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These two terms, cardio and conditioning, are common in the fitness world. They mean slightly different things, but are often conflated. Iām going to try to explain the differences as I see them, and then provide some useful options for including them in your training.
Traditional Cardio
Cardio is short for cardiovascular exercise and refers to anything that raises your heart rate. However, in practice, cardio has come to refer to a very narrow range of endurance exercises that keep your heart rate up for a moderate to long length of time. Running, biking, swimming, and the like are the default mental images of cardiovascular exercise.
Over the last few years interval training has become a somewhat popular term. Interval training typically uses traditional cardio exercises, but at a much higher intensity in order to shorten the length of time a session takes. But in the end, interval training in the common parlance can be grouped in with the idea of cardio.
Conditioning
Conditioning is a little different. The term comes from āStrength and Conditioningā, a phrase used to describe the training that athletes, fighters, and tactical operators undertake to improve their performance in the ring or on the field. Strength and Conditioning coaches and trainers are usually certified or hold degrees in the field.
Conditioning is about training to perform better in physically demanding activities, focusing on general physical preparedness and training all the various energy systems in the human body. It makes use of many different types of work, including traditional cardio training and strength training.
Work is another phrase I use in this context that I think is worth mentioning and defining here. Work means what you probably think it means - hard, sweaty activity that leaves you out of breath. We often hear of āold man strengthā or people who are āfarmer strongā as a result of regular heavy work. Thereās even been exercise programs written to focus on this type of work. The phrase āwork capacityā refers to oneās level of conditioning as it relates to the work their going to do - higher work capacity means you can carry more sacks of grain before having to take a break.
The goal of conditioning is to improve your ability to do work - both general work for most tasks and specific work for your chosen pursuts.
Putting It All Together
Where am I going with this? Conditioning is ultimately the phrase I prefer to use when it comes to training that improves heart and lung health along side muscular endurance. This encompases traditional cardio, but is not limited to it.
So what sort of conditioning work do I recommend?
Strength training is conditioning work! This may seem non-obvious, but when you strength train, youāre improving your ability to do work, particularly if you use density training methods.
In my own training, I define a certain group of conditioning exercises as grinds. Grinds are things done for maybe 20-60 minutes without much, if any, pause. This is where traditional cardio fits in, but it also includes carries, sleds, and rucking for long distances, 4x4 medleys, or walking/jogging stairs.
Intensity work is the counterpart to grinds. Where grinds are long and continuous, intensity work is short and punctuated by rest. Burpees, complexes, and hill sprints are great examples, though you can also include traditional cardio in the form of interval training. Often, intensity work takes around 10-20 minutes - if you can go longer, itās likely not intense enough.
My ideal training week incorportates all of these things:
2 days of strength training (Mon and Thurs)
1 intensity day (Tues)
1 grind day (Fri)
1 day of movement or flexibility work (Wed)
A nice restful weekend (Sat and Sun)
What sort of conditioning work do you incorporate in your week? Where could you do better?
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