Cardio (for fluffiness) on Non-Training Days

[Lee F. Stewart]

Hi Coaches/SS'ers.
I am feeling a bit fluffy in the middle after my novice LP and getting up to about 207 lbs (35 yo Male, 5'11"). I want to add some cardio-type activities to get the body moving a bit more and maybe help melt a little off. I train MWF with barbell lifts. I am doing the cardio bits on Tues and Thursday along with Chins/Dips/Vanity-curlz. I want to see what some opinions on best cardio exercises are. Might I ask that you rank from best to worst out of the below list? Or just top 3?

-Prowler (6x30meters)
-LISS Jog (20-30min, <= 1% grade on a treadmill)
-HITT Run (1min walk, 1min "sprint", 10-20 min, Treadmill or outside)
-Jump Rope (10 min)
-Eliptical (20-30 min)
-Row Machine (15-30 min)
-Stationary Bike (20-30 min)
-Actual Road bike (20-30 min)
-Stair Master (20-30 min)

I have a guess at what #1 will be.....but I would have to build one...

[Tom Campitelli]

What are your goals in the next six to nine months? Where are your lifts right now? If you are still in the midst of getting stronger rapidly, I would not interfere with that. If you are putting on fat too rapidly, just dial back the food intake a touch and see what happens. The recommendations below may not apply to you, especially if you are still in the midst of an LP. They are intended for peeps that are in intermediate territory.

Dietary intervention is necessary if you wish to get leaner, but some additional activity can chew up some calories, too. I like running with prowler with a weight that is heavy enough to provide resistance, but not so much that you start to grind at the end. You probably don't need to start with 6 trips of that at the start, however, unless you are already in pretty good shape. Four is probably a good place to start for your first prowler workout. If you push things too hard on the prowler at first, you will probably end up regretting it. That thing sneaks up on you. You don't realize what you have done until after you stop.

For running, I like 400 m sprints, but they will make you sore at first. I would start with three or four 400s with rest as needed. Worry about limiting rest after you get accustomed to the conditioning and don't try and redline things on your first workout, or two. Just like with lifting, start out conservatively.

You can also do stuff like walk for 20 or 30 minutes each day, or start riding your bike to work, or on errands. All this seemingly low effort stuff ups caloric demand and does it in a way that, over the course of a few weeks, can be useful and won't interfere with lifting.

Here would be my top suggestions:

Walk or ride your bike more just in the course of your day.
Prowlers
Higher intensity stuff on the stationary or real bike. Finding a hill to pedal up really hard for 20 sec on, 1:40 off is a good, very low impact way to get a conditioning stimulus. Probably don't need a lot of these to start, either.
Rowing is good, too. 20 sec on 1:40 off works, as does rowing a 2K. It requires a touch of technique and can bother some people's backs, but, as with all of these recommendations, it is low impact and has little eccentric work to make you sore.

Thereafter, running 400s would be my go-to, but realize that doing so will make you sore at first. I used to be a runner, so I have a soft spot for that. At the end of the day, any of the conditioning stuff can be sifted in provided it is done so thoughtfully. The first choices are the things that don't make you sore. I would rate jump rope and long, slow distance runs at the bottom of the pack.

[Lee F. Stewart]

That's great coach, thanks!

My 5RM are 142.5 squat, 140 DL, 75 Press, 120 Bench...in Kgs, not Freedom units. 207lb male.
I am trying to make weekly gainzZz at the moment, currently on my second cycle of Madcow 5x5 (the stronglifts template with ascending sets). As I was grinding out my Novice LP I spent a LOT of time thinking about what intermediate program to go to. I decided that TM 5x5 would kill me as I don't recover like I used to when I was a pup (35 years old now and sit at a desk all the time). I looked at 531 as well and thought it was too far the other way. So I landed on this program. In the first 7 week cycle I did I added 10-12.5 kgs to all my lifts...also upped the calories to support the gainzZz and it certainly worked!

My goal is to enter an IPF meet in April. I want to squat 400 lbs...and DL 500. I don't think I will get there on the DL, at this stage, but I am going to give it the college try. I am traveling back to Atlanta to work with Niki Sims on fixing my broken-ass squat, and talk to her about programming. So...THAT is how committed I am to my goalzZz.

