IS CARDIO HEALTHY FOR YOU PART II
In part 1 we talked about why cardio can be bad for you, cardio being exercise of the cardiovascular system to elevated or maximum stress levels for sustained or unbroken periods of time, usually thirty minutes or more1. Cardiovascular exercise is a catabolic stressor that elevates glucocorticoid (stress hormones) production2. What this results in is breakdown of much-needed muscle as well as bodyfat.
Now what is the best way to improve fitness, lose weight, strengthen your cardiovascular system, and reduce risk of heart disease? We're going to talk about 1) functional weight training and 2) cardio interval training.
1) Functional weight training is resistance training that conditions and strengthens your body for real-life, real-world activities. Jerry Seinfeld jokes about what people actually do in gyms, which is to get in better shape only for the next workout. People are working out so they can work out more. He hits on an important point: what are we "getting in shape" for? Is it to reduce back pain? Is it to reduce risk of back-injury? Is it to be able to flip an omelette with a heavy Calphalon frying pan? Is it to be able to carry the laundry basket to the 2nd floor? Is it to be able to keep up with the kids?
Functional weight training largely involves core conditioning and full-body movements. An example of core conditioning would be a supine lateral ball roll (using a swiss ball). An example of a full-body movement is a front squat. Now you may wonder if we get that great body we all want by functional weight training. Gray Cooke, functional training expert, notes that "muscles will develop naturally as different movement patterns are worked so most people will look as if they have done some bodybuilding. But the focus is on function; great form is just a by-product.3"
2) In our personal training, cardiovascular interval training is the way we balance out our clients' functional weight training. Mark Verstegen, creator and owner of Athletes Performance Training Centers, more accurately calls cardiovascular training "energy system development.4" When you interval train you force the body to tap into multiple energy systems which results in better fitness, faster. Tapping into multiple energy systems also resembles the demands of weight training and real-life and is therefore more functional.
An example of interval training would be to alternate 2-min work periods at 80-90% target heartrate with 2-min rest periods below 60% target heartrate. Repeat the work and rest intervals 6-8 times for a total of 24-32 minutes. Where can you do this? To control your heartrate easier you can do this on a treadmill or a typical cardio elliptical. Or try it outdoors by running for the work intervals and walking for the rest intervals. Runners may recognize this as being a "fartlek" workout, swedish for "speedplay."
Katherine and I have personally seen the advantages of functional weight training. As many of you know I was a competitive triathlete for over 12 years. However, in the first 4 months of functional weight lifting I lost 8-10% bodyfat. Oh, how I think of what times I could have hit had I devoted a couple hours to weight training. It was too bad I didn't run into athlete strength-and-conditioning coach Lee Taft five years earlier (www.sportspeedetc.com). Katherine, former fanatical spinning instructor, dropped from size 14 to 4 in only 9 months after totally dropping "cardio," continuing to functionally weight train, and adding sprint training. Of course we cannot discount the fact that we eat for our metabolic type, eat as much organic food as possible, and drink the water we should!
To conclude, again think of how different a world-class marathoner looks (thin and boney), who spends his/her training time in the aerobic 'zone,' versus a world-class sprinter (muscular, toned, defined). Again we ask, who you would rather look like?
References:
1Jordin Rubin N.M.D, PhD, The Maker's Diet: 173
2Paul Chek, Holistic Health Practitioner, Cardio Training, 10/2/04, http://www.mercola.com/
3Gray Cooke, Athletic Body In Balance
4Mark Verstagen, Core Performance, p 139.