Fitness Monday: Why We Do Cardio After Weights

1:12 PM Posted by jo

Some of you may be surprised when you hear that we lift weights before we do any cardio exercises. Many have learned the opposite, that it is better to do cardio before lifting weights. So this post might come as a surprise to you.

Both strength training and cardio are very beneficial for health. Cardio stengthens the heart and improves the oxygen intake. Weight training does not only increase the metabolism, but it builds muscle and preserves bone mass. It also improves insulin sensitivity, stimulates growth hormone release, and raises testosterone, which is important for women too.

The common belief is to do cardio exercises first in order to burn fat. Unfortunately that is a mistake. What you need to do is to warm up and hit the weights so that you can build your skeletal muscle. The muscles are the body's furnace for burning fat. If you don't have muscles you lose your fat-burning capacity, strength, and power. The immune system and the functional muscles are working together. Glutamine antibodies, white blood cells, are produced by the muscles, and they are required for cell reproduction.

Cardio is actually catabolic, muscle wasting, which means that you don't build muscles when you run long distance. Weight training is anaerobic. Your glycogen levels are depleted after you have lifted the weights. This means that you now will oxidize the fatty acids more efficiently with cardio, especially with interval training.

When you do aerobic exercises after weight training the lactic acid that was produced during the resistance training is converted into reusable energy. It will prepare the body for the stretch routine.

So, you are more successful in peeling off that fat if you do cardio after weights.

Thanks for visiting!

Johanna is an aromatherapist and an independent distributor of Young Living Essential Oils. She is passionate about educating people about health, essential oils, real food, natural remedies, and nutrition so they make healthier choices in their lives. She also runs Naturally Sports & Wellness together with her husband.
Follow Johanna on twitter and facebook for more health tips and information. Explore her new aromatherapy new blog and find out how you can get her e-book for free. Johanna is also the founder of the new network blog, Living Well Moms, and her posts are published every Monday.

This post is linked up to WFMW