Fitness Together Georgia

Sometime years past, you might have been taught to do cardiovascular exercise before your weight lifting. Most likely, no reason was given; it was just what you were told to do. So, you accepted it because it came from someone else who exercised or was a health club representative.

Cardio After Weight Training

We now know that it is best to do your cardiovascular exercise after your weight training. Even right now you may be saying, “that’s not what I was told.” To understand why it’s the other way around is to understand how the body utilizes different sources of fuel (carbs, fat, protein) as energy.


While doing cardiovascular exercise, you are in an aerobic state. You are not only using fat as energy, but glucose, which is stored as glycogen in the muscle (think of it as stored carbohydrates). During cardiovascular exercise, you are increasing the intensity and need quick energy. Though fat will be utilized, it will be utilized very slowly and steadily.

Don’t Deplete Your Glycogen Stores

In weight training, you will only utilize glycogen as a source of fuel because it is anaerobic. If you use all of your glycogen stores during cardiovascular exercise, you not only run the risk of losing glycogen as energy, but something else more detrimental. You can lose muscle. Glucose can only quickly become available from stored carbohydrates (which is glycogen) and guess what else – protein. So what is the most ready available source of protein in your body? The answer is muscle.

Muscle Protein = Energy

Your body will use muscle protein as a source of energy as it will break it down into amino acids to create glucose. Because weight lifting it is anaerobic, it can’t use fat as energy. As a result of losing muscle protein, you are effectively decreasing your metabolism. To put it simply, if you want to burn more calories and fat at rest, then you want to preserve muscle.


Do not confuse cardiovascular exercise with a cardio warm-up before weight training. I recommend moderate intensity between 5-10 minutes on a treadmill, bike or elliptical. For such a short period of time and low intensity, it will not deplete your glycogen stores.




Kelly Huggins
Exercise Science, B.S.
Owner, Fitness Together