Hey Kevin, When Are We Going To Do Cardio?

I get this question every so often and people who ask it get about 5 seconds of blank stare from me as I wait for them to break into a laugh and say "Just kidding.. hahaha". When my 5 seconds of blank stare is met with 5 seconds of even more blankness from the inquisitor then I realize the question has been asked for real. When are we going to do cardio? These are the times that make me realize how far we still have to go to destroy the misconceptions that have been developed over the past 50 or 60 years. 

There is a misconception that "cardio" work has to involve long periods of keeping your heart rate elevated in an "aerobic" zone where your heart rate is somewhere around 50-70% of it's max. According to the "experts", the longer you keep it there, the better. This is a message that has been brainwashed into society by the makers of treadmills, elliptical machines, and the chrome and fern palaces that house them. If you have 2 or 3 hours a day to blow on one of these running machines to nowhere then by all means, grab some headphones and a machine in front of the TV showing the Price Is Right and have at it. When you haven't developed any muscle and continue to gain weight after a couple months of running to nowhere then it's time to redefine what "cardio" work means to you....

Cardio work doesn't have to be done for extended periods of time and it doesn't have to be done at 50-70% of your max heart rate. It can be done in ridiculously short periods of time and it can be done at heart rates approaching 100% of your max heart rate. This is what high intensity interval training is all about. Work as hard as possible for a short period, recover for a short period, and repeat. Or, work as hard as possible for 10-30 minutes without a break. The longer the period of time, the lower intensity you'll be able to sustain. The trick is to work at the highest level of effort you can sustain. For example, when I'm in a 60 mile road race that takes about 2.5 hours to complete my heart rate will average around 85% max. When I'm in a cyclocross race my heart rate hovers around 90-95% max heart rate for 45 minutes. Cyclocross races are max efforts start to finish whereas road races you catch some breaks. When I'm doing burpee intervals at the gym, my heart rate is around 95-100% for anywhere from 1 min to 10 mins. The thing about working at a high intensity is it increases your metabolism. Your body continues to burn calories at an elevated rate when you're done exercising at a high intensity because it has to work harder to recover from the workout you put it through. This makes your body stronger because you push it harder and it makes your heart stronger because you push it harder. This is cardio work. 

My workout today consisted of some cardio work :)  I did a burpee workout (another gem from Johnny the Wildman) where I set out two cones 10 feet apart from each other. I started at the first cone and did 12 burpees, then walked to the other cone 10 feet away and did 12 more, walked back and did 11 more, then back to the other cone for 11 more.. This went on until I was down to 1 and 1. It's 156 burpees total. When you're finished with the round of 8's you've completed 100 burpees. Since I've set a goal to get 100 burpees in 5:00 minutes I checked my time at the 100 burpee mark. 5:56!! This beat my previous best of 6:42 by a whopping 46 seconds. I then took a much needed 30 second rest, finished the 156 burpees in 10:51 and collapsed for a couple minutes. I'm writing this 10 hours later and my lungs are still cooked.. As a finisher I did 6 rounds of Double Kettlebell Push Press with double 20kgs in a 30:30 format. Unbelievable workout and it only took me less than 20 minutes. 

Coming soon, another one of my favorites... "Hey Kevin, when are we going to work on our abs?" ;)

All the best,

kevin