Those who know me and have trained with me over the last 12 years know one thing for sure I am all about efficiency and balance with the workouts and nutrition plans I give my clients.
Clients come to me because they want to:
1) Lose Fat
2) Build or Tone (maintain) lean muscle
The exercise question I have seen debated over the years is the order you should perform your cardio/aerobic exercise and resistance training if your goal is fat loss.
I have heard the argument you should do your cardio before using the weights because it will warm up your body. I have also heard the debate that if your goal is to increase endurance and stamina you should do cardio before your weights. These are both reasonable debates.
I agree with the first debate you should warm up your body before doing weights. However, that doesn’t mean long or intense aerobic exercise is the most efficient way to warm up your body and prepare it for weight training. I do however recommend a very light 2-5 minute cardio warm-up followed by some dynamic (moving stretches) stretches before doing weight training. This will get your body’s blood flowing and muscle warmed up to prepare it for using resistance and lifting weight.
If your goal is endurance and stamina doing cardio before weights will give you more energy for that cardio session. However, doing weights after long or intense cardio is not an effective way to build strength or lose fat and in my opinion it’s counterproductive and a mistake.
If you’re running marathons or training for endurance races then weight training can help you with endurance and performance. However, I wouldn’t recommend even doing weights and cardio back to back. I would recommend either doing them on separate days or doing those 6 hours apart. This will allow you to get the full benefits of both without risking energy/strength crashes or risk of muscle loss.
Getting back to why most people are doing resistance training and cardio in the first place is to build muscle and burn fat.
If fat loss and building muscle is your goal then the order you do weight training and cardio is crucial for seeing the best and most efficient results.
Let’s look at the science of what happens and what fuels sources your body uses during weight and cardio sessions.
During aerobic exercise there is a lot of oxygen present and you can use two things as a fuel source stored sugar (glycogen) or fat.
During strength training even though oxygen is present your body doesn’t need it to perform this activity because your blood vessels are constricted and oxygen is not being used very much if at all. Therefore during strength training you can NOT use fat as a fuel source it is not an option so you can only use glycogen.
If you are doing aerobic/cardio exercise first you will burn mostly glycogen as its your body’s preferred source of fuel. Follow with weight training and there is much less glycogen to burn therefore muscle will become a source of fuel once the workout becomes intense.
However, if you flip that and you do your resistance training first you will use your stored glycogen for energy (which is your only option) follow it with cardio now your body’s only remaining option is fat.
In simple your body will use much more fat for a fuel source doing cardio after weight training than doing it before.
Does this mean people can’t lose fat or see results doing cardio before weights? No, it just means it’s not the most efficient way and your workouts have a much greater chance of being more effective and productive by doing resistance training first. I always tell my clients it’s not always about training harder or longer but training smarter. Making things more difficult when you don’t need to and doing something that can be less effective in regards to someone seeing the best results will always be a mistake in my opinion.
So I would recommend the following in regards to doing weights and cardio:
1) Do weight training and cardio on completely separate days
2) If your goal is fat loss and building/maintaining lean muscle mass and you want to do them back to back always do your resistance training
before cardio. Also, try to keep your cardio to a maximum of 30 minutes after weights.
3) Separate your weight training and cardio sessions 6 hours apart. This will allow some muscle recovering and allow you to refuel your body.
4) Have a proper supportive meal a 60-90 minutes before exercise and proper meal/recovery shake within 30 minutes after exercise. This will allow energy for your body and will assure you have plenty of fuel for your workouts and not risk using muscle for energy over time.
Look for Mistake #4 coming soon!
Your Fitness and Nutrition Coach,
~David Modderman
Filed under Training, weight loss by on Feb 19th, 2011. Comment. 
(some information referenced from Phil Kaplan’s article 2011 Mistakes)
Here are the fitness and nutrition mistakes most people will make in the first 2 weeks of January and beyond.
