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I\u2019m a big fan of getting strong.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Physical strength improves all areas of life, and hoisting heavy weights is just plain fun. At least, I think it\u2019s fun.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When I first embraced the gospel of the barbell with the zeal of a new convert seven years ago, I pretty much gave up on any cardio exercise, both the low-intensity and the high-intensity kind.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I rationalized my neglect of cardio by telling myself, \u201cIt gets in the way of my gains, bruh.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Honestly, I just didn\u2019t like doing cardio.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019d never been into slow and steady exercise. Running and biking? Boring! I liked to ruck, but I tended to half-ass it. It never seemed like enough of a workout. That wasn\u2019t rucking\u2019s fault; it was my own.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And high-intensity cardio, like sprints and burpees and the like, just reminded me of the unpleasant parts of playing high school football.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019d half-heartedly do high-intensity cardio at the end of my barbell workouts since my coach, Matt Reynolds, programmed it for me. But I always approached it as \u201cDo it if you can get to it.\u201d And I found myself finding reasons to skip out on these cardio sessions more often than not.<\/span><\/p>\n What was the result of my neglecting cardio?<\/span><\/p>\n A couple things. Neither of them good.<\/span><\/p>\n First, I got kind of chonky. Strong, but pudgy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Second, I started getting winded doing everyday things. Sure, I could take a long hike on a backpacking trip, but I\u2019d need to take more breaks than I would have liked. Intense games of ultimate frisbee left me sucking wind and asking for extended timeouts to catch my breath.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In short, I was out of shape.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I lacked conditioning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n During the past year, I\u2019ve shifted my focus from just concentrating on pure strength to also investing in my conditioning. Matt has been with me 100% on this shift and has helped me stay strong as I\u2019ve developed the other aspects of my fitness.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The results have been stellar.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m trimmer and in the all-around best shape I\u2019ve been in in a long time. And the fact that I\u2019ve been feeling so good, has changed my feelings about cardio.<\/span><\/p>\n To help us unpack the wonders of conditioning and how to do it, I consulted with Nick Solyen at Barbell Logic for his insight and advice.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cConditioning\u201d is a word that gets thrown around a lot in the fitness world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If you played football, the guy in charge of the team\u2019s athletic performance was probably called a \u201cstrength and <\/span>conditioning<\/span><\/i> coach.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019ve done CrossFit, you may have done \u201cmetabolic conditioning,\u201d or \u201cmet-con,\u201d workouts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We all likely have a general idea of what conditioning means, that it has to do with cardiovascular fitness and that it\u2019s training that gets you ready for some kind of event, i.e., you do gassers in basketball practice so that you won\u2019t be gassed in a game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That lay understanding of conditioning is a good starting point, but there\u2019s more to it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To understand conditioning, it helps to understand the body\u2019s energy systems. We\u2019ve discussed this in previous articles before, but it\u2019s helpful to review.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n All cells in your body are fueled by adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. When you walk, you\u2019re using ATP. Deadlifting? Powered by ATP. Reading this article? ATP.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0ATP can be produced in three ways:<\/span><\/p>\n Which system we use to generate ATP depends on the intensity of the activity we\u2019re engaged in.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Low-intensity activities like walking, slow jogging, and leisurely swimming primarily use fat to generate ATP. When your body is using fat for fuel, it\u2019s called oxidation or aerobic activity since your body is using oxygen to help convert the fat to ATP.<\/span><\/p>\n As the intensity increases, you start using more carbohydrates. So if your slow jog turns into a speedier trot, your body starts using more carbs to generate the ATP your body needs to haul your carcass along the running trail. When your body uses carbs to create ATP, it\u2019s called glycolysis. It\u2019s also called <\/span>anaerobic<\/span><\/i> activity since it doesn\u2019t use oxygen in the ATP creation process.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When you do an intense activity like sprinting or a heavy set of squats, your body uses creatine phosphate to create ATP. Like glycolysis, ATP created from creatine phosphate doesn\u2019t use oxygen. Thus, activity that uses creatine phosphate for ATP is also called anaerobic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When physiologists and fitness scientists talk about \u201cconditioning,\u201d they\u2019re talking about your body\u2019s ability to create energy using these aerobic and anaerobic systems. The more conditioning you have, the more efficient your body is at creating energy in a given metabolic system.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n You can have aerobic conditioning without anaerobic conditioning or vice versa. Ideally, you\u2019ll have both.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Aerobic conditioning refers to your body\u2019s ability to use oxidation to create ATP. The better your aerobic conditioning, the more efficient your body is at creating ATP from fat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The best way to improve your aerobic conditioning is to engage in regular bouts of long Zone 2 cardio sessions. Zone 2 cardio involves exercising with your heart rate within a certain range, <\/span>and we\u2019ve got a full guide to doing it here<\/span>. Not only does Zone 2 cardio help your cells use fat for fuel more efficiently, but it also helps create more mitochondria, which are the powerhouses in that conversion process. The more mitochondria you gain, the better your body becomes at turning fat into fuel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Besides improving your body\u2019s ability to use fat for fuel, aerobic conditioning, like Zone 2 cardio, improves cardiovascular health, aids recovery, and boosts mood. It also helps with body composition. You burn a lot of calories when you take part in long sessions of Zone 2 cardio, which helps reduce body fat. I\u2019ve become a lot leaner since adding Zone 2 cardio to my workout routine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Anaerobic conditioning refers to your body\u2019s ability to use glycogen or creatine phosphate to create ATP. The more anaerobic conditioning you have, the more efficient your body is at creating ATP from glycogen or creatine phosphate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n You condition or train your anaerobic systems by performing short bursts of <\/span>intense<\/span><\/i> activity. Trainers call the type of workout protocol designed to work the anaerobic system high-intensity interval training, or HIIT.