I watched two of the worlds best cyclists go through this type of training. Thanks for the support everyone! So walking it is! The other cool benefit of the aerobic energy system is that you can lean on it for hours upon end to produce energy for you. While I agree with what you said about “Long duration, low intensity training makes you slow,” I don’t think it fairly refutes this point. It’s about time someone put this out there. With that said, it was published in 1996 and software to model individual differences was just beginning to be implemented commercially. when should i do recovery cardio output workouts, and what should i do to not affect negatively my sprints/throws/jumps/strength? I am not concerned about the fastest, most explosive athlete (who most likely got to this point by running fast, jumping high, and lifting heavy things). If they are doing that 3-4 days per week, or more, which is often the case, then us coaches add more into the equation, would be helping them or hindering them at that point? So basically, as difficult/frustrating/annoying as it may be, taking a slow day will ultimately help you in the long run. Glad I finally came across this article. There is a noticeable gap in my RHR depending on the position I take it in. Here’s another cool thing – once you get your ticker in better condition, you don’t have to continue to do this stuff forever! This may well have been answered extensively but I’ve been scrolling through the comments and can’t find anything. The problem is that very low intensity, long duration exercise is inefficient. 60 minutes of cardio performed at a sedate pace releases a hormone that blunts hunger and reduces the release of hormones that can lead to promoting hunger. You have hit extremely key points in the arguments and discussed issues rather soundly. It’s also changed how the advice I give to clients for the better with regards to cardio. A simple graphic can be found here: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-primal-blueprint-21-day-challenge-infographic/#axzz2t0bweGxv. Hey Mike, Sad that we are so specific with the kids (no co-mingling of energy systems in a workout) and also ‘teachy’, but then their folks go to a box or chaos-based place and get smashed. The question is, once you go glycolytic can you get out of it? :) • Long duration, low-intensity cardio has a myriad of benefits: - improved cardiovascular function I am a college soccer coach; when I say that “Long duration, low intensity training makes you slow,” to my player it is because she spends the entire summer jogging/running 6-8 miles every day and does nothing else. Artjom – You’re absolutely right – different strokes for different folks. Purchased Joels book a year ago under your reccomendation, great resourse. CO isn’t the only way to train the aerobic energy system, but it is a powerful one and has numerous benefits. Thanks again. I’ve followed the advice in this article for several years now, but recently I came across a 2018 study titled “Moderate Intensity Intermittent Exercise Modality May Prevent Cardiovascular Drift” that made me rethink things. Let’s start with some of the basic physiology, and then we can get into why this stuff is actually important. Robyn – My assumption would be that females hearts are smaller, so this equation is assuming they will have more bpm due to a decrease in stroke volume. age of 48. Guy – You’re a smart one. Oh well, I like structure. Thanks again, your are a pro as always. In recent years High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) has sort of taken the spotlight, but that doesn’t mean that it is better than Low Interval Steady State Cardio (LISS). Great read! am a 51 years old female and feel in love with distance running at the young *, Cardiac output is one of those, and we use it when and if it’s necessary. I generally do high HR (160-180 BPM) cardio and for anywhere from 10-30 minutes a day and the weight training ranging from 120-150 BPM. I’m regularly below 40 in the mornings and only reach mid 40’s throughout the workday. When in a low carb state, we want to tap in to fat for our energy source during cardio. It’s in my Top 5 training books of all time — it’s that good.). Thirty to sixty minutes of moderate intensity work. My name is Tammy, Tammy Broccas, a 30 something year old blogger and freelance writer. So if that’s the case, why are we constantly pushing the limits? They are somewhat time consuming, so it’s rewarding to know people are getting something out of them. I’ve always said it doesn’t take a great coach to make someone tired. My main distance is the half marathon which I have knocked off 4 minutes I’m a 22 year old male 200 lbs and 6’2″ with a resting HR (today at the doc) of 88. Just trying to find the best form for me as I am getting mixed reviews from different reputable sources and studies Some are saying HIIT and some are saying low intensity. Many thanks for a great and articulately written piece! Modality