Opinions vary as to whether including strength training and aerobic exercise on the same day will affect performance and muscle gains or losses. Aerobic exercise and strength training exercise can be performed on the same day, but training goals and intensity levels must be taken into consideration before planning your routines.
Exercise Planning
Both strength training and aerobic exercise offer numerous health benefits, making it essential to include both in your training regimen. In many instances, separating your strength training and your aerobic workouts into different days can be impractical. For instance, if you want to train four days a week and wish to obtain at least four days of aerobic exercise, it is necessary to perform both on the same day. Same-day strength training and aerobic exercise might mean performing aerobic exercise first thing in the morning and a strength-training session in the evening, or including both in the same session.
Strength Training Before Aerobic Exercise
Aside from a short aerobic warmup, many weightlifters complete their strength-training workouts prior to aerobic exercise. Individuals whose primary goal involves building muscle mass and burning fat tissue should focus their energy levels on strength training first and aerobic exercise second. Performing aerobic exercise prior to strength training can impair muscular performance, especially when similar muscles are utilized during both exercises, such as running first and then performing a leg workout, notes Len Kravitz, Ph.D., of the University of New Mexico.
Cardio Before Strength Training
To improve aerobic endurance, marathon runners or triathletes should perform aerobic exercise first in a routine. It is essential for these athletes to focus their energy on improving their swim, run or bike time. Strength training prior to performing aerobic exercise would be counterproductive, because your muscles would be fatigued from the strength-training session. This could potentially cause early muscular fatigue during aerobic training, thus hindering your ability to improve aerobic endurance. Even though strength training is necessary for these athletes to enhance performance and prevent injuries, it is not their primary focus.
Considerations
High-intensity interval training, or HIIT, has become a popular form of aerobic exercise among the bodybuilding community, because it burns many calories in a short amount of time. A HIIT routine involves completing 10 to 15 intervals, consisting of 30 to 60 seconds of sprinting or high-intensity activity, followed by 30 to 120 seconds of low-intensity recovery intervals. Short-duration, high-intensity activities such as HIIT burn more calories post-workout than longer-duration, lower-intensity activities such as walking. However, because sprinting is more of an anaerobic activity like strength training, performing it on the same days as your weight training sessions may not give your body enough time to recover, and potential injuries or overtraining symptoms may result.
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