cardio into a weight lifting program can increase resistance and training volume, those who practice aerobic activities and integrate strength exercises it can improve speed and power, but also delay muscle breakdown. Indeed, according to a study by the University of Oklahoma (USA), weight lifting can even help improve VO2 max. But, taking all this at face value, should cardio be done before or after weights?
The question of whether strength training should be done before or after aerobic training has no single answer. In reality, it depends on a number of factors. Most experts lean towards weights ahead of cardio. The reason is that strength training has a higher risk of muscle injury than cardio. Pre-fatiguing your muscles with aerobic activity before lifting weights could increase your chance of injury. Additionally, if you fatigue yourself first with aerobics, your weight performance may be negatively affected. To lift heavy loads, it is essential that the muscles are fresh and rested, so as to perform the movements correctly and adequately stimulate hypertrophy.
But the counter-argument also makes you think: by dedicating yourself to weights before cardio, don’t you risk compromising your subsequent aerobic performance? Indeed, yes: research shows that power, speed and cardio resistance after weight training would be affected. This suggests to athletes and enthusiasts to completely separate the two workouts, on different days.
As always, however, there are exceptions to the rules and even the maxim “first the weights, then the cardio” is not lacking. For example in the case of warming up: it is good to warm up the muscles before any intense activity and a short cardio of moderate intensity helps to increase the blood flow and activate the nervous system, preparing the muscles and mind for training. Not only that: a group of scientists tried to find out what would happen if cardio and aerobics targeted different muscle groups: the legs during cardio and the arms during the weight routine. The study published in Nature and conducted by Dr. Marcus Moberg analyzed the effects of combining cardiovascular training for the lower limbs and weight lifting for the upper body, compared to doing only the resistance workout.
In the experiment, 8 physically active men were invited to the laboratory where they underwent 2 different training sessions: one included only the use of machines to strengthen the muscles of the arms and shoulders, while the other combined first an intense interval cardiovascular work on the bicycle to train the legs and, subsequently, the weight workout for the arms. The researchers took blood samples and took small biopsies of the subjects’ muscle tissue before, immediately after, 90 minutes and 3 hours after both training sessions. Analyzing the samples, they found that after the double legs + arms session, the arm muscles abounded in markers indicative of simultaneous improvements in both strength and cardiovascular endurance. Contrary to other studies, in this case aerobic exercise not only did not negatively interfere with the muscle gains resulting from weight lifting, but actually amplified the benefits. The researchers believe, therefore, that following cardio for the lower limbs with weights for the upper limbs could be efficient and advantageous for simultaneously obtaining increases in cardiovascular capacity and muscular hypertrophy: one of the rare exceptions in which cardio before weights is considered the best choice.
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