Appropriate time for cardio

I got a great question from a reader this week about cardio. The question asked what is the optimal time to do cardio, before or after a workout?

This question is very individual and depends on the persons goals. However, there are some guidelines that I hope to outline that will let you decide when the appropriate time to do cardio is.

Similar to the structure and design of your program, when you do cardio depends on your overall goal.

Let's first look at someone who is trying to cut or lose fat. Someone who is looking to cut usually focuses more on cardio and workouts that will increase the heart rate. So, for this person it would be okay to do cardio before a weightlifting session or on off days that you're not lifting. The reason for this is, you want to put most of your energy on the things that are focused on your goal. Your focus here is not to bench 500lbs or make the varsity football team, your focus is cardio. So, you want to do it when you have the most energy, off days or before a weightlifting session.

Now, we look at someone who is trying to gain weight or bulk. This person usually has a focus on gaining size, strength and power. They have increased their caloric intake and is gaining weight. They want to do cardio on a regular basis to maintain their cardiorespiratory fitness, but their goal is muscle gain. The optimal time to do cardio for this person would be on off days you are not lifting. This way, you can put all your energy into the lift on those days, and worry about cardio on off days. Also, if you are doing too much cardio while trying to gain size you are pretty much cancelling the two out. A second option would be after a lifting session, however your energy would be pretty low and your body is going to go to your muscles and glucose to get the energy, thus affecting your results of muscle gaining.

People must have a goal, and they have to stick with it. I can't stress it enough. If your goal is muscle size, stop running 6 days a week and start hitting the weights. If you need to drop 50lbs, then cardio is going to be your best friend.

I'm not going to go into what type of cardio is best, and the other key factor, nutrition. I will save that for a later blog. Both of these will affect your results more then the timing of your cardio.

I hope I was able to distinguish between the two options for cardio. If you have specific questions about how to organize your program, feel free to shoot me an e-mail.

Enjoy the weekend and the nice weather!

Best,

Doug Spurling

Spurling Strength & Speed

dspurling@une.edu

Art of the squat..Part 3

Tonight I want to talk about single leg movements. Now I know, single leg movements are not technically squats, but I like to group them together sometimes because you can do these in place of squatting and get the same, if not better results.

Like I mentioned before, not everyone is suited to squat, whether that be traditional, front, or whatever, some bodies just should not be squatting. The good things about single leg movements is that they put less stress on the whole body, the surrounding joint, and don't require a lot of weight to see results.

Some of the single leg movements I love and use often include:

Bulgarian split squat (rear foot elevated lunge)
Reverse Lunge
Lateral Lunge
Single Leg Deadlift
Single leg hamstring tuck

The Bulgarian split squat is my favorite. It allows you to isolate one foot at a time. It requires a lot of core strength and balance. It works your entire lower extremity while improving flexibility in your hip flexors.



The reverse lunge is similar, but doesn't require as much balance as both feet are plated on the ground.



The lateral lunge focuses more on the glutes, and can be a bit more awkward for someone who has not done them before. You have to think of sitting back on your but, not going to the side.



Single leg deadlift is another great exercise focusing a lot on the posterior chain (hamstrings, glutes, lower back).



Finally, the single leg hamstring ball tuck. I am sure you all know the traditional hamstring ball tuck where your laying down on your back, lifting your hips up, and bringing the ball into your butt. This is the same thing, just know you elevate one foot, so you isolate one leg at a time. Again, similar to all single leg activities, this requires a lot more balance and core strength.

Unfortunately, not a lot of people do the single leg hamstring ball tuck so I don't have any pictures of it. I am however beginning the process of taking pictures of each and every exercise I can think of, so I am not forced to use cheesy, no shirted, google images.

I challenge you to give these single leg movements a try. They are a lot more challenging then they look. You have to remember your goals, and how your body works and reacts to certain exercises. There are some people who can squat great, and see great results from it, others not so much. You also have to look at program goals. If your goal is to develop power for a sport. You may see benefit from doing a single leg movement for some functionality and strength, but your not going to develop power.

If you have any questions on program design, and what exercises are appropriate for your goals feel free to shoot me an e-mail. Also, I am always looking for feedback on my blog, and any advice or criticism you may have, so please let me know.

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend.

Best,

Doug Spurling, CSCS, NSCA-CPT
Spurling Strength & Speed
dspurling@une.edu