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Vigorously pedaling an assault bike, swinging battle ropes, pushing a weighted sled, performing bodyweight circuits, and doing wind sprints are all examples of exercises that condition your anaerobic systems. Any<\/span> activity can be turned into anaerobic conditioning as long as you do it with maximum effort.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Besides improving your body\u2019s ability to create ATP from glycogen or creatine phosphate, anaerobic conditioning also generates other benefits. Research shows that your body continues to burn calories even after you\u2019ve done a HIIT workout, so if trimming up is on your list of goals, you need to get winded a few times a week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n HIIT has also been shown to improve insulin resistance which can help mitigate things like type 2 diabetes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Besides improving your body\u2019s ability to create energy from glycogen or creatine phosphate, HIIT strengthens muscles and joints, helps stave off dementia, and boosts your mood.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n According to Nick, a good general conditioning program seeks to develop both your aerobic and anaerobic systems while allowing you to train for strength.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n You might be thinking, \u201cHow am I going to strength train<\/span> and<\/span><\/i> do aerobic and anaerobic conditioning? I\u2019ve only got so much time in the week!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s actually pretty easy.<\/span><\/p>\n Nick suggests the following regimen. Modify it based on your specific circumstances.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Nick recommends getting in at least five hours of low-intensity aerobic conditioning a week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Walking, jogging, cycling, and rucking are great aerobic conditioning activities. They\u2019re the type of thing you could do every day without it wearing you out or getting in the way of your strength training.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There are different ways to accumulate your five weekly hours of aerobic conditioning. For many guys, it will mean just trying to get in an hour of brisk walking each day. Try breaking that hour into four 15-minute walk breaks you distribute throughout your schedule. Make phone calls while on your walks if you want to multitask. Bam! That\u2019s an hour of daily aerobic activity right there.<\/span><\/p>\n My aerobic conditioning looks like this:<\/span><\/p>\n Walk as much as I can throughout the day, every day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday: Hour-long sessions of Zone 2 cardio done by pedaling an elliptical machine or walking on an incline treadmill.<\/span><\/p>\n For me, discovering the Zone 2 sweet spot \u2014 a mode of exercise that is hard enough to work up a satisfying sweat but not so hard as to induce stress and depletion (and which allows me to watch a guilt-free hour of <\/span>Cobra Kai)<\/span><\/i> \u2014 has changed my whole opinion of cardio. It\u2019s gone from something I avoided, to something I look forward to.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n According to Nick, to get the benefits of anaerobic conditioning, it needs to have 1) high enough intensity to elicit an adaptive response from your anaerobic system, and 2) high enough volume to have a meaningful effect.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If you can still talk when you\u2019re doing what you think is your anaerobic exercise, you\u2019re not doing anaerobic exercise. It\u2019s not intense enough.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If all you do is a single, full-out wind sprint for your anaerobic conditioning, that\u2019s not enough volume for your anaerobic conditioning to do anything for you.<\/span><\/p>\n To ensure you get the intensity and volume right, Nick suggests the following anaerobic conditioning programming to get started:<\/p>\n That\u2019s it! A beginner HIIT workout like this only takes about five minutes and gives you the appropriate dose and volume for anaerobic conditioning.<\/p>\n As you get more and more anaerobically conditioned, you\u2019ll need to increase the stress of your HIIT workouts, so you continue to elicit an adaptive response. Nick recommends adding stress to your HIIT workouts in three ways:<\/p>\n Even as you get more advanced with it, you only need to do HIIT workouts two times a week to get the anaerobic conditioning benefit. Nick recommends doing your HIIT workouts right after your strength training workout. You don\u2019t want to do them before your weightlifting because it will sap your strength for the main workout.<\/span><\/p>\n I do my HIIT workouts after my barbell sessions \u2014 on my deadlift day and bench press day. On deadlift day, I\u2019ll do a HIIT circuit focusing on my lower body. My favorite lately is alternating between kettlebell swings and bodyweight lunges in a circuit fashion. I\u2019ll do the swings for 20 seconds, followed by 20 seconds of alternating lunges, followed by a rest of a minute and 40 seconds.\u00a0<\/p>\n There you go. How to get the conditioning you need for general health and wellness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Get at least five hours a week of low-intensity but steady aerobic cardio.<\/span><\/p>\n Get in two sessions of anaerobic conditioning a week. Tack them on to the end of your regular strength-training workouts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhat Is Conditioning, Anyway?\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
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The Two Types of Conditioning: Aerobic and Anaerobic<\/span><\/h2>\n
Aerobic Conditioning\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Anaerobic Conditioning<\/h2>\n
Programming Conditioning for Everyday Life<\/span><\/h2>\n
Aerobic Conditioning (At least 5 hours a week)<\/h2>\n
Anaerobic Conditioning (2 short sessions a week)<\/h2>\n
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