1. Going On A Fad Diet
Every New Year comes and people seem to start a diet. Whether it’s an extreme fad diet like detoxing your body, eating only soup or crackers or doing something that restricts calories like Weight Watchers, or South Beach. Following a “DIET” is a flawed approach. Most people fail to realize after all these years that any diet that restricts calories, or certain foods is doomed for failure! “BUT it worked for me before David! I lost 25 pounds on the Weight Watchers program.” My answer is well if it worked so well why aren’t you still doing it? And why are seeking me for help? 
Sure maybe a low calorie diet will help you lose weight temporary but how will it effect your body long term? And can you maintain it for the rest of your life? Most diets will destroy metabolism. All restrictive diets will fail What people need is a balanced supportive nutrition plan with the right amount of calories, that includes real natural foods. The most successful plans to follow are those that will not restrict calories and will provide everything your body needs to build lean muscle, increase metabolism and BURN fat like a machine.
2. They will overtrain or not train properly
Overtraining is extremely common.. It’s the curse of most New Years Resolutions. For most motivation is quite high, yet the body’s recovery ability is low. The first few days of January, most will arrive at the gym, lift weights, bust out a few rounds on the treadmill or elliptical, and then do a few crunches or pushups before bed. For a few days you’re motivated and sore. Then . . . just sore. Then . . . you skip a few days and the soreness retreats, but so does the motivation. You need recovery to see results yet you must also train correctly to see the best possible results. This bring us to mis-training. Mis-training is a little different.
I am amazed how many people I see or talk to who have certain specific goals of losing weight or building muscle yet they are doing all the wrong things to reach their goal. If your goal is fat loss (not just weight) you need to create the correct environment to burn fat. Balancing on a bosu ball, taking 2 minutes rest periods between sets, and doing 2 hours of cardio a day is the not the answer. Yet, people are doing/trying this methods everyday with no results. It’s about following the right amount and type of resistance training, moderate aerobic exercise, and eating the right foods to increase your metabolism. Creating the right calorie deficit (not excessive) and then getting adequate rest is crucial. One of the best you things you to get better results is to get off the weight machine circuit at the gym and start to use all your muscle groups like you move in the real world. You should be training your body how it moves in the real world and burning more calories. You don’t live in a stationary position so you should NOT exercise that way.
3. They will buy the latest fad supplement or weight loss drug on the market.
I will make this very clear there is not a drug or supplement that will burn fat without the help of the right exericse and the right nutrition. If anyone says this supplement “WILL WORK” they are lieing because no supplement or drug will work on it’s own. Don’t waste your money on drugs like “Alli” or stimulants that contain caffiene. Most supplements that contain caffiene or stimulants (fat burners) that are highly addictive and can actually increase body fat long term do to increasing your cortisol levels (stress hormone) The only supplement that most people need to aid them in losing weight is a good whole food vitamin. The reason? Most fail to get all the nutritients they need from their nutrition so a good whole food vitamin will fill in those gaps. What whole food vitamin do I recommend? You can find it by clicking here: Whole Food Vitamin
4. They’ll cut carbs and calories
What are Carbs? Are carbs even carbs anymore? There are so many things labeled ‘healthy that are not” Carbs are our bodies preferred energy source. Yet, most people think they need to be eliminated completely to lose weight. This is not a good idea carbs are used for fuel to give us energy and help spare our proteins for muscle recovery. Our body is a machine and carbs and are fuel for that human machines. What are calories? Calories are a unit of energy! Meaning if you are not eating enough your body will actually feed of your own muscle to supply it with the energy it needs. Most people do not realize how many calories they need to eat in order to lose fat and keep it off. Don’t cut carbs or calories if you are looking for a long term solution for fat loss.
5. They’ll still expect aerobic exercise to be the answer
Most physcians still tell their patients the best exercise is to “walk.” Women still tend gravitate toward aerobic exercise classes and shy away from weights. Men and women find biking, rollerblading or running enjoyable and they mistakenly assume it fully takes care of the exercise component. Unless your only goal is to get more effecient and running or biking, then aerobic exercise will never be enough you to reach your goals. Aerobic exercise though important is still just a piece of the fat loss puzzle. One needs to challenge and protect muscle (even building a little bit won’t hurt) through resistance training. Resistance training is the key to maintaining/increasing muscle and increasing ones metabolism. Not to mention increasing bone mass and strength.
