5 Benefits to Strength Training Before Cardio

There are countless benefits to strength training before cardio. Many fitness experts and trainers will advise you to do your cardio after weight training because of the demanding nature of strength exercises. You don’t want to tire yourself out even before you start strength training, making it less effective too.

On the other hand, strength training before cardio will strengthen your body to carry the same momentum through cardio as well. Here, we look at 5 benefits to strength training before cardio.

1. Increases Muscle Strength

One of the main benefits of strength training prior to a cardio workout is the boost in physical and muscular strength. Weight lifting is highly encouraged before cardio because it prevents stiffness of the arteries, and allows muscles to burn more glycogen. This glycogen is typically converted into physical energy, giving your body that extra boost to perform cardio more effectively.

2. Prevents Injury to Muscles and Bones

Strength training can play a vital role in helping your physical body keep up with intensive workouts. Cardiovascular exercises utilize every part of your body, leaving you fatigued at the end. If you follow a consistent workout routine, you may put your muscles and bones at the risk of severe impairment or injury. To avoid this, perform strength training before cardio to preserve your core body strength.

3. Helps in Losing Weight Faster

There is another added benefit of strengthening your physical body before doing cardio. Since your muscles are working harder and for longer durations of time, they will tend to burn fats and carbohydrates more quickly. Thus, you will lose weight considerably faster than you would if you did a cardio workout first.

4. Improves Workout Effectiveness

Adding even a small chunk of strength training before cardio gives your body the energy it needs to burn off any additional calories that might hamper your overall workout. Your body constantly needs to convert stored fats into energy during a workout to maintain your energy levels. Strength training enhances this process even further for an effective and healthy workout session.

5. Boosts metabolism and immunity

Strength training before cardio not only maintains your muscles and bones but also paves the way for a better metabolism rate, improving your immune response too. This is because strength training increases your oxygen consumption at a much higher rate than a cardio workout, allowing your metabolism to work optimally. This in turn also engages your immune system and improves its long-term functionality.

In a nutshell

Ultimately, there is no right or wrong way to perform a workout. Various fitness experts will tell you to follow your goals in getting the best out of a workout, and not overdo them. However, it is just as important to take care of your muscle and bone health to keep yourself fit. Strength training does just that, and should always be added to a workout prior to cardiovascular exercises.

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