could be mixed: rowing, airdyne, hiking, (running is likely too intense, so avoid). I would suggest getting a good reference model and working from that. Just wish such forward thinking peopls such as yourself didn’t have to waste time defending yourselves to people that really tarnish the industry. Wear and tear of the tissues is less likely in long duration cardio and there are reduced chances of injury. High intensity cardio that burns more calories will produce more fat loss. Danny O’Rourke bringing that blue steel face. With all the options and opinions out there, is it any wonder that people are confused as to how they should incorporate cardio into their workouts? However, i spend 90mins on the bicicle in the gym and i feel great today. Regards, Thanks! Not sure if that helps, but hopefully it does a little! I’m also tired of the overarching belief that one form of energy system training (i.e. and as mentioned for stress relief and enjoyment relaxing long run in the countryside with my dogs is in a league of its own. I Ryan – Thanks for chiming in, and I’m glad you liked the article! After finishing my 15-minute jogging i could barely touch the net of the rim. Too often if an athlete has poor aerobic development, they will go hard one or two times during a game and then never shift out of glycolysis. thanks. That’s not what I’m saying at all. My distance range from 5km to 25km depending on what I am wanting to One of the easiest ways to determine whether someone is parasympathetic or sympathetic dominant (along with their heart adaptations) is to check their resting heart rate. Thanks for the great post Mike! Dave Tenney has his soccer players go out and dribble to get their touches in. From bloody paleo, to crossfit, to HIIT, to stretching…….the list goes on. To make sure you get the key message from it, I've copied over the points I wanted people to take away. Ha ha…. I remember that some years ago i used fast pace walking to improve my stamina and it worked like magic. It is good for burning fat, and the low intensity makes it a good fit for anyone. Had to do the typo correction – that should be consistent basis. Those who are sucking wind instantly and suck in the last minutes of completion could likely benefit from some offseason base building. Different adaptations to your mitochondria. are incredibly reliant on the aerobic energy system. Low intensity cardio is aerobic exercise that is performed at 60 to 80 % of your maximum heart rate or your target heart rate. This is area where you opened my eyes the most…..to choose training modality accordingly. What would you recommend? Which explains why they fatigue and gas out! My big weeks of base work were up at 20 hours and I was a “decent” cat3 racer, which means I was pretty ok at racing bicycles. A couple of times per week is probably fine, The biggest issue comes down to the modality – too much, too soon where you’re doing a repetitive pattern (i.e. My honest view is that it takes care of itself if the sport is being played and that any extra conditioning should be used SPARINGLY as a means to focus on a training environment more strenuous then their sport as a peaking mechanism when competition doesn’t occur as frequently (MMA is a perfect example. I’m still sore from the last sprint session and the weightlifting last night. Cheers, Martin. Yeah that would definitely help. Most people only associate steady state with low intensity when distinguishing High Intensity Interval Training vs Low Intensity Steady State. You may not build raw strength but you will have muscles that can give you a sustained endurance that makes it continually easy to exercise, without having to worry about fatigue. Want to know more about me and my blog? I'm already lifting 4 times a week for about an hour to an hour a half at a time. The athletes who don’t show weakness in game fitness probably could focus on other areas of their development. Should I start to see an improvement in my LSD runs soon? I love this quote from Charlie Weingroff: “Increased aerobic capacity leads to improved tolerance to all biomotor abilities.”. Great Article…Benefitted immensely. I am going to try doing 2 x 1 hour sessions on the rowing machine at a slow pace and track my resting heart rate. Really interesting article. I know first hand the benefits of a well developed aerobic system and it’s positive impact on the use and development of the higher end energy systems. Mike, good article. im a decathlete, i train Mo, Wed, Fri: short sprints(from 30m to 120m), plyometrics, throws + weight lifting(long 3- 5 hours workout, warmup included), on saturday I do long sprints(from 200m to 300m), tuesday, thursday, sunday totally OFF…. I also have a few Pro MMA guys that have resting HR’s at 36 and 38. He asked if doing a tabata after every weight workout would be enough cardio for him? Awesome post! The downside? lean) athletes rolling in with resting heart rates in the high 60’s and even the upper 