Cardiovascular strength writeups plz??

[Jabberwocky]

This is embarrassing, as I was actually a trainer at one point, but i'm gonna go ahead and request articles/writeups on the best ways towards working the cardio system.

I'd always placed my focus (both theoretical and practical) towards anabolism, and always neglected learning more than the bare minimum on cardio. I know how to setup anabolic routines, how to maximize efficiency of strength/mass workouts, how to plan series of workouts toward a final goal (muscle growht/strength), etc. But for my "cardio", which is a hodgepodge of running, dancing, distance-biking, and bmx'ing, it's the "anabolic equivalent" of going to a gym and spending an hour doing curls with 5lbs dumbbells. I'm putting in the time, the effort, but i just cannot fathom that my cardio approach is any more refined than a mass routine based on situps.

Any help is appreciated. Ideally cardio for me is about 3-4hrs of bike/run/bmx weekly (dancing is on top of that but completely unreliable wrt "fitness" based on the night!). My goal is simply to increase cardio capacity, and hopefully help combat some of the side effects of smoking.

 

[thujone]

Try some isometric exercises. I definitely feel the effects of those in my heart; BP skyrockets

 

[slimvictor]

If you are running / biking 3-4 hours a week, you are probably in good cardio shape.
To improve further, you might want to look at interval training.
Basically, going at 100% of your capacity for 1-2 minutes several times seems to lead to the same gains that result from going at 60-70% of your capacity for a half hour.
I don't trust it entirely, and want to build endurance, so I mix in several intervals with my running/bike riding.
E.g. jog for 30 minutes, then run at max speed for 2 minutes. Rest until I have caught my breath, then do another interval for 2 minutes. Catch my breath, maybe do another interval, then jog back home.

 

[yobigfatmomma]

I think when you say "anabolic" you mean "anaerobic". Anabolism is a metabolic process that occurs from both weightlifting and cardio, and it just means growth of tissue. Anyway, it's important to know when designing a cardio routine that there are different energy pathways and certain ones predominate depending on the demands of the activity you're engaged in. You have the anaerobic pathway which is the main pathway in short bursts of high intensity movement, like 50m sprints or a set of 5 barbell squats. Then there is the glycolitic/lactic acid pathway which is good for up to 2 minutes of high intensity movement. Then theres the oxidative system which uses fat as a source of fuel and can last a long time, like in a marathon. If you want to train the ATP pathway, your best bet is something like sprinting followed by full recovery. The lactic acid pathway can be trained by interval training with up to two minutes of work, followed by either active or passive recovery (walking or sitting), and the aerobic pathway is best trained by keeping heart rate in a certain zone, usually around 140-160 beats per minute for long periods of time. Choose the pathways you train by which best fits your goals.

Hopefully this is helpful, best of luck!

 

[slimvictor]

^ Good to know this information.
Thanks!

 

[Jabberwocky]

yobigfatmamma- i meant that what i wanted was to endurance what anabolism was to strength, probably got it across unclear lol

thujone- very ignorant there will check into it though!

slimvictor- that's what i'm getting at I think, but curious on specifics (for instance, how many 1-2min bursts per 30min riding?). I actually knew this was the general approach i was curious on but couldn't remember what it was called. Right now i'm just going into those 'bursts' as i ride pretty arbitrarily, would like to know how to structure it better.
Am also curious what constitutes "too much" on cardio, or more accurately what constitutes a major "point of diminishing returns" (for instance, most would agree that, w/o steroids, 5d/week at 1hr is the most someone should do for strength/size training). 3-4hrs looks good on paper, and maybe it's the smoking, but i certainly don't feel like i'm even 'healthy' wrt cardio.

 

[PriestTheyCalledHim]

Thanks for this post, and the discussions about cardio exercise and anaerobic exercise vs aerobic exercise. I was told by my doctor it's more effective to do cardio slower for longer periods of time than it is to go a short or even long distance very fast.

 

[Jabberwocky]

well there's certainly differences, "better"/"more effective" are only generalizations at best.
(ex. From where i am right now, all i seem to need is to incorporate more high-intensity cardio)
I think that, much like high-rep/low-weight V low-rep/high-weight paradigms in muscle/strength training, one kind of has to 'choose' emphasis in cardio (or mix them).

I'd definitely guess that, wrt 'general health', that lower-intensity, longer-interval training (whether anabolic or aerobic) is better, generally-speaking.

 

[Jabberwocky]

OK, here's the gist of the HIIT (high intensity interval training) skeleton I'll be applying to my (distance ride and run) workouts.

Generally, over 15m periods of training:
train at low/moderate pace for 1min, then
high intensity (90-95 max HR) for 15-20sec, then
train low/moderate for 1min,
repeat for 15-20min

(that's a basic, general approach from a bodybuilding.com article. should be sufficient for my next month or so ;P )