Lift Weights or Do Cardio First??

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It’s an age-old question, with no right answers. If you have to do both in the same day, does it matter whether you do strength training or cardio first? Fitness Experts voice their opinions on this hot topic.

Dean Anderson, Certified Personal Trainer

I think that the ideal would be to do these two forms of exercise on different days (or one in the morning and one in the evening), so that you can devote maximum effort and get the maximum benefit from each. Any time you do one followed by the other, the second one will suffer at least a little (although you may gradually improve your overall endurance this way).

If that’s not possible, then it comes down to a question of priorities and goals–for that day, and overall. If you’re trying to build muscle mass, doing cardio right after strength training is not usually a good idea, because the more depleted your muscle fuel (glycogen) becomes, the more protein you’re body will use as fuel. After an hour of fairly intense exercise, protein may provide up to 10% of the fuel used, compared to the 1-2% it normally provides. That’s the opposite of what you want for muscle building. To increase strength, you want your body to shift into "repair and rebuild" (anabolic) mode as soon as possible after your strength workout, and the best way to make that happen is to eat instead of doing cardio. A light cardio workout before lifting would be better. But don’t try to do a strenuous strength workout after you've already tired yourself out with cardio–that’s not safe.

If you’re mainly trying to lose fat and maintain the muscle you've got, then doing cardio after strength training can be a good strategy. The percentage of energy contributed by fat goes up considerably after an hour of exercise, and since strength training uses mostly glucose for energy, doing that first will also increase the amount of fat your body uses for the cardio. However, it’s also true that as more fat is being used to fuel the exercise, the less work you’ll be able to put out, and the fewer total calories you’ll burn. Your cardio will probably be less intense and/or shorter than it would otherwise be, and this may cancel out the amount of extra fat actually burned.

Jen Mueller, Certified Personal Trainer

You'll find a lot of different opinions when it comes to this question. I don't know that there is a lot of reliable research to substantiate doing one or the other first, so I think it comes down to individual goals and preference. If your goal is to build muscle mass and strength, you'd probably want to do your weight training first. If your goal is to gain cardiovascular endurance, you'd want to do your cardio workout first. Here's an example. When I train for a marathon, my primary focus is increasing my mileage. Weight training is going to help prevent injury and increase strength, but what matters most is the running and increasing my distance. So in that case, I always do cardio first.

When it comes to weight loss, I recommend doing cardio first. Cardio exercise is going to help you burn the most calories in the shortest period of time. Although weight training is also going to help with weight loss (and should be part of any workout routine), I would make cardio the activity you're going to do while you have the most energy and your muscles are rested. No matter which order you choose, the second activity is going to suffer (to a certain extent) because you've already used up some of your energy. If you can do your cardio and strength training on different days, that would be the ideal situation. But no matter which order you use, you'll want to do a good 5-10 minute warm up before each workout session.

Nicole Nichols, Certified Fitness Instructor

What I always say matters most is that you're actually doing both cardio and strength training—in any order, on any days, at any time—and continuing to push a little harder to become even more fit. While I do agree with the perspective that it’s ideal to do cardio and strength training on separate days for optimal results, most people’s schedules don’t allow that. If you have to do both in one day, your second best option is to do them at different times of day—such as cardio in the morning and strength training in the afternoon or evening. This two-a-day approach gives you time to rest and refuel enough that you’ll have optimal energy once again by the time you get to your second workout.

But exercising twice in one day isn’t feasible for most busy people. If you have to fit in both during one workout, you should focus on whichever exercises will help you reach your main goals, and do those first. Perform cardio first if you want to lose weight, train for an endurance event, or achieve the general health benefits of exercise. Do strength first if you want to build size and power. Be sure to eat something within two hours of starting your workout session and within about one hour of completing it. Keep the length of your combination session reasonable and realistic so that you have enough energy for each part of your workout.

Personally, I do a little bit of everything—cardio first on some days, strength training first on others, cardio and strength on separate days, and even two separate workouts in one day. I like the variety, but also enjoy the mental and physical break that comes when I can focus on just one thing at a time. Changing the timing and order of your exercise program is yet another way to keep your body surprised, stave off boredom, and maximize your results.

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The Most Common Ways To Get Hurt in the Gym

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You go to the gym to look better, get stronger, feel healthier or, at the very least, check out the hot girls training in yoga pants. What you don't want, however, is to walk in the gym fired up for a great session and walk out hobbled from injury. Here's a list of the most common ways to get hurt in the gym and what you can do to avoid them.

You're Not Using Good Technique.

