Exercise is about far more than losing weight – from the mental health benefits to simply feeling strong, there’s a lot to be gained from working up a sweat. However, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in working off body fat at the gym, and it turns out there is a simple tweak you can make to your fitness regime that can aid fat loss.
It’s all to do with the order of your workout. When I go to the gym, I tend not to have too much of a plan, but may do any combination of cardio (rowing machine, treadmill, stationary bike etc) and strength training exercises (lifting weights and bodyweight exercises). However, it turns out that simply tweaking my routine so I always do the latter first could be most beneficial, according to a study published in the latest issue of the journal of Exercise Science and Fitness.
The research was conducted by Dr Zhixiong Zhou, a researcher at the Capital University of Physical Education and Sports in Beijing. Along with his colleagues, he challenged 45 overweight men aged 18-30 to follow one of three approaches for 12 weeks.
One group did strength training (a mix of weighted bench press, deadlifts, biceps curls and squats) before cardio (30-minute indoor cycling) three times a week, while a second group completed exactly the same workout, but with the cardio element before the strength training. They were all given fitness trackers to monitor their daily.
A third control group stuck to their usual daily habits.
There was no surprise that after three months, the two groups who had been exercising regularly lost weight and gained lean muscle tissue. However, what was surprising was the discovery that lifting weights first had significant advantages when it came to fat loss.
‘Our findings suggest that resistance training optimises fat loss when conducted prior to aerobic exercise,’ Zhou told The Australian. Not only did the weights-first group lost more body fat overall, but they also lost more visceral, which settles around major organs and it strongly linked to cardiovascular diseases.
The weights-before-cardio group also displayed better muscular endurance and strength by the end of the trial. ‘Overall, there were improvements in physical fitness when weights preceded cardio, particularly in terms of enhanced muscular and explosive strength,’ Zhou says. ‘It implies that resistance training, when performed as a warm-up prior to aerobic exercise, offers superior preparation for the body and facilitates a general enhancement in physical fitness over time.’
So why is doing weights before cardio the most beneficial when it comes to losing body fat? One possible explanation is that if you do cardio first your level of fatigue is so high that you can’t put maximum effort into strength training afterwards. I certainly know that if I start a workout off with a 20-minute run I’m going to be an exhausted, sweaty mess for the rest of the gym session. But from now on I’ll definitely head to the weights bench first, then the treadmill, and then try not to go home via the next door café
