Lifting vs. cardio. Which one should I do first in my workout? If you are someone who has been asking this question- trust me, you are not alone. It’s one of my most asked questions, which is why I’m dedicating a whole blog post to answering it.

Most of what I say here is purely based on my opinion, so keep that in mind. We always encourage our clients – If what you do works better for you- then keep doing it.

In an ideal world, splitting cardio and weights into two different times of day would be best. It’s best to do “fasted cardio” in the morning and lifting in the evening. But if you’re like Josh and me, you don’t have time, and probably live too far away to go to the gym twice a day. 

If you want to get both cardio and weights in the same workout, we recommend lifting weights first. There are three main reasons:

1: We like to use our strength for our workouts. Your body only has so much testosterone and strength and we like to capitalize on what we have to get the most out of our lifts
2: We use a pre-workout. Using a pre-workout before you do cardio is NOT ideal so it would make the most sense to lift FIRST and utilize your pre-workout for that
3: We become sweat swamps during cardio. I personally really care for my skin and don’t want to break out nor do I want to lift with swamp butt and be dripping in sweat for 45 minutes while I lift

We hope this helps you see why we believe it’s best to lift first, then do cardio second.

Sarah Bowmar
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