Nothing is more likely to cause injury than using poor/bad form, especially when dealing with the big, compound lifts such as squats, deadlifts and presses. You're number one goal is to always strive for perfect technique, which should be honed through using non-maximal effort lifts. Once your reach technical failure (the ability to complete the rep with perfect form) regardless of the scheduled rep range, end the set. You are better off walking away from a set a few reps short of expectations than not being able to walk away at all.

You're Lifting Too Much Weight

We're all for ‘going for it’ while training, but if you're using loads that you just can’t handle, the chances are that your form will break down and your risk of injury will go up. A good way to avoid this is to choose loads that allow you to execute one or two more reps than your target range. You can still progress and get stronger using this method while keeping the risk of injury to a minimum or you can get a spotter.

Your Warm-Up Sucks

Too many people walk in the gym, load up the bar and get straight to work. But as you start to develop strength and the weights start to increase, warming up properly should be an essential part of your training routine. Foam rolling or other myofascial release, dynamic warm-up, activation drills and sub-maximal specific warm-ups should all be used prior to your first work set. Your training session will be much more effective and beneficial and your chances of pulling a cold muscle will be eliminated.

You're Not Focused

While checking out the forementioned hot girl in the yoga pants, checking out your cellphone or the top play on SportsCenter might be part of the gym experience, these are certainly things that should not be done while you are under the bar. Keep in mind that most sets only last anywhere from 10 to 50 seconds. You’ll have plenty of time to talk to your buddies about your fantasy football picks once the set is over. For now, focus on making every rep a good rep.

You're Doing The Same Workouts

We get it. You love running on the treadmill. You like the sweat and the stress-reducing effects it has after a long day, but repetitive movements can lead to muscle imbalances which can lead to injuries. Make sure you are incorporating a smart blend of strength training and pre-hab exercises to keep all your muscles healthy and strong. And this strategy is not just limited to runners. If you're getting carried away with bench pressing, your softball league or even your yoga practice, you may be at risk for overuse injuries.

You're Overdoing The Plyometrics

Plyometrics are simply defined as any exercise that uses the stretch-shortening cycle, which is your muscles and tendons ability to store and release energy. Plyo’s, such as box jumps, bounds, hops and depth jumps have become increasingly popular recently due to their inclusion in boot camps and other group exercise classes. What people fail to realize is how demanding these types of movements are on your structures. It’s critical to start with a limited amount of reps (known as ‘contacts’) and build up as your connective tissue strength improves. So if you're spending an entire hour jumping, bounding and hopping you may be opening yourself up to injury.

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Drop the Fatitude and Get a Winning Attitude!

Change Your Thoughts to Win the Weight-Loss Game

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If permanent weight loss were as simple as eating less and moving more, you wouldn’t be reading this article—you’d be off somewhere enjoying your fit, trim self without a thought in your head about the difficulties of weight loss.

Optimistic enough to put in an honest effort and see what happens. They don't fill their heads with self-defeating thoughts and negative prophecies that keep them from doing their best.

Stay focused on what they can do instead of fretting about what they can’t do.

Patient enough to take things one decision (and one day) at a time, instead of expecting instant results and losing motivation when those results don't come.

See mistakes and problems as learning opportunities instead of being demoralized by them.

How do you know if you have a fatitude problem? Here are three very common patterns that may indicate you have a fatitude problem that needs help stat!

Symptom #1 of a Fatitude Problem: The Drama Queen/King Syndrome

Do you tend to panic every time you have a "bad eating" day? Does going over your calorie goal or missing an exercise session make you feel guilty, as if you’ve done something morally wrong? Does eating something on your forbidden list trigger that negative voice in your head that says you’re too stupid, weak, or messed up to resist a temptation? When you see a number you don’t like on your scale, do you feel like nothing you do is ever going to make a difference, so you might as well give up now and start stuffing yourself with your favorite comfort food? This, my friend, is all Fatitude!

The Winning Attitude: If you never have problems, you’ll never have any successes. You’re in the business of changing your lifestyle, and finding solutions that work for you will take a lot of trial and error. Your problem areas and setbacks can become valuable opportunities—if you let them. So ditch the drama and the negative self-talk, and replace it with a little open-minded curiosity. What was going on when this problem happened (in your environment and in your mind)? How is that different from what goes on when you don’t have the problem? What about your environment (or your thinking) can you change to make it easier to avoid this problem next time?

Symptom #2 of a Fatitude Problem: The All-or-Nothing Game

Do you frequently find yourself thinking that, since you’ve already “blown your diet" for today, you might as well keep on eating and start over tomorrow (or next week or next month)? Is it hard to get yourself to exercise because it takes so much time and effort to burn such a relatively few calories? Do you find yourself going overboard with severe calorie reductions and excessive exercise just to speed things up? Do you feel unmotivated when you think about how far you have to go to get to your goal weight and how long it’s going to take you? Sounds like a Fatitude problem to me!

