Strength or Cardio?

Should I train strength or cardio in the gym today?

We tend to think of strength training and cardiovascular training as two separate, distinct entities, or types of training. When we refer to strength or resistance training we usually think only of creating an overload for a muscle group to stimulate a response, without an aerobic component. The fact that creating any such overload automatically engages the cardiovascular system is considered incidental. Likewise, when we consider specific cardiovascular training, the fact that any activity with this aim requires significant muscular strength or power output is viewed as equally incidental.

In my observations over a fitness and sports career spanning decades, the vast majority of people in gyms are not training incorrectly per se, but rather they are training inefficiently in relation to the attainment of their goals. Since nearly every set of goals for sport or fitness training involves some combination of increased strength/power/speed/musculature and endurance/stamina/cardiovascular capacity, training those elements entirely separately is rarely the most efficient strategy.

Combine your strength and cardio training for ultimate efficiency. Any strength training exercises performed with minimal rest, higher volumes and at elevated intensity levels will provide outstanding cardiovascular training benefits simultaneously. As a bonus, your metabolism stays elevated for hours afterwards, enhancing fat loss.

In reality, there is no true distinction between the two types of training. I long ago abandoned the concept of strength and cardio training as separate entities. All physical activity always incorporates elements of both . Taken to the extreme, one single maximal repetition or effort is almost exclusively anaerobic, with only a tiny component of cardiovascular effect. At the other end of the spectrum lie very high to nearly ‘indefinite’ exertions or repetitions, with an extremely long or non-existent failure point, which are almost entirely aerobic. Regardless, both still require muscular effort of some sort to enact and both still require adequate oxygen to fuel the movements.

To emphasise one element over the other, we simply shift the focus of the designed training regimen to cause a greater effect in one area or the other. By its very nature, training with enough intensity to achieve outstanding gains in strength, power or muscular hypertrophy automatically precipitates a very significant cardiovascular training element. The muscular output required to stimulate fast gains in performance or fitness results always requires cardiovascular support of a relatively high magnitude. To enhance the cardio training effect even more and maintain higher heart rates throughout your workout, simply reduce your rest time between sets.

The beauty of this reality is that properly executed, your progressive strength training will yield much broader-spectrum metabolic results than more conventional, segregated training methods. As stated early on, efficiency is one of the most important factors in successful training. The more results you can glean from a given timeframe of training, the better you are off. On the other hand, your strength training may very well not necessarily replace al of your cardio-specific activities and training. And of course, there is always room for fun cardio activities, unless pure muscle mass is virtually your only goal.

“the vast majority of people in gyms are not training incorrectly per se, but rather they are training inefficiently in relation to the attainment of their goals”

The key thing to keep in mind is that your training should always reflect the shortest path to your intended goals. In other words, always tailor the exercises, volume, intensity and duration of your workouts to attain your goals as efficiently as possible by combining strength and cardio elements whenever possible. Doing this keeps your workouts more interesting, shorter, more challenging and delivers faster results.

To see how blurry the line between strength and cardio can become, try the following elliptical metabolic intervals. I all but patented this exercise when working in gyms, one of the most effective all-round leg and cardio combinations anyone who ever mastered it with has experienced, regardless of experience level, even pros.

1. Find the elliptical trainer with the flattest or most front to back motion available — the less stair-like and more glider like the better.
2. Use only the pedals, not the moving handles, hang on to the fixed handle bar with your hands. There is no upper body component with this.
3. Start by warming up for a minute or two, just easy strides, try to keep your upper body steady & just move the feet. The smoother the motion the better, work to develop a constant motion. Resistance should be very low, especially at first.
4. Once you are warmed up, increase the speed of your feet to as fast as you can go without losing smoothness — if the machine measures cadence, 140–170 revs is great, although even faster is possible with practice. At first, you don’t need any added resistance or very low. More can come later with improved conditioning and practice.
5. At the same time as you increase your speed, lower yourself into a crouching position until your thighs are parallel to the floor, or 90 degrees bent. Your upper body should stay upright, just lower at the knees. You should end up in the same position as if you were doing a squat or lunge, but with your feet moving at maximum speed.
6. The burn in your upper thighs will begin immediately but try to sustain this until you start to slow down substantially or just can’t stand the heat.
7. When you feel you must, stand back up, slow back to half speed or less and let your legs recover. Go at a very easy pace until your breathing and heart rate have a chance to come down to a comfortable level. The actual time elapsed matters little. Try to relax as much as possible.
8. Once you are recovered enough, repeat the same steps again until you have done at least five or six of these intervals. It is not as important how many of these you do as it is to try to push a bit harder on each one. Take it a bit easy at first though, or the soreness the next day will be bad news.

The answer to whether to train strength or cardio on your next visit to the gym is; there is no difference -train both at once!