Combining cardio and weight lifting

Cardio and weight are two totally different things. What a lot of lifters don’t know is that you can’t just combine the two without paying any attention to the details. Too much cardio can hinder your muscle gain, too much lifting can hinder your cardio performance. In this article we will look into the things that should be payed attention to when you want to combine cardio and weight lifting. Make sure you read these tips to maximize the performance in the gym!

Always start with weight lifting

For everyone who wants to combine the two it is best to start with lifting weights. This is because of the fact that you will need all the energy you can get for lifting. When you have leg day you can’t expect to squat big numbers if the first thing you do is an hour of cardio. So, start your day with a light warmup of about 10 minutes, then do your weight lifting and end the workout with some time on the cardio machines. At the end of the workout you can stretch and loosen your muscles, they have become tight of the movements. This loosening process will help you to prevent injury.

Afterburn effect

Another reason why cardio after your workout a good idea is is that the cardio will help you with the afterburn effect. What is this exactly? This is the period in which you burn a lot more calories than before, your heartbeat is up, and your body is doing everything it can to reach the fat. When you do this at the end of the workout you will receive these advantages on top of the calories already burned during lifting. Losing weight has never been easier than this!

Look at the combination

It is best to do your HIT cardio sessions on the days that you are not already lifting. If you have ever done a HIT training session in your life you will know how exhausting it is. Therefore, it is wise to do these on the days that you have the rest of the day off. You don’t want to lift and do your HIT on the same day, this would be way too taxing on your body. You can for example do your HIT on Monday, Thursday and Sunday, and lifting on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

Cardio on the same day

If you really want to you can safely do cardio on the same day as lifting, you just need to pay attention to the speed and the intensity of the cardio session. When you want to do it the same day it is wise to keep your heartbeat at around 60% of your maximum, this means that you can do your session for up to 30-45 minutes. By keeping the pace low, you will give your body the chance to recover from the workout without compromising the weight loss effects of the cardio.

Cardio and weight lifting can go hand in hand, if you pay attention to the details from above you can combine them without running the risk of injury of fatigue. It is wise to not overdo it, when you train too much you have the chance to become overtrained. You certainly don’t want this to happen, when you are overtrained you will be further from home. Do you like to do cardio on the same day as lifting weight or do you do them on separate days?