The Winning Attitude: You create success by doing the best you can with the individual decision or task that’s right in front of you at this moment. Nothing else really matters. All you can ever do is the best you can with what’s in front of you right now—everything else is history or fantasy. You’ll get where you want to go as long as you take more steps in the right direction than the wrong one.

Symptom #3 of a Fatitude Problem: The Helpless Victim Story

Do you often feel like something beyond your control dictates your eating and exercise choices? Do you think that you’re unable to resist certain foods or that other people are sabotaging your efforts by constantly putting temptations in your path? Do you find it hard to find time for healthy cooking and exercise because of all the demands on your time and energy from work, family responsibilities, and other priorities? Fatitude, again!

There’s no doubt that eating well and exercising regularly takes time and effort. But there’s also no doubt that everyone gets the same 24 hours in the day, and that everyone has many other responsibilities to contend with, too. Many of these same people manage to be successful at weight loss and healthy living anyway. The difference between success and failure is often in your expectations and the language you use to think and talk about the practical problems you face. The more you view your own behavior or decisions as being dictated by other people or circumstances, the more you give up the power to make your own decisions. The longer you wait for other people to change their ways to make things easier for you, the longer it will take you to reach your goals.

The Winning Attitude: You always have a choice. No food has the power to make you eat it, and no one else determines your values or priorities. Sure, the situation may be difficult; sometimes you may have to choose between less than ideal options, or even pick the lesser of two evils. But the choice is always yours, and the only way to fail in the long run is to fail to choose. So, ditch all those stories you tell yourself about why you have to do this or that! Make the best decision you can at the time, then move on to the next one. 

Helpful Tool: Put "I" Into Your Vocabulary.

While these three signs of a fatitude problem are the most common, they aren't the only ones out there. There are also many other ways that your attitude, expectations, and thinking can help or hinder your success. The foundation of your success will be your belief that you can do what is necessary to reach your goals. Armed with this basic belief, there isn’t any problem you won’t be able to find a way around!

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6 Booty-Sculpting Moves to Add to Your Routine

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Current economic conditions mean that money is tight; however, can the same be said for your rear end? Don’t let your sagging stock portfolio be an excuse for skipping workouts this year, especially those targeting your bum. Learn how to tighten your assets with a moderate investment of time—and no gym membership fees!

Contrary to popular opinion, weight training is unlikely to make a woman's butt bigger. The average woman doesn't "bulk up" from strength training because she lacks a significant amount of the hormone testosterone, which is essential to developing large amounts of muscle. It would take hours of time in the gym on a daily basis, strict eating habits, and use of steroids for most women (and men) to achieve a bodybuilder physique. Due to these facts, I recommend women use heavier weights with fewer repetitions when training their glutes at the gym. This approach is usually more effective than exercising with lighter weights and more repetitions.

Six Butt-Blasting Moves to Try

Here are some of my favorite booty-firming exercises for a shoestring budget. Remember that form and technique are critical for optimal results and for minimizing the risk of injury. Maintain slow, controlled movements instead of using momentum, and focus on the quality of each repetition over the quantity of reps. Unless otherwise specified, do 2-3 sets of 8-12 repetitions for each exercise, 3 times a week (resting at least one day between workouts).

1. Step-Ups: Stairs are found everywhere and they're like free exercise equipment. To target your glutes while going up stairs, remember to push down with your heel while straightening your leg.

2. Lunges: For added effectiveness, lift your front toes off the floor, which shifts your weight onto the heel, thereby increasing the work of the glutes. This quick fix prevents pressing down on your toes, which targets the quads.

3. Squats: You can’t beat this classic butt-strengthening exercise. Try single-leg squats to increase challenge or hold onto dumbbells for added resistance.

4. Bridges: Challenge yourself by performing the bridge with one foot as you get stronger, or add a stability ball for variety.

5. Quadruped leg lifts: On your hands and knees, tuck your belly button to your spine to stabilize your torso and spine. Lift one leg up, keeping the knee bent at 90 degrees, until the upper leg is parallel to the ground. For greater effectiveness, straighten the leg. This creates more resistance and prevents the hamstrings from taking over the work from the butt muscles. For examples of these quadruped exercises, check out Coach Nicole's Butt-Blasting Workout Video.

6. Stair climbing: Like the strengthening step-ups above, climbing stairs as a means of cardio also targets the butt. In fact, any incline (such as a hill or an inclined treadmill) works the glutes more than walking or running on a flat road. Since cardio is important for helping reduce body fat, get more out of your booty-shaping plan by adding some inclines or stairs to your cardio plan.

Committing to this glute-firming program places you on a path to improved health with little financial investment. If having a great rear end isn't motivating enough to add the exercises above to your repertoire, consider the fact that having a strong rear also implies a strong back. Butts and backs go together, and this is good news for overall health and functional strength.

