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This is Your Quick Training Tip, a chance to learn how to work smarter in just a few moments so you can get right to your workout.
When you get right down to it, there are two types of exercise in this world: aerobic and anaerobic. Put very simply, you're performing an activity that requires your body to use oxygen (aerobic), or you're not (anaerobic).
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If you lift weights, you're already familiar with the latter. Pumping iron is a largely anaerobic (oxygen independent) endeavor, as there's not enough time for your body to use oxygen to fulfill its very immediate and very significant energy needs.
As a lifter, you might avoid aerobic (oxygen dependent) exercise such as running, cycling, rowing, and other forms of "cardio" on principle due to the persistent myth that aerobic exercise can interfere with your strength gains.
Here's the truth: Adding cardio to your strength program can enhance your results. Plus, it will make you a more well-rounded athlete, so it's a win-win.
The idea that cardio can sabotage your weightlifting efforts is an old-school training mentality that doesn't have a lot of support in peer-reviewed science. On the contrary, fitness professionals now widely accept that weaving aerobic exercise into an anaerobic training program can increase both your endurance and exercise capacity.
In short, cardio can help you become more "fatigue resistant," allowing you to do more work at a higher intensity in a given amount of time before your muscles tire and your form falters. Of course, if you overdo it with the cardio the myth starts to gain some credibility, so it's important to know how to integrate it into your resistance program effectively-and how to determine how much is just enough.
Your move: You have two options when it comes to adding aerobic exercise to an anaerobic training plan: Combine strength and cardio in the same workout, or attack them separately in different sessions.
If you decide to do them concurrently (e.g., by hitting the weights and then pounding the pavement), pump iron first. Yes, your mile splits might take a hit, but if your priority is adding lean mass, that's better than compromising your strength by pre-fatiguing your muscles. A more time-efficient option is to do strength training and cardio at the same time with HIIT, circuit training, or another type of "metabolic conditioning."
If you prefer to pursue your strength and cardio separately, do them on different days, alternating between them. In this scenario, cardio becomes more of a recovery activity-boosting blood flow to tired muscles to enhance repair and adaptation-so keep your mileage low and your intensity moderate.
Neither method is necessarily better than the other for reaping the benefits of aerobic exercise, so do what motivates you the most and is more in line with your fitness goals and time constraints.
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