Progress Journal: Conditioning not Cardio

One of my pet peeves in group cycling are the people who don’t want to put any resistance on the bike and either cruise for the hour or go at top speed but don’t realize that this is the equivalent of lifting 1 pound weights for an hour. Now sure if you’re severely out of shape (or DEconditioned) that may be hard but for most people showing up to a group cycle class they can do more.

Conditioning in health and fitness refers to several things but to keep it short and sweet for our purposes. I call conditioning:

The ability to recover faster
To produce a high level of power output and function for any given activity

For example if someone is severely de-conditioned, their heart rate will remain elevated for a long time after doing a high intensity activity. Someone in good condition will see their heart rate return to lower levels faster.

Athletes like our Olympic Champion Gymnastics team have to be well conditioned in order to do all of those amazing routines they do for several days. Their power output must be high but there endurance also must be top notch. It would be terrible to watch them sucking wind after a tough tumbling pass or falling out from exhaustion after a bar routine.

Gymnast Aly Raisman (Far Right) was said to do tons of plyometric (jumping) drills to get her legs in good condition for competition. That’s muscle conditioning for maximal power output during routines, cardio conditioning for those short but extremely high intensity routines, and to prevent injuries by building up leg strength.

The Final 5!
L to R
Simone Biles, Gabby Doughlas, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, Aly Raisman

If we are training like athletes, then conditioning needs to be part of the regimen.

Think CONDITIONING NOT CARDIO

Whenever I am at the gym and glance over at the cardio area, there are always people who are “La La La-ing” (thank you Diane for that reference!) over on the machines. Many are not challenging themselves or their heart rates. This is fine for the person who just wants to have a baseline of fitness or wants movement in their day.

BUT for those who are looking for Body composition changes (losing fat or gaining muscle mass) or you want to significant improvements in your fitness, then you must challenge yourself more.

The traditional Cardio routine is just not going to cut it which is why I encourage people to think CONDITIONING and not Cardio. Doing this will change your mindset to focus on INTENSITY and not just going through the motions. Yes it is still cardio and this is really just a matter of semantics but I do believe mindset matters most when it comes to training so we just roll with it.

The difference is that with conditioning you’re focused on keeping the intensity (power output) high for the majority of the workout and then having periods of lower intensity throughout the workout to allow for recovery.

As I have said before, effects on metabolism need to be the main concern for exercisers who are seeking body composition change and those who want to continue to improve their functional fitness. conditioning is CRITICAL for these changes.

Other Methods of Conditioning

A popular method I use in my cycling class is the Tabata Method. 20 seconds of high power output/10 seconds recovery and this continues for 8 rounds for a total of 4 minutes. This is a great method to use on cardio machines and remember this can be tailored to YOUR fitness level. Whatever is challenging for you.

Some people like to do weight training circuits. That’s a great way to get your HR up and build srength A great class for muscle conditioning is Bodypump. Lots of reps in under an hour.

Body weight conditioning circuits or using fancy equipment like sleds, kettlebells, and rope also work.

Adding it back into my own routine…

Since my motto is that we are training like athletes, I’m making sure that Conditioning is a big part of my routine and what better way to do that than by doing a conditioning routine from one of my mentors Todd Durkin who trains NFL, MLB, and other professional athletes.