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Remember to Do Some Cardio Before Strength Training

FitSugar — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:00:00 -0800

Even though strength training seems like low impact exercise that doesn't mean you should skip out on warming up. Start off with at least five minutes of brisk walking, jogging, biking, or jumping rope. Here are some reasons why:

A cardio warm-up raises muscle temperature, which helps your muscles contract more forcibly and relax more quickly. You'll feel stronger and reduce the risk of overstretching or tearing a muscle.
Aerobic activity raises your body temperature, which improves your muscles' elasticity and helps prevent injury. This also helps prevent muscle stiffness later.
It raises your blood temperature, so your blood can't hold as much oxygen. This means there's slightly more oxygen available to your working muscles, so your performance and endurance are enhanced.

With all those different rises in temperature, you can definitely see why it is called "warming up." There are more benefits to doing a little cardio before your strength training, so read more.

A warm up improves your range of motion around your joints.
It dilates your blood vessels, which lowers stress on your heart.
It increases the production of the hormones responsible for regulating energy, which makes more carbs and fatty acids available for use.
It energizes your body and mind, making you more alert and focused, which enables you to have correct form and move with control.

I generally do 10 minutes on the elliptical before hitting the free weights. What about you?

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Fit Tip: Include Cardio, Strength Training, and Stretching in Every Workout

FitSugar — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:00:00 -0800

When it comes to exercise, there's a huge push to do cardio. It burns calories, reduces stress, helps you lose or maintain your weight, helps relieve muscle soreness, and is good for your lungs and your heart. While that's true, cardio isn't the only thing your body needs. It's also important to strength train to tone your muscles, increase your metabolism, and increase your muscle mass. Of course you also need to stretch as well to increase flexibility, which will prevent injury.

So a good rule of thumb is to include all three - cardio, strength training, and stretching - in every workout. You can start with 30 minutes of jogging, followed by 20 minutes of dumbbells exercises, and finish with 20 minutes of yoga. Not only will your entire body feel worked, but doing all three every time you exercise will make sure you don't neglect one type of training.

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Do You Prefer Cardio, Stretching or Strength Training?

FitSugar — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 04:00:00 -0700

When it comes to working out most people stick to doing things they are good at doing. We tend to stick to the familiar because it feels good and it's satisfying. However, this means that many of us avoid exercises we need because the exercises (or stretches) we avoid are often the ones that we would benefit from the most.

So take this poll and pay attention to the answers you didn't choose. This may give you an idea of the exercises you're skipping, so next time you can try and incorporate that element into your workout.

Shape Up and Move Beyond Your Plateau

FitSugar — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 05:30:00 -0700

To put a positive spin on hitting a weight-loss plateau, you have to remind yourself that at least you're not gaining weight. Once you can see that the glass is half full, you can rev up for adding some serious exercise to your plan. When you are trying to lose weight, you need to do cardio, and lots of it. The American College of Sports Medicine exercise guidelines suggest five 60-minute cardio workouts a week for weight loss. That adds up to 300 minutes total. With creative time management and enough desire to lose 10 pounds, you can do it.

Cardio alone is not enough to lose 10 pounds in a month. You need to add strength training into your exercise plan - two to three days a week. Now that you know what is expected of you, are you at a loss for what exercises to do? I would be, and when it comes to having an exercise schedule, I like to have someone tell me what to do. It takes the work - well some of it, anyway - out of working out. Lucky for us, Shape has created the month-long 10 Pound Meltdown exercise plan for us, and it is all online.

I just did one of the workouts, so to see what I think of the plan, just read more.

The three cardio routines are all for the treadmill, but I bet you could take some of your runs outside if you wanted to. I like that one of the workouts is an hour-long vigorous walk. This morning, I tried the 35-minute "Speed Work" interval plan. It was fun, and while for a beginner this workout might be challenging, for someone used to sprint intervals this is more like fast running intervals, but definitely not an all-out sprint. I felt energized after this run and ready to do some strength training.

Couple these cardio routines with challenging strength training moves, and I think you will definitely move beyond any weight-loss plateau, as long as you're eating responsibly. For the strength training, you will need a few familiar props like an exercise ball, hand weights, a medicine ball, and a paper plate (love the use of household items). But the program also makes use of an exercise step and a resistance band. My gym has all these fitness accessories, but if I were doing the sculpting moves at home I might have to get a little creative. I was able to complete the seven strength training moves in 20 minutes, which gave me five minutes to stretch before I needed to leave the gym (and I stretched a little extra in the shower at home). All in all, it was a great hour-long workout.

I like that with this plan you can mix and match the sculpt moves and cardio plans should you choose, but I appreciate the structure Shape has laid out. If you feel like you're on a fitness plateau, rather than a weight-loss one, this program will get you out of your workout rut, too. For my next treadmill run, I am going to try the Power Hour workout, a mix of jogging and walking followed by hill work.

