1) Hi Alice,
I've worked out in the gym for almost 10 years and I have noticed something that bothers me: Most people start their workout with their aerobics routine rather than their power routine. As far as I know, the body uses carbohydrates first, then gets to the fat only after finishing its carbohydrates, and that's why I assumed that it is much better to start with the power routine (after a proper aerobic warm-up) and only then get to the aerobic part. Am I right? And what is the exact explanation for that?
2) Alice,
Actually, there might be a reason for doing weights first and cardio later: lifting weights needs a lot of free energy, in the form of carbohydrates. The cardio training would consume a lot of these, to the point where you would have very few reserves. So, if you do cardio first, you might not be able to lift as much weight, therefore compromising your workout. Besides, since the goal of cardio many times is to burn fat, it's better to give a "kick in" lifting weights — burning some of your sugars — so that when moving to cardio, you start to burn fat earlier on during the exercise. Or is it?
3) Hi Alice,
My husband and I both go to the gym together. He goes to build muscle, I go to trim my weight and tone up. We normally only lift weights, as he does not like to do cardio because he thinks it will make him lose weight, and he needs to gain rather than lose (he is very skinny). Is it true that if he does 20 - 30 minutes of cardio per day, along with 45 minutes - 1 hour of weight training 4-days-a-week, he will lose weight? THANKS!