How To Get Your Cardio Up For Rolling

[Xsimon]

Its all functional strength using plyometrics, kettle bells, body weight exercises, etc.
See you in December!

Whats functional strength?!?

jk jk


Matt:
you should get a volcano vaporizer :P.. stupidly expensive.. but amazing. Friend got one a year ago and thats all we ever use.

[Dustin C.]

nice suggestions guys, THX

[Jason Hyatt]

My cardio has long been my downfall, owing in part to being on very high doses of prednisone for a long period of time (take home warning to guys who like steroids, anabolic or otherwise: that shit will mangle your heart; even if it's just an anti-inflammatory to treat disease.). I've had to work a lot to get my cardio up and I have had plenty of health setbacks that have made me have to start all over again (you lose cardio fast and it's hard to get back). As a respiratory therapist, I have a particular interest in cardiovascular stuff in general and cardio training specifically.

There are really three aspects to what we mean by "cardio" and there are different approaches to how best to train each one. First is your anerobic threshold. That's basically how long your muscles are able to go before using up the available oxygen and changing to anaerobic metabolism. Once a muscle goes into anaerobic metabolism it will quickly use up energy faster than it can be replaced and the muscle fails. Second is your aerobic conditioning which is the efficiency with which your cardiovascular system delivers oxygen rich blood and removes waste. Last is your recovery time. Different trainers and physiologists have different ideas about how best to train those aspects, but the end result is the same; you need to work on all three areas or your athletic endurance will suffer.

To train your anaerobic threshold, most trainers will have you do some form of intervals or other high-intensity exercise. The important thing is to use large muscle groups and train well into "the burn" of anerobic metabolism (sometimes called "training to failure" but I don't care for that misnomer; rarely do you ever actualyl get to total muscle failure. Usually your mind gives up on you first and you quit when it just hurts too much) or do intervals such as sprints. Another way to train anaerobic conditioning is with static strength training -- typically a HARD isometric contraction that elevates the heart rate for a proscribed period of time (e.g. clinching a medicine ball for time, holding up a leg press at your 1-3 rep max weight for time, etc). What this does is stimulate the production of myoglobin and improve mitochondrial efficiency within the muscles. This means they can go longer before switching over to anerobic metabolism. Once a week is plenty to train your anaerobic threshold. You need rest and recovery to prevent over-training. EDIT: note that this is not the same as a typical anaerobic weightlifting routine. You should be using large muscles especially in combination and training to near-complete exhaustion. That's why you should only do one of these days a week and REST. If you're doing static contractions (which looks like something Einstein uses in his program for Chuck) it should be borderline torture. If it just hurts a bit, you're not squeezing hard enough. Also, you need to be sure it's a full body workout if you want your grappling endurance to improve. When I was rock climbing regularly we'd do dead-hangs to failure with our arms at different angles which improved the anaerobic threshold in my forearms but did nothing for my general conditioning. You have to get well into the "burn" zone and elevate your heart rate or you're not stimulating the muscle properly. And once again, REST. You don't improve anything without growth and growth only occurs during rest periods.

To train your aerobic conditioning you need to stay just below the anaerobic threshold. Think of aerobic training like shoveling coal into a boiler or furnace -- too much and it burns to hot and you blow up the boiler. Too little and the boiler cools down and doesn't work. This means keeping your heart rate at a moderate level for a longer period of time (e.g. 60-70% of max HR for 45min-1hr at least). You should still be able to carry on a reasonable conversation during this. If you're too out of breath to talk then you're not training your aerobic conditioning, you're training your anaerobic threshold. This should be at least twice a week. If you're in good shape, plain ol' jogging should get it done but if you really want to maximize your gains, get a heart rate monitor. If you start gettig your heart rate too high during this workout you're back to training your anaerobic threshold and that's going to slow your overall progress.

To train your recovery time you need to improve the efficiency with which you get back below your anaerobic threshold. This one's easy to train: maintain a low-moderate heart rate for a long period of time -- no less than an hour and a half; two is better. This should basically be a brisk walk that gets you to break a mild sweat. This improves the efficiency with which you remove waste products from the muscle by working the right side of the heart (muscle contraction assists venous return; increased venous return increases the work of the right heart which also delivers blood to the lungs). Once or twice a week is plenty as long as you're putting in the time; at least 90min of sustained effort.

Again, unless you're training all three aspects you're not maximizing your endurance gains. There's a lot of decent advice on this thread (and some less than decent). As long as you're working from first principles and training all three areas you'll improve your cardio. Keep in mind, it takes WEEKS to actually improve your VO2-max (the measure of aerobic efficiency) and if you're serious about improving your cardio invest in a good heart rate monitor. Keep at it and know that you're in good company.

Debacle: I kept it under thesis-length. How's that?

[Joe Durham]

Great info Jason! You used a bunch of words that i can barely pronounce let alone understand, but then you immediately explained in laymen terms so it made sense. I copied your post down for notes. Thanks bro!

[Jason Hyatt]

Glad I could help buddy.

[DAVIDR]

My muscles hardly ever get tired but my lungs are the thing that stops me. I get to the point where i feel like im suficating. What the best way to remidie this?

[AJ Camacho]

Oh, it's sort of like cheating but it really seems to be helping my cardio..

2 green tea caffeine pills
1 kava kava pill
1 maca pill

It's my free roll supplement cocktail 30 minutes before training. use at your own risk.

[frank-theman-james]

Hey I was wondering if you snore. Obstructed sleep apnea is a problem that I have. It's where you quit breathing several times during the night. That's not the bad part, when you quit breathing, your body reacts by going into panic mode. Your brain releases chemicals that tell the body to shock itself by super charging it with adrenaline so that you'll wake up and breath. Your heart gets all of this action many times a night which means it never gets to rest like it needs. This kills your stamina. All the exercise in the world won't get that back. Symptoms are snoring with pauses, falling asleep when you're not supposed to(middle of the day, while driving, anytime that you sit still for short periods of time ), and get ready for this one, LOSS OF SEXUAL APPETITE I.e. your best friend really doesn't care to come out and play like he wants to commit suicide. Now you may not want to believe it but I started having sexual problems when I was around 28. I know right, I mean I'm a good looking Guy who loves pussy, and here I am in the Superbowl without my star quarterback. I still remember the first time, the chick was hot and looked like faith hill, haunts me to this day .
Any way it was another 12 years before I got a sleep study and got a cpap to help me sleep. Its like putting an air hose in your mouth and it pumps air into you. I hate it, but let me tell you, three days after I started therapy, I fucked my girlfriend like a porn star, which made her very happy, and made both of us realize how much this condition effected my life. I still dont use mine like I should. You see I've got heart disease as a direct result of osa. Not reversible. My time I got left is limited. But til I go, I'll keep teaching and training. I love martial arts and sense I've discovered 10th planet juijitsu. I'll probably have a coronary one day on the mats, and that will be alright.

So I urge anyone who may be having stamina problems to consider that it may be more than the fact that you haven't done any physical exercise other than walking from your couch to your bedroom. Don't think it can't happen to you, because neither did I.

[Shawn Arnold]

This workout really gets my heart rate up every time.

[Pete Daly]

^^^Wow she has a great...uhh...technique...