Should you Weight Train or do Cardio Training first during your Workout?

Hey guys, what's up? Tyrone Bray here, founder of Titan Health and Performance, and welcome to this week's health tip. So today guys, we've got another one of our frequently asked questions for you, and today's question is, should you do weight training or cardio training first in your training session? Now, to be honest, in an ideal world, it wouldn't matter because you'd do them on separate training days. For instance, you might do resistance training on a Monday, cardio on a Tuesday, or vice versa. Then that way, of course, one isn't going to affect the other one too much, if at all, because obviously you're getting this whole day between the two sessions. But if you are somebody that's obviously pushed for time and you have to do them both in the, in the same training session. Again, another way that you could avoid it being too much of an issue is of course doing something like kettlebell training or resistance training. One of these training methods basically where rest is very minimal and activity level is pretty constant. That way you're going to obviously be getting the resistance training effect and you're also going to get the cardio training effect because the rest period is so small. That being said, of course, if you're somebody that's doing them separate, as in half the session is dedicated to one and half is dedicated to the other, depending who you ask, you're going to get various different answers. For instance, if you're asking somebody that loves cardio, they're probably going to tell you that cardio training is the way to go. Do the cardio training first, followed by the resistance training. Then you may have, obviously, those that love resistance training telling you to do the weight training first and then the cardio after. Me personally, I also agree that you should do the weight training first. Now, from my perspective, there are a few reasons for this. One, of course, is the metabolic cost. Now let's say, for instance, your goal is fat loss. Now if you want to obviously lose body fat, one of the things that you've got to do is obviously remain active in order to obviously increase your metabolic rate. Now, both resistance training and the cardio are going to burn a given amount of calories during the session. Now, ultimately, during this, this 1-hour period, for instance, you're doing 30 minutes of cardio, 30 minutes of resistance training. The cardio, for instance, we'll just say you're on the treadmill, you're just gonna jog for 30 minutes. Now, technically, you're probably more likely to burn more calories during the session from the cardio training because obviously you're constantly going for 30 minutes. Whereas with the resistance training, you're only going to obviously train for say maybe 20 minutes-ish, maybe 25 depending on the length of your rest period. So obviously you've done technically less work with the resistance training and more with the cardio. So the cardio at the moment is winning, it's burning more calories. So if you are somebody that obviously believes in the calories in, calories out theory, then, you know, the cardio has done its job during the session. You've burned more calories from cardio. The difference is the resistance training causes the body to continue to burn calories after the session. Research shows that with cardio training, you'll do your cardio, when you finish, pretty much as you finish, the increased metabolic expenditure returns to normal. Not obviously immediately, but very soon after. Whereas if the stimulus is great enough from the resistance training, you will continue to burn calories anywhere from 8 to 72 hours after the session, depending on which research you're reading. But either way, total calories expended due to this the stimulus that you've created is going to be greater from the resistance training than it is from the cardio. So from my perspective, or sorry, from, from that perspective, in my opinion, it's better to do the weight training first because you can place more emphasis on it and obviously get a greater stimulus. You can put more effort in because you haven't fatigued yourself whilst doing the cardio. The second reason is the stimulus for adaptation. Now, let's say for instance your goal is to put on some muscle. You know, you just wanna bulk up a little bit. You may even wanna lose a bit of body fat, but either way, your main objective is to pack some muscle on. Now, again, I would recommend you do the resistance training first. Now, the reason for it this time is of course, as I mentioned a moment ago, you can put more emphasis on the resistance training. You can put more effort in because you haven't fatigued. Fatigued yourself doing the cardio. Now, in order to obviously gain muscle, you have to create a large enough stimulus in order for the body to feel the need to adapt to it. So if I just go in and throw around a couple of kilos here and there, it's not necessarily going to create a large enough stimulus for muscle gain. But if I do my cardio first and then I try and shift heavy weight, I may not be able to because I'm fatigued. So from that perspective, I recommend also that you do the resistance training first. And finally, my third reason is safety. To be honest, pretty much any time we're talking about resistance versus cardio from a safety perspective, I would always recommend you do the resistance training first. Simply because you don't want to start training, for instance, for strength or power, even fat loss or muscle gain really, if you're fatigued. And obviously then you've got to start throwing around heavy weight. The last thing you want is to be tired and then perhaps lift a weight above your head or squatting, perhaps doing multi-directional lunges, you know, anything that's more complex than the standard cardio on a cardio machine, etc. If you've got to do all these complex movements in a fatigued state, of course you're going to be more likely to injure yourself. It doesn't mean that you will injure yourself, you know, if you're an experienced lifter, then of course you may enjoy doing that. You might enjoy the additional challenge of doing these exercises while you're fatigued. And for some individuals, there is a need for that. You know, if you're a competitive athlete of some kind, then it might be a good thing for you to do that. But generally speaking, it's much safer to do the resistance training first and then follow it with the cardio because the cardio, generally speaking, one, the intensity probably isn't so high. And as mentioned, the neurological demand isn't as high. The movements aren't as complex, and therefore it isn't going to have such a great effect on the nervous system as the resistance training would. So again, 3 reasons are metabolic cost, stimulus for adaptation, and your safety. Now in my opinion, as I say, those are the 3 main reasons why you should pretty much always opt for Resistance training first, followed by your cardio if you have to do the two of them in the same session. Of course, like with pretty much anything in this industry, there are exceptions to the rule, but generally speaking, that's in my opinion the best way to go. Resistance training first, followed by cardio. But don't forget, regardless of the resistance training or the cardio you're doing, if they're not built upon a good solid nutritional foundation, unfortunately your results will be limited. Ideally, you're going to have a good solid nutritional base, then your resistance training built on, then the cardio on the top, and that way you should find that results are pretty much almost unavoidable. Thanks for watching, guys, and I'll see you next time. Well, guys, hope you liked this video. If so, why not subscribe to our channel? And of course, feel free to share this video with all of your friends and family, or anybody that you feel may benefit. And if you'd like access to exclusive health and/or performance advice that I only share via email, get yourselves over to titanhealth.com and sign up for email updates.