The Best Workout Order for Fat Loss and Muscle Gains, According to a New Study

It’s an age-old question among gym-goers: Which should come first, cardio or weights?

According to new research, you may want to hit the weight room before you hop on the treadmill, bike, or elliptical.

The study, published in April in the Journal of Exercise Science and Fitness, examined how cardio and resistance training order might affect health and fitness metrics among a small group of male participants.

The study’s results showed that participants who did strength training prior to cardio had “remarkable progress” in physical activity levels, fat loss, and muscular strength and endurance as compared to those who did cardio before weights and those who didn’t work out at all.

But does that mean resistance training before cardio is always the best option? Here’s what experts had to say about the new study, whether other research agrees, and what this means for maximizing gains in your own workout routine.

For this study, researchers in Beijing recruited 45 young men with overweight or obesity to investigate how concurrent training—workouts that include cardio and resistance training—would impact various health metrics.

The participants were split into three groups:

• Group one did resistance training before cardio.
• Group two did cardio before resistance training.
• Group three did not have any sort of structured workout plan.

Men in the two exercise groups engaged in three 60-minute workout sessions per week over the course of three months.

This is one of the study’s strong points, Nicholas Mortensen, PhD, assistant professor of kinesiology at Michigan State University, told Health. Researchers were able to control variables by having both groups follow the same workout program of 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of strength training, just in a different order.

Before, during, and after the workout intervention, researchers tracked all of the participants’ physical activity levels, body composition, muscle strength, VO2max, diet, and bone density.

The results showed that those participants who did concurrent training, regardless of order, saw improved:

• Physical activity levels
• Body composition
• Muscle strength
• VO2max, or cardiorespiratory fitness

But those who did resistance training first saw even more benefits, including lower body fat percentage and lower fat mass, and higher muscle power and endurance.

These results suggest that lifting weights before cardio is the best option if you’re looking to improve these specific variables, said E. Todd Schroeder, PhD, professor of clinical physical therapy and director of the Clinical Exercise Research Center at the University of Southern California.

“However, it should be noted that the changes in the endurance-first group were still very good and considered beneficial for improvements in health in this population,” he told Health.

The study’s results support similar research findings over the past 30 years, which also found that resistance training before cardio could be a better way to boost strength.

But comparing studies can be challenging due to differences in methods, duration, training type, and the age and sex of subjects, explained Schroeder.

Because of that, there’s no firm answer on whether it’s better to do cardio or weights first.

For example, a 2013 study found that men who lifted weights before running had impaired running performance the next day, suggesting that doing cardio first might be the better option. And research published in 2021 found that people doing upper-arm weight training had better results if they did cardio beforehand.

At this point, there’s only so much we can take from this latest Journal of Exercise Science and Fitness study. Researchers only investigated concurrent training in a very small number of young, obese men, Schroeder noted, so we can’t necessarily say that the findings apply to a broader, more diverse population.

In general, more research on this topic is needed, particularly in women, said Schroeder.

The general consensus is that the order in which you do your cardio and weight training matters due to how each fatigues your body.

Doing cardio first can leave you drained and unable to give your full effort during strength training, explained Mortensen. Research has backed this up; one study found that doing a high-intensity cardio session before weights lessened strength endurance performance.

By hitting the weights first, “you are likely able to perform your resistance training with your best energy levels and intent, which is probably why the [study’s] resistance training group spent more time training at higher intensities than the aerobic training group,” said Mortensen.

This may be the ideal workout order for people who are looking to increase muscle or lose weight, Mortensen said.

However, performing cardio before resistance training can also have benefits, especially if you’re looking to improve cardio endurance and heart and lung health, he added.

“You can put your best effort into your cardio sessions, which can be valuable if this is something you struggle with regularly,” said Mortensen.

When it comes to planning the order of your workouts, consider your goals, Mortensen recommended.

Whether it’s strength or cardio, start with whichever one you’re hoping to prioritize and improve upon, he said.

Just make sure not to skip either type of training, since ”both modes will help improve your health and fitness, and should be emphasized regularly in your exercise routine,” Mortensen added.

In fact, switching up your workout order every now and again can help the body adapt to new challenges, further enhancing muscle and cardiovascular adaptations, Schroeder explained.

At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that starting with either cardio or weight training will help you improve muscle strength, bone density, aerobic endurance, and fat loss, he emphasized.

“I tell people that whichever order they are more likely to do on a regular basis is the one they should do,” he said.

“More people prefer to do resistance training followed by cardio, and a greater number of studies support the benefits of this sequence,” Schroeder added. “But find what works for you and the health benefits will follow.”