I feel like I could do my own programming thanks in no small part to all of the excellent information available in the SS Community. I particularly like Andy Baker's HLM strategy. I am so over the bench press that I would program Press 2 times a week...i want that 1xBW press soooo bad I can taste it. But I need to talk to a pro about it. It might be that I use the SS Online coaching.

I am no longer interested in teh abz. But after doing pretty much nothing but barbell for the last 7 months, I thought it was time to move around a little more and break a sweat...get some physical preparedness in. I wanted to ask y'all about what you thought the best use of time would be.

Damn. I was using a jump rope and doing LISS at lunch.....figures. I like the sprints though...that is what I will do....until I build a prowler.

[karthik]

...
You can also do stuff like walk for 20 or 30 minutes each day, or start riding your bike to work, or on errands. All this seemingly low effort stuff ups caloric demand and does it in a way that, over the course of a few weeks, can be useful and won't interfere with lifting.

Here would be my top suggestions:

Walk or ride your bike more just in the course of your day.
Prowlers
Higher intensity stuff on the stationary or real bike. Finding a hill to pedal up really hard for 20 sec on, 1:40 off is a good, very low impact way to get a conditioning stimulus.
...

Hi Tom. I'm 30, 6' tall at 210 lb, on the Texas method for the presses, and at the end of my LP for deadlifts (doing a triple at 400-ish and a back off set). I'm recovering from an adductor injury with the Starr protocol on squats right now. My squat work set pre-injury was 335 x 5 x 3, and I had maybe a couple of weeks left on the LP. I'm back up to 235 x 8 x 3 now.

1. Is this is a reasonable time to start dealing with the fluffiness? I'm holding bodyweight for now, but once the injury is dealt with and the squat is back to 335 I will stop the conditioning work (if any) and continue to gain weight until the progression ends.

2. Assuming the answer to #1 is yes, I happen to have a very convenient hill to pedal up. What is the best time to ride up the hill to keep the impact on my training sessions to a minimum? Same day/after training, same day/before, non training days? And how many sessions per week would you recommend?

[Tom Campitelli]

Damn. I was using a jump rope and doing LISS at lunch.....figures. I like the sprints though...that is what I will do....until I build a prowler.

There is nothing particularly evil about LISS, nor jumping rope. Once again, you can probably do all of this stuff at some level, provided you approach it thoughtfully. However, the interval stuff takes less time and provides some knock-on endurance stimulus that translates to longer efforts. Its time domain if more relevant to lifting, too. However, if getting on the elliptical for 20 minutes floats your boat and gives you a chance to listen to a little bit of your favorite Security Now podcasts, you can do your thing.

You bench quite a bit when compared to your squat and deadlift. Lemme guess, you've done some benching in the past, but not a lot of squatting. Ultimately, if your conditioning starts to interfere with your lifting, you will have a decision to make.

[Tom Campitelli]

1. Is this is a reasonable time to start dealing with the fluffiness?

Only you can answer this.

I'm holding bodyweight for now, but once the injury is dealt with and the squat is back to 335 I will stop the conditioning work (if any) and continue to gain weight until the progression ends.

I am confused. Do you want to get bigger or smaller?

2. Assuming the answer to #1 is yes, I happen to have a very convenient hill to pedal up. What is the best time to ride up the hill to keep the impact on my training sessions to a minimum? Same day/after training, same day/before, non training days?

On training days after lifting are a good choice.

And how many sessions per week would you recommend?

Start with one. That could become two, if it makes sense in the context of lots of other variables that I have no way of knowing.

[Lee F. Stewart]

Lemme guess, you've done some benching in the past, but not a lot of squatting.

You got it,mate. Been doing pushups/bench since I was 13. Bro-spilts til I die. Starting training for real (squats) in jan this year. Have never had a problem benching and quite honestly, I am bored with it. But I have to keep it up for numbers in an IPF meet.

I fucks with the Sam Harris podcasts...sometimes Joe Rogan. btw.

[Tom Campitelli]

You got it,mate. Been doing pushups/bench since I was 13. Bro-spilts til I die. Starting training for real (squats) in jan this year. Have never had a problem benching and quite honestly, I am bored with it. But I have to keep it up for numbers in an IPF meet.

I fucks with the Sam Harris podcasts...sometimes Joe Rogan. btw.

Nothing wrong with a good bench press. Soon your squats and deads will eclipse the bench and all will be right with the universe.