Cardio before or after lifting?

I have had this conversation with a couple of gym rat friends.. Cardio before or after you lift?  Granted these are guys I am talking too and the majority of them are like after..   (Side note, these guys are flippin hot.. Ascetically pleasing times 100.. All fit and buff.. They bust out their reps.. And can spot me with one hand...)  So I am thinking hey if they can get that awesome of a body with only a few minutes of cardio after lifting, surely I can do something with 20 minutes. I am not trying to get that ripped, I'm a girl, I want to be soft but strong, muscular but not to defined. 

I also read a few articles on the subject.  A lot of stuff saying do cardio after you lift.. So I tried it.. Yeah, NO..When I lift I tend to lift until I am totally exhausted. Lighter weights + higher reps= lean muscle. I really do not have the energy to do 10 minutes of cardio let alone 20..

So today after body pump today I asked Rhonda, a personal trainer that I have the pleasure of working with for the next 12 weeks.  Does it REALLY matter when I do cardio?   Her answer was... No, calories burned are calories burned. Whether you are burning them before weights or after weights. It's kind of like eating after 8pm. Calories in and calories out is the ONLY thing that matters not the time.  (Like I said I am just looking to shrink... If you want serious lifting advise, check another blog.. )

 And actually that makes total sense..  And in the end I turned to my all time fave resource, (seriously if they ever pull my internet history at work other than Facebook it's bodybuilding.com.)

And here is what I found..

Anytime is a good time for cardio! Seriously morning, noon, afternoon, it's all a good time.   For me I am NOT a morning person, so me waking up at the butt crack of dawn to workout.. NOT a good idea..   I will either hurt myself or do only a half workout which benefits really nothing..   Body has spoken and I listened. I am a lunch or evening workout person. 

Before I made the cardio change my normal workout was cardio first and then I would lift.. And for a lady who is NOT interested in gaining beefy muscle mass that is actually awesome..

So ya know what blog world.. I am back to cardio and THEN lifting.. It's what works for me and that's what this is all about. What works for YOU!


For more information see.. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/topicoftheweek34.htm 

I know I know... Let's just move on..

It's been a while.. I have no excuses other then life just got crazy.. But I think I am back..