Conditioning is the other side of the coin in training (strength training being the first side). There is plenty of debate in the fitness world about the best way to condition the body. Before I give you my opinion, I will tell you what conditioning is: conditioning trains the body to function more efficiently at the task at hand. In the fitness world, that's training the lungs, heart, recovery ability and work capacity. Strength training can be considered a form of conditioning, but for simplicity, I (and many other people) will not call strength training conditioning.
Starting easy. Depending on your abilities, this may be walking...or tire drags. Ethier way, do not start out crushing yourself. Trying to walk/job 10 miles or dragging a 150 pound tire 400 meters on day one is a bad idea. What ever you do, gradually increase intensity. Sound familiar? That's pretty much what I said about strength training: gradually progress so your body has time to adabt (and not stall out).
Personal goals. I can tell you, my goals will be different from yours. Set your own, don't let me choose them for you (best find something you enjoy). It is very important to set a goal. Just think about it: would an 100 meter dash runner, a marathoner, a mountain climber, a swimmer and a power lifter have the same conditioning routine? No way, dude.
Now I will tell you my opinions that I devoleped after spending hours researching (on the Internet, and on using myself as a test subject). I think high intensity (interval) training (HIT or HIIT for short) is the way to go. By high intensity I mean: sprints, hill sprints tire drags, heavy farmers walks, circuits, etc. I used to be a "run-farther-and-farther-and-farther" guy, but I think that training is not as effective. HIT requires less time than 'endurance' training, and in my opinion yelds better results. I don't know a lot of the chemistry behind it, but after a ceritain point endurance training doesn't burn fat well. HIT on the other hand has yet to fail me in making me lean. I also read plenty about how HIT works wonders for people who struggled losing weight via endurance training. HIT also burns fat for a longer time after the workout. Shorter workout with more fat loss=cool.
Another thing HIT has over endurance training is sports. I am not talking about XC, because obviously endurance training works great for XC. Sports like soccer, football, lacrosse, basket ball, field hockey, ultimate frisbee, etc. These all require short bursts of high intensity, not a 7 mile jog. HIT is the way to go if you're an athlete.
Finally, I have heard stories of people losing strength when they upped their endurance training. It makes since too: your body adapts to its stressors. Endurance training does not encourage strength. HIT on the other hand does. To make it simple, I'll just say. Your muscle has potential to be more slow twitch muscle fiber dominat (running slowly, doing long and low intensity tasks, etc) or fast twitch muscle fiber (sprints, sports, jumping, heavy lifting, etc). Fast twitch muscle fibers are bigger and stronger, while slow twitch muscle fibers are small and weak (but can keep working for a long time).
Now before you cross country runners rant at me saying everyone should be able run a decent 5k, let me tell you: you can easily run a decent 5k while only using sprints to train for it. Granted, you could become better at running 5ks if you trained for 5ks with some endurance running, but it is not needed.
Are you convinced that HIT is, in general, a better form of condionting? I hope so, but now I'm going to tell you that I don't only use HIT. Sometimes when I feel like I'm not be active enough in my daily life or I want to clear my head I'll go for a nice couple mile run. Why? Well if I am not being active during the day (walking around, doing low intensity chores, working manual labor, etc) then I am getting very little slow twitch muscle fiber work. I want a bit of endurance so when I go for a hike, walk up a ton of stairs or go running with a friend I won't be huffing and puffing. It is also easier to think when running 5-8 mph, rather than 12-18 mph.
Remember: condition however you want to (unless it is a marathon, see *Quick rant below). If you hate sprints with a passion, you don't have to do them. For the average person just trying to stay or get fit, I would recommend 2-3 days of some kind of HIT, and 1-2 days of endurance training a week. I will write in a later post how to progress in both (with some sample workouts!).
*Quick rant: don't run a marathon. I mean it. They are terrible for you. They make your body go catabolic (burns fat), extreme dehydration, degrades your joints (you can't hold perfect form for 26.2 miles, buddy), stresses your heart to an extreme (bad) and plenty of other bad things, I'm sure! I repeat: don't run marathons.
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