Author Topic: Cardio for Strength athletes  (Read 347 times)

H0M3R

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Cardio for Strength athletes
« on: 14, June, 2019, 10:17:16 am »
Ok, I'm not a strength athlete (yet) but I aspire to be one lol.

I currently train weights 4 days a week, the 4 big lifts. But I also have an 'extra' day where I try and do a bit of cardio and also add on a bit of bro work. Not much though, I'm not a big fan of cardio but I know I need to do it. So I tend to do 20-30 mins of steady state cardio on the treadmill or bike, then do some bro work such as calves and bis/tris,  then finish with 10mins on the battle ropes/sledgehammer swings/tyre flips. Then I'm pretty much done.

I'm not trying to become an endurance athlete or anything, or to become a fat burning machine. I'm just doing it to improve my general fitness, my occupational health nurse at work says my lung capacity should be better. I also have mild asthma, nothing serious, but it makes me short of breath of breath very quickly when doing aerobic activity, but I've usually put that down to being unfit as well.

Am I doing enough? Should I switch to HIIT for the cardio element? I struggle to fit any other days in apart from the occasional bike ride.
Garage Gym Wannabe Powerlifter
PB's @ ~90kg BW
Squat - 175kg     Bench - 125kg
Deadlift - 210kg     Strict OHP - 85kg

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ANIMAL

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Re: Cardio for Strength athletes
« Reply #1 on: 14, June, 2019, 22:09:20 pm »
You need to tailor your cardio to align with your strength goals.

Instead of cardio, think of it as conditioning

Weighted carries/ farmers walk

Sled Pulls/ pushes

Sledgehammer slams

Tyre flips

Battle ropes

Medball throws

20 rep squats

Pig deadlifts

Barbell complexes



H0M3R

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Re: Cardio for Strength athletes
« Reply #2 on: 17, June, 2019, 09:33:50 am »
Cheers Animal.

Only trouble I have is access to equipment, but most of them I can do. Is once per week enough though?
Garage Gym Wannabe Powerlifter
PB's @ ~90kg BW
Squat - 175kg     Bench - 125kg
Deadlift - 210kg     Strict OHP - 85kg

ANIMAL

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Re: Cardio for Strength athletes
« Reply #3 on: 17, June, 2019, 10:27:19 am »
20 rep squats, pig deadlifts and barbell complexes you don’t need special equipment. You’ve also got dumbbells at home so you could go for a power walk round the block holding heavy bells. Make yourself a sandbag. Etc

Remember you said you are doing this for fitness More then anything and it needs to complement your strength goals.

Is once a week enough? Probably not

In your journal you wrote this about volume


Do you still think it’s low volume? I struggle to do more on OHP day as I only have an hour to fit everything in.
For the other days at home I might be able fit more in, say doubling the work sets to 10x2 instead of 5x2. Although I’m pretty done in after the 5 tbh. Might be able to squeeze a few more sets in though.

If you are done in after 5 sets, then you need to increase your fitness.

GPP. General Physical Preparedness. So many strength athletes neglect this aspect. The fitter you are, the more volume you can accumulate and a high intensity you can withstand. Both are key to getting stronger.



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H0M3R

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Re: Cardio for Strength athletes
« Reply #4 on: 17, June, 2019, 11:15:55 am »
The only way I could fit more in is by adding an extra day at home, although its a struggle atm with work and kids clubs to attend on other evenings. Sandbag is still on my to do list, I've got a skipping rope I keep forgetting to use, that should be easy enough to fit in on the evening. Superset skipping with kettlebell swings maybe?

When my lad moves up to cubs from beavers later this year then I should be able to get an extra day in the gym as he will then be able to MMA on Tuesdays as well.
Garage Gym Wannabe Powerlifter
PB's @ ~90kg BW
Squat - 175kg     Bench - 125kg
Deadlift - 210kg     Strict OHP - 85kg

Nails

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Re: Cardio for Strength athletes
« Reply #5 on: 26, June, 2019, 14:07:40 pm »
I'm a big fan of giant sets, you get your conditioning in at the same time as your strength work.  Keep the rest periods to 90 seconds and you'll get a lot more work done in less time.  Do any of the stuff animal suggested but as part of your main work.  Obviously load will be reduced because of this but you'll be surprised what adding the extra work does.

Mr_inconsistent

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Re: Cardio for Strength athletes
« Reply #6 on: 23, September, 2019, 12:18:37 pm »
When I used to lift my highest volume day would of been 5x5 on the big lifts.
What set x reps would you consider as high rep?