Run 10 K
'What about cardio?' is a commonly asked question at CrossFit. Observing a typical workout of heavy deadlifts, pullups and short sprints, its understandable why it appears we've neglected the aerobic stuff. It’s a well known fact that aerobic training (or 'cardio' as it's thought of) benefits cardiovascular function, decreases body fat, and allows us to exert ourselves for extended efforts efficiently. This is critical to many sports. However athletes engaged in sports or training where most of the training load is spent in aerobic efforts witness decreases in muscle mass, strength, speed, and power. Not good news for athletes or those interested in elite fitness.
However, anaerobic activity also benefits cardiovascular function and decreases body fat! Beside the fact that anaerobic exercise dramatically improves power, speed, strength, and muscle mass, anaerobic exercise is also superior to aerobic exercise for fat loss!
Properly structured, anaerobic activity can be used to develop a very high level of aerobic fitness without the muscle wasting consistent with high volumes of aerobic exercise!! The method by which we use anaerobic efforts to develop aerobic conditioning is “interval training.”
Pay close attention to the physiques of the athletes competing at 100, 200, 400, 800 meters. The difference you’re sure to notice is a direct result of training at those distances. CrossFit workouts rarely run further than 400m intervals. The actual answer to the question then, is that we do 'cardio' all the time!
source - crossfit.com
76 days till CrossFit Qualifier!
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