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Top 6 Foods at Bodybuilders Grocery List

Want to have the physique of a bodybuilder or fitness competitor? Start eating like one and you will be on your way to the body of your dreams. Here is an insider’s look at six staple foods on a bodybuilder’s diet.

Oatmeal

Plain old fashioned rolled oats (or steel cut if that is what you prefer) with no added sugars or flavorings. It’s simple, add the flavorings yourself. Dashes of cinnamon, a tablespoon of splenda, you can even throw in some almonds for a little crunch. Oatmeal is one of the best forms of complex carbohydrate currently on the planet.

10 reasons to eat oatmeal:

High in fiber

Studies show it lowers LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) and raises HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol)

Low on the GI scale – slower release of insulin

Easy and portable

Increased anabolism – decreased catabolism and fat storage

Kills hunger

Inexpensive

Studies show it may lower risk of some cancers

Replenishes muscle and liver glycogen stores

Provides energy

Porridge isn’t so bad now is it?

Whey Protein Isolate (WPI)

This protein is one of the best quality proteins around and absorbs at a speed no other can beat. Because of the quick absorption (approx. 20 minutes) whey is an excellent post-workout protein source. Studies show that in order to stop muscle catabolism after a hard workout, you must get protein into the bloodstream ASAP. Consuming a scoop (or two) of whey protein provides your muscles with the building blocks to stop catabolism and promote anabolism.

Eggs

The protein in an egg happens to be of the highest biological value providing a standard to compare other proteins. Believe it or not, the yolk is not just a cholesterol laden blob of yellow goo; it actually contains many other nutrients essential to the human body. All of the egg’s Vitamin A, D, and E are found in the yolk as well as choline (essential for brain health), 300 mg of cholesterol (recommended daily value), some fat and protein. One large chicken egg contains only 7 gr of protein, 4 of those are found in the white. A great way to avoid excess fat and cholesterol while eating eggs is to leave out a few of the yolks. A good rule of thumb: for every 4 egg whites, have 1 yolk. All the taste, less fat.

Cottage Cheese

This is a bodybuilder’s dream food – low in fat and carbohydrate, yet high in protein. Not only that, but it contains casein and whey protein. Because whey protein is rapidly absorbed your muscles are fed immediately. Caseins, on the other hand, absorb at a much slower rate simulating a ‘time-released’ state. Your body is absorbing protein for hours after consumption and saving your precious muscles from the dreaded “catabolic state.” Grocery stores typically carry single serving containers and larger tubs. For those of you looking for a lean source of protein, you can choose from one of the lower fat versions (fat-free, 1%, 2%, and 4%). Obviously the 4% fat cottage cheese tastes much better than the fat-free version, however, mixing in some sugar-free fruit preserves or cinnamon and Splenda will definitely buffer any dislike for the taste.

Broccoli

Your mother was right when she forced you to eat your broccoli. This green veggie offers so many health benefits you are crazy to leave it out of your physique altering diet. It is high in Vitamin C, and soluble fiber – that’s right, it helps to move your bowels. It contains properties believed to lower your risk of certain cancers, and has anti-viral activity to increase your immune response as well. Because of the high fiber content, this green veggie is very filling, leaving you feeling fuller longer. If your tummy is full you are less likely to over eat the foods that can really harm your physique. This in the end will lead to fat loss.

Natural Peanut Butter

Did you know that in the United States, peanut butter must contain a minimum of 90% peanuts? The ingredients list on the back of a jar of “natural” peanut butter should contain only peanuts and salt, at the most. If it contains any other ingredients such as palm oil, sugar, hydrogenated oils, etc. this is not considered “natural” and will contribute to a severe insulin spike. It’s true you do have to stir the oil back in the peanut butter upon opening. This is a small price to pay for the abundance of health benefits contained in a single jar of PB. Peanut butter is packed with monounsaturated fat – healthy fats. These fats have been shown to aid in fatty acid oxidation in the blood (fat loss). Don’t forget that fat takes quite a while to empty from the stomach. This creates a feeling of fullness for a longer period of time. Peanut butter also provides protection against cardiovascular disease, contains protein, Vitamins B3 and E, magnesium, folate, dietary fiber, and arginine. Be careful not to overindulge. Because of the high fat content of peanut butter it is a high calorie food. There are 14 grams of fat in a tablespoon of natural peanut butter. Multiply that by 9 (because 1 gr of fat contains 9 calories) and that PB & J sandwich can easily go from a healthy snack to a fattening one.

Simply adding these foods to your daily routine will get you on the right path to a better body. If you are already eating these foods, great! You are ahead of the game!

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