I lift from the perspective of a Track Athlete - I always run, do cardio, speed workouts, work on anerobic conditioning BEFORE I lift, as the first activity I'm engaging in is my primary objective as far as athletic performance.

I can do those workouts at a higher intensity if I them first, resulting in a higher level of fitness.

The lifting/strength exercises are meant to supplement my fitness activity, not the other way around.

So when I lift, my body is warmed up, but I'm somewhat tired and I have to work harder to lift.

If you hit the Bench Press right when you get to the Gym, you can hit it at full capacity and mostly worry about just muscle strength in terms of getting through the workout.

While I've already done 30-90 minutes (or more) of intense fitness related exercises, I'm going to need muscle endurance not only to get through each lifting exercise, but to make it through the workout.

If I lift first, the lifting workout is easy in fact, it doesn't really phase me - I knock out Cardio and after that some fatigue kicks in, but in general, the workout is just easier.

When I do Cardio/Anerobic Fitness exercises first, I start to drag towards the end of the lifting phase, turning lifting into a fitness exercise as opposed to just being a strength one.

But here is the benefit:

I've been sparring for a long time, or I'm competing in a 400m Dash, or just engaging in some sort of physical activity or competition, where I've depleted my glycogen stores, or where I can feel that my muscles are lacking in energy, I know I can reach down and explode if/when I have to.

Better yet, I know that despite the fatigue, I can summon a good amount of anerobic muscle performance/have a lot of muscle endurance to call on.

That's what I develop by doing cardio first.

Because I've run 5 miles and than done a hard pushup workout afterwords, or I've done 60 minutes on the elliptical trainer, than 30 minutes on the XC Ski Machine, before reaching a new Max on the Bench Press.

So, I like my way better.

That's the way we did it in track, that's the way I lot of athletes I know it in track and judging by the results, it works.



Peace,







M2