I feel compelled to post this in light of the concerns expressed about strength gains:

Most people interested in fitness do cardiovascuar and strength training and want to get the most out of both kinds of workouts. Dr. Len Kravitz discussed the effects of concurrent training (doing cardiovascular exercise followed by strength training) on strength gains. Many studies, but not all, show that endurance training interferes with strength gains. New research shows that the intensity of endurance exercise did not affect strength performance, unless the muscles used to do aerobics were trained again with weights. Leg press was dramatically affected for at least eight hours after riding a bike. If you want to concentrate on strength gains, train with weights first and then do your aerobics. If you want to concentrate on cardiovascular endurance for physically-active sports, hobbies or recreational activities; train aerobically first, then hit the weights.

(from IDEA Personal Trainer, March, 2004)

J.