Weight a minute!
The sequence of your workout routine can influence results, a fitness expert has revealed.
Randal Claytor, an Associate Professor of Kinesiology, Nutrition and Health at Miami University, wants gym rats to get in the habit of doing weights before cardio, in order to maintain gains.
“If your exercise goals are along the lines of staying generally healthy and enjoying the mental benefits of moving your body, resistance training first might provide a little boost,” Claytor wrote in an article for The Conversation.
Fitness freaks who submit to regular resistance training such as lifting weights, squatting and planking can increase muscle strength and improve mental health, Claytor said.
“Resistance exercise done before aerobic exercise results in a small increase in lower-body muscular strength without compromising all the other improvements in health-related physical fitness,” he said.
And definitely take the time for both, Claytor advocates — even if you only have a limited amount of room in your daily schedule.
“Doing both forms of exercise together is better, especially for people with chronic disease risk factors, than exercising for the same amount of time but sticking with just aerobic or resistance exercise,” he said.
“This comes with plenty of benefits for cardiovascular health — and is more practical for those with limited time in their day to fit in exercise,” Claytor continued.
And in the end, the main thing is to move — and to keep moving.
“My current advice remains to choose the order of exercise based on your personal preferences and what will keep you coming back to the gym.”