6. They’ll make too much of a drastic change and step a little too far outside of their comfort levels
Maybe this is you……, You went out on New Year’s Eve knowing it’s going to be “the last time.” January 1st, or perhaps January 3rd (Monday), you’re going to stop drinking beer, stop eating pizza and desserts, workout every day, and think only positive thoughts. The positive thinking is a good step, but you’ve developed habits that are with you until they’re replaced by new behaviors. Trying to change everything all at once is most likely gonna set yourself up for failure. You need to have solid structured plan of progressive steps in place or most likely you will not move forward effectively. For most cravings try to drive you to what you’re body is used to. Reduction in caloric intake leads to energy compromise, and then, before you know it, you’re failing to recover.
What you NEED is a properly balanced nutrition and exercise plan where you can set realistic goals, and from there continue to progress with the lifestyle change you need. You’re health fitness should just not be a 12 week program or 60 day journey but a journey that includes the rest of your life.
Your Fitness and Nutrition Coach,
~David Modderman
Filed under Lifestyle, fitness, weight loss by on Jan 4th, 2011. Comment.
For the next few months in Michigan it’s sunny and warm outside so why would you want to always do your workout inside in a hot and smelly gym?
Especially, when you can be outside enjoying yourself and your workout in the green grass and warm sunshine!
Most are surprised when I tell them how very little equipment you actually need to get a full body workout outside.
You can get a great workout outside in your own backyard and the park with just a few basic moves and with equipment you can find at almost any park. You can even workout outside with your kids and family and have fun!
I recently appeared on Grand Rapids own WZZM Channel 13′s “Take Five and Company” to discuss this very thing.
You can watch the video below:
Or email subscribers you can view it by clicking here: PARK WORKOUT
Do You Want To Get An Outdoor workout designed specially for you?
Do you want to get a GREAT workout in the park?
Contact me today for more information!
Your Fitness and Nutrition Coach,
~David Modderman
david@davidmodderman
Filed under Training, fitness by on Jul 19th, 2010. Comment.
It is amazing to me how many people want the quick fix when it comes to weight loss and fitness.
It’s also amazing to me how trainers are so willing to give quick fix answers and send people on there way. I was at the Front Street Riverview center yesterday promoting the newest location and fitness studio for my newest affiliation
The whole day I had people coming up to me and saying “oh you’re a trainer “what is the best exercise to get rid of this or that?” They would then grab under there arm and point or grab their waist and squeeze. To my dismay I actually heard another personal trainer give a lady really bad advice. The lady asked how she could get rid of fat on her back and waist. I actually heard this trainer say “you need to do lat pull downs to target under your arms or back” and crunches to target your waist”.
To me this was bad advice that this lady would get nothing from. But wait isn’t this exercise advice true? Well yes maybe, you should do lat pulldowns to hit underneath your arms or back and crunches to target your waist…..but that’s not the point…….The point is will these exercise be enough to actually get rid of these areas?
NO!
These exercises will only target the muscle underneath but they will not reduce or shrink these areas alone. So being a hard headed person and making sure this lady at the very least walked a way with sound advice I had to chime in and give my two cents. I told her if she really wanted to see results in those areas then doing two exercises alone will not be enough. I told what she needed to do is to learn the proper balance of the right nutrition, resistance training and aerobic exercise.
That is the only true way to see long term success in those areas. As a trainer it is always easy to give someone a quick easy answer and send them on their way, but will this advice really help someone? Will these quick answers empower them to change there lives? I believe the answer to be NO.
There is no quick fix or easy answer for getting into shape and getting that body you have always wanted. It will take hard work, some inspiration and motivation and the right map.
My goal is to be not just a trainer with a quick easy answer but the Fitness Coach and Fitness Professional that will give you the advice that will make the difference in your life and your goals. I can give you the motivation, inspiration, and the right map to be successful you just have listen, work hard, and follow this map.
If you do then there is nothing that can stand in your way. I will see you all back here soon….. same place….and same time…well maybe not the same time….but I will be around J
-David
Filed under Lifestyle, Training by on Jun 14th, 2008. Comment.