70’s. Bob. Furthermore preaching it to every individual that crosses their path. But that’s another bone I have to pick. At IFAST, we look at numerous tests to determine how efficient your body is. Regards, Andy. It may sound simple, but I consistently see even well conditioned (i.e. If you read the Joel’s work, or even reference the Tabata study, it leads us to believe that the bulk of your adaptations in the glycolytic energy system occur in the first 4-6 weeks of training, with 8 weeks being on the outer limits. If you sum up 70min of low intensity training, and tell us, that this “Confounds the study just a little bit, right?” please elaborate on this “confounding evidence” regarding the results of Tabata. Now look at them, they at the top of the food chain. So you really have two choices here, as I’m going to challenge a lot of the hot and popular conditioning “rules” being championed nowadays. I came across a study titled “Aerobic high-intensity intervals improve VO2max more than moderate training” that found that “SV increased significantly by approximately 10% after interval training” (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17414804). Anyway, your post gave me an additional reason to keep doing it. It acts like a slow simmer that does not make you come out in sweat. Most team sports (soccer, basketball, volleyball, football, etc.) I’m like Dr. Dan. This is where we call on the "fat burn zone". My question is does this sound like a good mix, as I am targeting 6-10km trail races with the occasional 1/2 marathon race say every 3-4 months. And I was considered explosive for a bike racer (very good sprinter). In contrast to traditional low intensity/long duration cardio, H.I.I.T sessions take the opposite approach by utilizing a harder pace for a shorter duration (alternating between interval periods of high and low intensity) usually lasting somewhere between 8-20 minutes in total. The worst thing you can do for them is tell them [...], Sleep experts encourage the use of pillows to help align your spinal cord during sleep. Calculate your maximum heart rate by using the formula (200 – your age). Clearly oxygen is fueling this work! Great post Mike. I’ll spare you the details, but I would have liked to see them present a graph of individual change for each participant. I can personally vouch that it has directly helped me in the weight room in terms of recovery and in addition, has helped me feel better overall. This does not mean you can’t MAINTAIN absolute strength and adequate power, but I would not try to chase all three of the goals you listed. How important is communication when it comes to healthcare? All rights reserved. I’d like to increase my stroke volume and cardiac output without hurting my size. Do you or anyone have any thoughts on the Maffetone Method for aerobic training? Interesting that you mentioned the Stubborn Fat Protocol (SFP). Can i only focus on a couple of aspects to improve or everything at once? I.e. It’s obvious that the aerobic energy system is the big dog if you want or need to produce energy for a long period of time. If you’re running fast, jumping high, and lifting heavy things in your current program, all of these things will help offset and mitigate some of the perceived drawbacks to CO-style training. Should have guessed that! During this long period the body gets conditioned to using fat to supply you with the required energy, and in the long run, this helps you to lose weight steadily. My lab recently conducted another experiment where we compared low-intensity, long-duration cardio of 60 minutes with 4-10 sets of 10-30-second all-out sprints. Now the next question invariably becomes, “what should I do?”, As my good friend Eric Oetter likes to say, “the heart is a dumb muscle.”. I agree. Everyone is in love with high-intensity interval training. Maybe keep it on the low-end with regards to time, and make sure to mix up modalities so it’s not too monotonous. Remember CO stands for cardiac output, so the heart is a primary focus of this training. One question though. So when this athlete walks in, I know that CO training will be one tool in my toolbox to help them. Makes fast people slow articles you have hit extremely key points in the high 60 ’ s that good )... Is valuable, back in the most popular Paleo diet, low-carb, & keto exercise discussion site up long. Is advising minutes rest repeated several times ) – what about the usefulness cardio! 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Biggest issue with a disbelief in its benefits and very much the opposite of CF turned 30 into places terms! Twitter, or just e-mailing this to a friend would be greatly appreciated have knocked off 4 since! And not gobs of extra muscle, I know when I ’ sorry. 30 something year old blogger and freelance writer personally am an olympic weightlifter and have rest days in Ultimate conditioning... You area busy man and really I am sure that low intensity, long duration low...