Some Conditioning Info Some May Find Interesting

[Bill Been]

This topic got started (brilliantly, I might add) by me down in the Nether Regions of "The Elderly" subforum. I imagine younger guys strenuously avoid that forum, probably assuming it smells vaguely of Ben Gay and Preparation H. Which it does. But now that Geezer Red Leader Hurling can see the end of his exile in California, his ass pains have subsided greatly allowing a significant reduction in Prep H use. So the Old Guy smell is much less noticeable. Plus, he's temporarily suspended the "Two Metamucil-Shot Minimum" rule, so come on down.

Anyhow, I know for a fact that there's a good bit of interest "out there" in the larger, non-Starting Strength world in how we do conditioning or MetCon or "fitness" or whatever. I'd like to stop answering stupid "wuddya do for cardio?" questions. So, a few real world examples of the aerobic and/or conditioning benefits of strength training should be helpful. I've additionally been documenting (with breathtaking scientific rigor) my experiments with different Prowler protocols, demonstrating the utter futility of "running" and how it most likely turns you gay.

http://startingstrength.com/resource...n-games-3.html

[MBasic]

(. . . I posted this in Eldery subform, but would be better here I guess . . .saw this later)

N=1
BW 213; M; 5'10"; ~45 y.o.;

I haven't done the Prowler all summer , 'cause its too fucking hot.
I wore heart rate monitor yesterday.
Kept it on for up to 2 hrs afterward to see what happens.
I did 6 rounds at 20 sec max-speed-push w/ 1:40 rest periods.
177# on the sled (sled weighs ~77#) on smooth asphalt.

Normally my resting (sitting upright on couch) HR = 65 +/-.
Walking around, say from parking lot to gym, up stairs to squat rack . . . 85 ish

0-12:00 Prowler . . .ending at only 155+/- . . .surprised thought would get higher. I was dying here
13:00 152
30:00 133 - this is what would be considered "cardio range" on the treadmills/elipiticalls . . . for my age, weight, etc . "Cardio" = 129 to 150 ish
60:00 120
1:25:00 113 - this would be considered LISS HR range on the cardio machines . . .i.e. "80% fat burn" whatever
2:00:00 108 - same, low end of "aerobic fat burn range"

Basically from 12 min to 15 min did nothing but writhe around on the floor.
16-20 small cooldown walk. Real slow to mail box, put away prowler weights, etc.
From 16 min to 1hr:25min I did nothing but drive car, eat breakfast, sit and talk with familiy, drive a car back home.
From 1:25 to 2 hr just watched TV/football and folded laundry.
Imagine if I was still to do yard work during this time, or just walk around shopping, or moved around some. . . if anything would probably be 5-10 beats higher per min.

Basically HR stays elevated for a long long time afterward . . . EPOC?, "afterburn", etc

Only 12 minutes of terrible work . . . vs hours and hours of LISS . . . fuck LISS.

[George Christiansen]

Cardio is just so damned overrated and conditioning implied you have something to be in a particular condition for.

Does nobody just go for walks and do coed naked wrestling with the significant other regularly?

I have yet to come across that occasion where being winded was what stopped me from continuing a task. Granted, I do not play sports, aside from the above mentioned ones, but most people do not need "conditioning" unless they are uber lazy or find something that actually requires it and for which they find themselve coming up short.

[Murelli]

demonstrating the utter futility of "running" and how it most likely turns you gay.

This caught my interest.

[MBasic]

Cardio is just so damned overrated and conditioning implied you have something to be in a particular condition for.

Does nobody just go for walks and do coed naked wrestling with the significant other regularly?

I have yet to come across that occasion where being winded was what stopped me from continuing a task. Granted, I do not play sports, aside from the above mentioned ones, but most people do not need "conditioning" unless they are uber lazy or find something that actually requires it and for which they find themselve coming up short.

I agree with most of what you said.
Regarding the "coed wrestling" . . . (yes, I realize you are prob just joking) . . . I read an article that THAT doesn't really burn many calories as you'd thing.
I'll wear my HRM during a "match" next time and report back with another post.

Lifting ("training") in and among itself does a lot in the way of 'cardio' . . . . for most people, and their situations they are going to encounter in day to day life.

Myself? looking to loose that last bit of pudge.
. . and last year, although I was lifting a lot and eating somewhat "right" . . . my blood work wasn't so hot. (borderline diabetic??? wtf)
. . . I'm going to blast thru a month of HIIT and see what happens.

Some people might use the HIIT for a weight loss tool . . .posting my experiment for reference.

[manveer]

Regarding the "coed wrestling" . . . (yes, I realize you are prob just joking) . . . I read an article that THAT doesn't really burn many calories as you'd thing.

How many calories can one burn in 30 seconds anyway?

[MBasic]

How many calories can one burn in 30 seconds anyway?

that was basically the jist of the article . . . 30 secs . . .5 min . . . an hour? whatever.
. . .and usually just 1 of the two "wrestlers" is doing the "work" at any given time.

[George Christiansen]

I agree with most of what you said.
Regarding the "coed wrestling" . . . (yes, I realize you are prob just joking) . . . I read an article that THAT doesn't really burn many calories as you'd thing.
I'll wear my HRM during a "match" next time and report back with another post.

Considering how lifting studies are done, I'll trust my instincts on this one.

Myself? looking to loose that last bit of pudge.
. . and last year, although I was lifting a lot and eating somewhat "right" . . . my blood work wasn't so hot. (borderline diabetic??? wtf)
. . . I'm going to blast thru a month of HIIT and see what happens.

Some people might use the HIIT for a weight loss tool . . .posting my experiment for reference.

I think there's nothing wrong with doing whatever to add activity if someone want to lose fat and not cut the calories too hard to do so. I just think of that as different from conditioning due to it being more like Rip's view of exercise where the goal is the calories burnt at the moment (and obviously the "afterglow").

I honestly don't know enough about diabetes to comment about that specifically, but I am skeptical about blood work for health metrics after reading some of the stuff about cholesterol and a few other things along those lines.

[melody]

Cardio is just so damned overrated and conditioning implied you have something to be in a particular condition for.

Does nobody just go for walks and do coed naked wrestling with the significant other regularly?

I have yet to come across that occasion where being winded was what stopped me from continuing a task. Granted, I do not play sports, aside from the above mentioned ones, but most people do not need "conditioning" unless they are uber lazy or find something that actually requires it and for which they find themselve coming up short.

Increasing my conditioning has made my sets of 8-10 squats much easier to survive.

[John Hanley]

Cardio is just so damned overrated and conditioning implied you have something to be in a particular condition for.

Does nobody just go for walks and do coed naked wrestling with the significant other regularly?

I have yet to come across that occasion where being winded was what stopped me from continuing a task. Granted, I do not play sports, aside from the above mentioned ones, but most people do not need "conditioning" unless they are uber lazy or find something that actually requires it and for which they find themselve coming up short.

I'm no conditioning bunny, but I like the idea of maintaining a baseline level of conditioning that ensures I won't gas during a real-world physical altercation.