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Cardio First, Weights Second

FitSugar — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 03:00:00 -0800

I used to think it was simply a matter of choice to strength train before or after cardio. Most often, my preference is to save the weights until after I have done my cardio. After 20 to 30 minutes of running, I am warm, sweaty, and ready to pump some iron, and I feel less likely to injure myself. It looks like the Journal For Strength and Conditioning Research has added another reason to hold off on weight training until the cardio workout is over. You burn more calories, especially after you have finished exercising, by placing strength training second in the activity lineup. Cardio burns calories consistently, and topping that off with the extended caloric burn of strength training increases the overall benefits to your metabolism.

How do you organize your workout? Do you usually do cardio first or last? Tell me in the comments section below.

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What to Do First: Cardio or Weights

FitSugar — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 10:15:00 -0700

It is the age old conundrum - cardio before weights, or weights before cardio? For me there is no clear cut answer or protocol. So I thought I would share my internal debate on the matter.

Reasons to do Cardio first:

I am planning to do a long cardio session and I don't want to tire out my legs before running for 60 minutes.
I am just planning on lifting weights with my upper body and they will still feel fresh after my cardio session.
The weight room at the gym is really crowded.

Reasons to Lift first

If my focus for the workout is strength training, I will warm up and cool down with a little cardio, but spend most of my time lifting weights. This way my lifting form is not compromised by my tired muscles. I think this helps prevent injury too.
Here is a scientific reason that I factor in to my decision making process: Lifting weights first can boost your fat-burning power during the aerobic part of your workout since it can deplete your "quick burst" energy (glycogen) stores. This means when you do your cardio workout after lifting weights, you'll likely burn less glycogen and more stored fat.
If the cardio room is really full, I will lift weights first.

Sometimes I skip the entire debate and just mix it all together with some circuit training. And you? Which do you do first? Lift weights or cardio?

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Balanced Workout: Cardio & Weight Training

FitSugar — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 13:30:00 -0700

Hopefully by now you have added some strength training to your workout plan since it has so many benefits (making you stronger, firing up your metabolism, and the new exercise guidelines recommend 2 sessions a week). The experts, however, all seem to have different ideas on how to go about it.

I found the age based approach by Dr. Kenneth Cooper, the doctor that coined the word "aerobics" back in the '60s, interesting. He now advises his patients to perform muscular conditioning in a graduated amount based on age. Since the human body slows down in building muscle mass in the mid 30s, the older you get the more time you should allocate for strength training in your workout. He found that as he aged he was able to maintain his aerobic endurance but lacked strength.

Here is what Cooper suggests:

Age in decade	Cardio Training	Strength Training
30s	80%	20%
40s	70%	30%
50s	60%	40%

If you are in your 20s, you should still do a mixture of cardio and muscular conditioning; the key is to listen to your body. If you are experiencing injuries (like sore knees from running mile upon mile), you definitely need to add strength training to your regimen.

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5 Things Every Workout Should Include

FitSugar — Tue, 29 May 2007 02:30:00 -0700

Here are five simple things to include in your workout if you want it to be safe and effective:

Warm-up: Among other things a warm-up leads to efficient calorie burning, injury prevention and prepares the body for the workout.
Cardio: A cardio workout is great for the cardiovascular system and plays a very important role in weight management.
Cool-down: Among other things a cool-down prevents blood pooling, reduces the chances of dizziness or fainting and slowly brings the heart rate back down.
Flexibility Training: This maintains joint range of motion and reduces the risk of injury and muscle soreness.
Strength training: This creates strength and good posture, reduces the risk of lower back injury and is also a key player in weight management.

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Which Type of Exercise Have You Been Neglecting?

FitSugar — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:30:00 -0700

Moving your body at least three times a week is a wonderful goal to have. It'll help you lose weight or maintain your current weight, it gives you energy, helps you sleep at night, strengthens your immune system, and improves digestion. When you exercise, you want to make sure your weekly routines include three things: cardio for burning calories and working your heart and lungs, stretching to prevent injury and increase flexibility, and strength training to tone your muscles. I know it's tough to include all three all the time, so tell me . . .

Why I "heart" Swimming

FitSugar — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 07:30:00 -0700

I love swimming. I really, really do. What is cool is the American Council of Exercise backs me up on this one. So if you are not already in love with the pool here are a few reasons to consider starting an affair with swimming.

The buoyancy of water reduces the "weight" of a person by about 90 percent, so it is a great form of cardio if you have problems with any of your weight bearing joints or arthritis. This is also the reason it is recommended to folks with back problems and pregnant women.
While swimming may not tax your knee joints like running does, it will give you a great cardiovascular work out while working your muscular strength and endurance, as well as your flexibility.
The resistance of water is perfect for a strength-training workout - instead of weights, the water itself provides the resistance.
Swimming is meditative. You really focus on your breath (since you are not listening to music) and the feel of the water on your skin. I feel relaxed after a run, but I feel relaxed while I am swimming.
When swimming, your arms work way more than your legs making swimming a perfect complement to running or biking.

I am always telling you to mix up your workouts, and those are my reasons to throw swimming into the mix.