This isn't inherently a bad thing – muscle mass is a strong predictor of health and longevity and what shapes your body composition. However, it represents only one side of a broad fitness spectrum. I was juggling various fitness disciplines and constantly feeling the pressure to perform at my best in each area. Despite the muscular gains, I felt that something was missing in my overall fitness.
Adding aerobic training was probably the best decision I could have made for my fitness journey.
By incorporating aerobic work, I found that my body recovered faster between strength sessions, enabling me to train harder and more frequently with the same level of fatigue. My work capacity increased, allowing me to push through more challenging workouts and see greater gains across the board. Moreover, my stress levels were better managed, giving me a greater sense of well-being and resilience in both my training and daily life.
The good news is that unless your goal is to become an elite marathoner, ultra-trail runner, or endurance athlete in any other discipline, you don't need to spend hours and hours doing cardio. While volume remains the number one performance factor, for the majority of us, being able to fit in 2-3 aerobic sessions each week without drastically impacting our overall schedule is already a fantastic foundation.
THE POWER OF AEROBIC FITNESS
You might wonder why aerobic fitness is so important, especially when the spotlight often shines on strength and high-intensity training.
Well... here’s the deal: aerobic conditioning plays a pivotal role in improving recovery, work capacity, and even your ability to handle stress. Think of your aerobic system as the engine that keeps everything running smoothly.
When you engage in aerobic activities like running, rowing, or cycling, your body undergoes several beneficial adaptations:
Increased capillaries: more capillaries means better delivery of oxygen and nutrients to your muscles and more efficient removal of waste products like lactate.
More mitochondria: aerobic exercise boosts the number of mitochondria (the powerhouses of your cells), enhancing your muscles' ability to generate energy for repair and endurance.
Heart adaptations: unlike weightlifting, which thickens the heart walls, aerobic activities stretch the heart cavity walls, improving cardiac output and overall cardiovascular health.
Traditional modalities like running, cycling, and swimming are excellent for improving your cardiovascular capacity, each offering distinct physiological benefits depending on the training zones you focus on (these activities are detailed extensively in our guide, "3 PILLARS TO ELEVATE YOUR HEALTH & FITNESS" that covers running, resistance training, and nutrition).
Today, however, we want to offer slightly different approaches that you can find in our 1:1 ONLINE PREMIUM COACHING services and with our (soon to be released) online programs.
1.THE CARDIAC OUTPUT METHOD
This method is all about low-intensity, steady-state work.
Cardiac output is the amount of blood the heart pumps through the circulatory system in one minute. It's a crucial measurement of heart function and is influenced by both heart rate and stroke volume (the amount of blood pumped for each beat). This training method focuses on increasing the heart's capacity to pump blood efficiently, leading to what’s known as "eccentric hypertrophy" (an enlargement of the heart cavity particularly in the left ventricle).
Improving cardiac output through low-intensity, steady-state exercises enhances your heart’s ability to pump blood more effectively. Staying during prolonged period with an elevated heart rate that remains between 60-70% of your max heart rate will develop that aerobic foundation. Developping this aerobic engine overtime will results in better oxygen and nutrient delivery to your muscles, improved waste removal, and overall better cardiovascular health.
NB: with what we discussed last week, you now should understand that your aerobic base isn't developed with HIIT and with higher heart rates. Although going at higher thresholds develops a vast amount of health benefits, it's only by staying in ZONE 1 and ZONE 2 more frequently that you create your cardiovascular capacity overtime.
GUIDELINES:
Choose 2-3 cardio equipment of your choice: Air Bike, Rower, Treadmill, Stair Master, Ski Erg, Jump Rope, etc.
Duration: In a cyclical manner, perform 10-20 minutes on each machine.
Frequency: Aim for 1-2 sessions per week as standalone workouts that can easily be incorporated during active recovery days.
Heart Rate: Maintain 60-70% of your max heart rate (ZONE 2), ensuring the intensity is low enough that you can carry on a conversation while exercising.
SAMPLES:
15’ Air Bike: Maintain a steady, moderate pace that keeps your heart rate in Zone 2.
15’ Rowing: Focus on consistent, smooth strokes, keeping your effort at a level where you can sustain the activity comfortably.
15’ Running: Keep a smooth and easy pace.
or
AMRAP 40’:
100 single Unders
30 Calorie Bike Erg or Rower
20 Hollow Rocks
10 No Push-up Burpees
*If you find your HR gets too high after the Burpees, rest for 60".
2.AEROBIC BODYBUILDER
Although the previous formats work perfectly, it can sometimes be repetive and boring to maintain cyclical stations for extended period.
"AEROBIC BODYBUILDER" is a format that combines resistance training pieces in a conditioning/aerobic output. The goal here is to use strength exercices that allows you to have great muscle contractions (aka a pump - topic of next week newsletter), while having cardiovascular pieces and sufficient rest in order to maintain proper form & quality of execution.
SAMPLES:
Every 4' x 10 rounds:
10 calories (equipment of choice)
12-15 Dumbbell Floor Presses @ 30X0
10 calories (equipment of choice)
45" Goblet Wall Sit
Rest for the remaining time before 4' mark.
or
For Quality:
21-18-15-12-9-6-3-6-9-12-15-18-21 calories (equipment of choice)*
*Between each number of calories, perform:
10 Dumbbell Suitcase Deadlift
12 Dumbbell Suitcase Hip March (R+L = 1 rep)
15 Anchored Feet Sit Up
3.SLED WORK AND LOADED CARRY COMBO
This method combines sled pushes and loaded carries, focusing on maintaining posture and heart rate when fatigue sets in. It’s a fantastic way to train aerobic abilities while working on deeper muscle groups, stability and posture
GUIDELINES:
SAMPLE WORKOUT:
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