After 40, cardio or weights first? Gym-goers’ dilemma

Susan’s devotion to weighted cardio borders on sacred. Her unwritten rule: two hours minimum – 30 minutes of weighted cardio, an hour of strength training, then 30 minutes on the treadmill or stairs, without fail.

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“I always start with a light cardio session, then move on to strength training where I push the weights a little harder. I must finish with at least 30 minutes of walking on the treadmill,” she told BD Life. It’s been her ritual for years.

For the muscular and disciplined Richard, the cross-trainer is the only cardio he trusts. Once done, he spends an hour and a half lifting weights.

“I played football until I fractured my right leg at 28, that’s why I don’t do much cardio anymore. Everything starts and ends with the cross-trainer. It’s less risky than the treadmill for my old injury. The only other time I do cardio is certain Sundays when my peers and I play football, and as you know, ‘mpira ya wazee’ isn’t that intense,” he explains.

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Then there’s engineer Peter Kamau, 46, who lives for the treadmill. At least an hour on it kicks off his session, followed by 30 to 45 minutes of lighter strength work—often sled pushes.

“At the gym, I always start on the treadmill. I’m a recreational runner, doing about 200 kilometres a week. There’s always a distance target to hit. I don’t do much strength training; 30 to 45 minutes is enough. Sometimes, depending on the race I’m preparing for, I finish with a slow run on the treadmill.”

Read: Peter Kamau: Engineer who runs 200km a week, swims 8km and eats plants only

For Lorna Bonareri, 53, a die-hard advocate of intermittent fasting and an all-round fitness enthusiast, the “cardio before or after weights” debate barely registers.

“I’ve been active for more than 30 years,” she says. “My body has muscle memory, so I can switch things up easily. I don’t stress about what comes first. One week I’m cycling; the next I’m lifting or doing cardio; the next I could be swimming. Sticking to one routine plateaus your growth.”

Read: At 53, with a chiselled body: This is how I did it

A daily dilemma

As gym culture surges among urban Kenyans, especially those in their 40s and 50s, increasingly conscious of how their bodies age and perform, the conversation keeps returning to one question: after 40, the age where life supposedly begins, should you do cardio before or after strength training?

For many gym-goers, the daily dilemma is familiar: you arrive, scan the room, and wonder—left toward the weights, or right toward the cardio section? You planned to do both, but in what order? Does it even matter?

“I do believe it depends on one’s objective. What is your goal? Do you want to lose weight, build some muscle, or keep up with general fitness without caring much about your physique?” argues Juma Hamisi, 47, a certified fitness trainer and ardent advocate of listening to your body.

As you get older, the body gets stiffer and strength declines naturally.

“If one’s target is to lose weight, it’s advisable to start by warming up the muscles. This increases blood flow and gets your body ready for a more intense cardio workout. But if the goal is to build muscle, then a warm-up is okay—followed by an intense strength session or lifting weights depending on the workout of the day. You might finish with light cardio, either a 20-minute walk on the treadmill or cycling on the spinning bikes,” adds Juma.

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Former bodybuilder turned fitness instructor Collins Omondi, 49, wants anyone past 40 to be very careful about how they start.

“I highly recommend starting with cardio, although the intensity varies from person to person,” Omondi says.

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“It’s important for those aged above 40 to warm up their joints, which naturally become stiffer with age. The body takes longer to heat up, which is why cardio is effective in getting things moving. Jumping straight into strength training or weightlifting increases the risk of injury, and as you may know, the body’s recovery and healing processes slow down with age.”

But 50-year-old boxing coach Hassan Abdul Salim disagrees.

“I think many people get it wrong. Before we even discuss cardio versus weights, let’s talk about what should truly come first – stretching. Most gym-goers skip stretching because they think it’s a waste of time, but there’s nothing more effective, especially for anyone over 40,” Hassan explains.

“Stretching shocks all the nerves in your body and wakes them up because nerves naturally go numb with age. After a proper stretch, which should take no less than 15 minutes, you can move into light cardio like a slow treadmill run, progress to light-weighted cardio, and finally build up to heavy lifting or intense strength training.”

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The sequence matters, he insists.

“If you immediately jump into strength training or load lifting with your muscles and nerves still stiff, getting injured isn’t a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’ and ‘how soon.’ That is why I insist for clients past 40 that we start with stretches to eliminate stiffness and prepare the body for what’s ahead. Once you’ve done that, the rest of the workout becomes a matter of personal preference. To me, this is the safest and most effective way to begin any workout session.”

Start this way...

All things being equal, it makes little difference whether you do cardio before or after weight training. However, if one discipline matters more – say your cardio is part of marathon prep, or your lifting is aimed at building muscle – start with that.

“Start with the thing you want to get better at,” advises exercise physiologist John Mukami.

“If you’re a recreational runner training for a race, you want to do the cardio before the strength work. The reason is simple: if you lift first, you’ll already be fatigued when you start your run, which means you won’t perform at the same level. You’ll compromise your ability to hit your target pace during tempo runs, intervals, or whatever workout you’ve planned for that day.”

Similarly, if your goal is to build strength or hit a personal best in the gym, st art with weights.

“If that is your priority, begin with strength training and then move on to cardio,” Mukami adds.

While the physiological differences between doing cardio before or after lifting are minimal, instructors Hassan and Omondi agree that for those past 40, it’s often wiser to separate the two sessions entirely. The risk of injury rises with fatigue—and full recovery takes longer.

“Fatigue only makes your form worse. You’ll never have better form when you’re already tired,” Omondi notes. Even when cardio and lifting hit different muscle groups—say, a shoulder workout followed by a run—the combination can still tax your overall systems and mental focus.

A 2025 report by a sports science team on SportRxiv found that warming up before strength training had an insignificant impact on overall exercise performance, including strength, endurance, and perceived exertion.

“At the end of the day, skipping strength, cardio, or even a warm-up—because you might get too tired to finish the rest of your session—does more harm than worrying about which one to start with,” notes Juma.

After all, the best workout is the one you actually do.

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