You Ask How Much "Cardio" Do You Need?

Calling conditioning, "cardio" is a peeve of mine. Some aerobic dance bunny a long time ago coined the term for CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONING and because she was bubbly and cute, it stuck. I've been asked how much "Cardio" is needed? If you understand that cardio means HEART then you need ALL of it to function as a bioenergetic system AND to win championships. Conditioning to me has always meant not only the Cardiac muscle (heart) but the oxygen delivery system in its entirety, lungs, blood vessels, and VO2 efficiency. (max oxygen uptake) As you mature the capacity becomes less. UNLESS you make a conscious effort to maintain it. How much is enough? When you get tired and are done! Since the start of the New Year I've had my charges concentrate more on their condition levels by force feeding them daily of Cardiovascular training. By doing it we increase our capacity to DO WORK which for us means more lifts per session. We will do our Conditioning first to get it out of the way, then do the main lift of the day. While met with much resistance at the first of the year, everyone is in a nice routine and have, for the most part, taking a liking to it. I fall back to a quote from the movie "American Flyer" that was written on the front of the t shirts of the participants in a cycling lab/gym..."res firma mitescere nescit" which means...A firm resolve does not know how to weaken in Latin or as the movie says..."roughly translated, once you've got it up, KEEP it up" Add it to your programming. Your future self will be glad you took care of himself earlier rather than later. Today's Training: Concept II Rowing Ergometer: 20 minutes steady state Pause Box Squat: Work up to a heavy 2 reps Beat last weeks four rep number Rep Box Squat: 5x10@same rep weight from last week   Walking Lunges: 5x10 (make sure to lightly tap the rear knee to the floor) GHR: 5x10 vs. mini band