Cardiovascular training is “physical conditioning that exercises the heart, lungs, and associated blood vessels.”

People seem to either love or hate cardio. It’s either all they’re doing or they want nothing to do with it. 

I don’t care what your goals are, you and your heart NEED cardio.

The American Heart Association recommends adults “get at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of both preferably spread throughout the week”.

“For children aged 6-17 at least 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous intensity activity, with vigorous activity at least 3 days/week.”

What does this mean for you?

As always, it depends.

Do you have specific endurance or performance goals?

Are you trying to do as little cardio as possible while still being healthy?

Do you enjoy cardio, but have no specific goals and aren’t really sure where it should go?

If you fall into any of those, this should at least give you an idea of where to start.

The energy systems used to fuel strength training are also used to fuel your cardiovascular activities based on the duration in which they are performed.

Phosphocreatine System type training would be for more performance based athletes, particularly sprinters (1-200m), football or baseball, but when used in conjunction with other training types would be applicable to all sports where they need short bursts of absolute power (soccer, gymnastics, volleyball, martial arts).

This type of training might look something like this:

• 10-12 SETS OF 10-20 SECOND ALL-OUT SPRINTS (HILLS OR FLAT)
• PLYOMETRICS OF ANY KIND
• PUNCHING BAG ETC. WITH HEART RATE REACHING 80-90% OF MAX
• ALMOST COMPLETE RECOVERY WHICH CAN BE DETERMINED EITHER BY HEART RATE (130-140 BPM OR BELOW) OR TIME (60-90 SEC).
• THESE ARE RECOMMENDED 0-2X/WEEK DEPENDING ON YOUR GOALS / CONDITIONING / TRAINING PLAN.

Anaerobic System type training will be specifically useful again for athletes or performance based individuals who are required to keep going after that initial 10-20 sec, sports like soccer, football, etc. The next system kicks in to keep the body moving, but at a slower rate. This system is also more accessible for all populations in terms of training intensity.

This type of training might look something like this:

• 3-4 SETS OF SPRINTS
• PLYOMETRICS
• ASSAULT BIKE
• MARTIAL ARTS COMBOS DONE AT MAX INTENSITY AND SPEED FOR 20-40 SECONDS WORKING UP TO 70-90% MAX HR
• 1-3 MINUTES OF REST OR UNTIL YOUR HEART RATE RECOVERS TO 110-130 BPM (30-50% MAX).
• AFTER 3-4 SETS A LONGER REST PERIOD OF 8-15 MINUTES CAN BE IMPLANTED TO FURTHER TRAINING SERIES EITHER SWITCHING EXERCISES OR KEEPING IT THE SAME.

Aerobic System training keeps the body going and allows the other systems to recover while producing ATP at a much slower, but steady rate. Anyone and everyone can benefit and absolutely should be training this system. Also called MISS (medium-intensity steady state) or LISS (Low-Intensity Steady State).

This type of training might look something like this:

• MEDIUM TO LOW-INTENSITY JOGGING, BIKING, SWIMMING ETC. LASTING 30-90 MINUTES MAINTAINING A HEART RATE OF ABOUT 50%OF YOUR MAX.
• THESE CAN BE DONE 1-5X/WEEK DEPENDING ON LENGTH AND THE REST OF YOUR TRAINING PLAN.