Alwyn Cosgrove's latest article: Cardio Training

[Patrick Smith]

Has anyone here read Alwyn Cosgrove’s latest article about cardio training? (Link) (http://alwyncosgrove.com/2010/05/new-rules-of-cardio/)

I want to develop both aerobic endurance and anaerobic endurance, but I’m confused if that’s possible after reading Alwyn’s article. Can you guys clarify what he’s saying for me?

Thanks,
Patrick

[PASmith]

To be honest I've completely lost touch with how to train these days. There are so many ideas out there. With access to the internet it seems like you can find justification to train in any way you choose.

In that article...it seems to me that Lance Armstrong may have not run a marathon that matched his VO2 max potential...but...he still ran a damn good marathon for someone that's not a habitual marathon runner. So I think there must have been some cross over between his cardio ability on a bike and his cardio ability running.
So I see Alwyn's point (that cardio is specific to the activity you want) as slightly over-stated here.

[holyheadjch]

I'm not sure what Alwyn is trying to get at here. The importance of activity specific training isn't exactly new, in fact, it's old news.

The real story is the folks at Runners World really don't know what they are talking about.

[Patrick Smith]

Is it possible to develop a general stamina base the could easily be adapted for different sports?

[Gary - Enshin]

Maybe, but why not just work harder at your specific event / sport? The stamina you develop in that way will be more specific, and still give the health benefits that general endurance training would provide. :cool:

Gary

[Kuma]

Is it possible to develop a general stamina base the could easily be adapted for different sports?

Essentially any kind of cardio can be transferred over to other sports because it's all strengthening your cardiovascular system. The carryover can be different though because of what Cosgrove mentions in that article. The best way to do that is to train a few different modalities in 1-2 methods that you really enjoy. It doesn't have to be super scientific, just mix interval training in with regular old prolonged exercise.

I typically do 2 days of interval training (first day high intensity with walking in between, the second day a bit more moderate with light jogging) and on the third day I go for a nice long distance run. It's helped my sparring, my rope skipping, my swimming, and my strongman events so in essence it's working for me. I don't have all the scientific data or controlled studies, but if it works then it's okay in my book.

Training is an easy thing. We can all get caught up in the fads that there is this new way to train X and do this X times or try combining this with that, etc. Really, it all boils down to what works. Everyone nowadays is trying to say long distance running isn't great for fighters, but back when bare knuckle boxers were in training some of them would run as many miles in a week as a marathoner. And those guys could fight some extraordinarily long matches as there was no round limit. It's the same in weight training. Guys want to get big chests and do all sorts of goofy machine, cable, and dumbbell exercises. Meanwhile, the guy who's benching over 400 pounds has built a good chest and he hasn't done any of that.

"Hard work on basic exercise." There are no shortcuts.

[Gary - Enshin]

I take your point Kuma but it's not quite what I meant.

I sat at the local Leisure Centre the other day waiting for my lad to finish swimming. The Saturday karate club - I don't know what style - finished and about thirty people walked past. How many were sweating? Zero. Even the high grades were bone dry. Not one had worked hard enough to break a sweat, so it's a fair bet there was virtually no cardiovascular effect.

I'm sure several will also go jogging on different days though to 'improve' their sport. That's what I meant, if they trained harder they'd already be getting those benefits.

Gary

[Kuma]

Even mild exercise done for a while can improve your cardiovascular system. You can build stamina by brisk walking if need be. There's different levels of cardio and not everyone always trains or needs to train at the high performance level.

[Patrick Smith]

Maybe, but why not just work harder at your specific event / sport? The stamina you develop in that way will be more specific, and still give the health benefits that general endurance training would provide. :cool:

Gary

Oh, I agree with you 100%. If you want to specialize in a sport, your training needs to be sport specific. I'm just wondering, because I kinda sorta would like maybe to possibly play Tennis during college (maybe join a team or something) and it requires a good aerobic endurance base. I really enjoy it (almost as much as martial arts, believe it or not :eek:), and I seem to be a natural. I have about the same agility, reaction speed, movement speed, and tactics that I've seen in the much more experienced players (at least those that play at the park that I play at). I attribute all my physical abilities to martial arts, though, and I'm sure that's the only reason I can play at all! :p

I'm not extremely interested in winning a bunch of national and world competitions (in martial arts), so I don't plan on training like a professional at all costs. I love physical training in general and part of my love for the martial arts is that it is something that I can work as hard as I can to get as good as I can. But in the long run, I don't plan on competing at all costs. My martial art ambitions are much more specific then competition (although I do want to compete at a moderate level for most of my life). I want to teach and re-energize the martial arts community in my area and inspire other young people to work hard towards the top!

Essentially any kind of cardio can be transferred over to other sports because it's all strengthening your cardiovascular system. The carryover can be different though because of what Cosgrove mentions in that article. The best way to do that is to train a few different modalities in 1-2 methods that you really enjoy. It doesn't have to be super scientific, just mix interval training in with regular old prolonged exercise.

I typically do 2 days of interval training (first day high intensity with walking in between, the second day a bit more moderate with light jogging) and on the third day I go for a nice long distance run. It's helped my sparring, my rope skipping, my swimming, and my strongman events so in essence it's working for me. I don't have all the scientific data or controlled studies, but if it works then it's okay in my book.

Training is an easy thing. We can all get caught up in the fads that there is this new way to train X and do this X times or try combining this with that, etc. Really, it all boils down to what works. Everyone nowadays is trying to say long distance running isn't great for fighters, but back when bare knuckle boxers were in training some of them would run as many miles in a week as a marathoner. And those guys could fight some extraordinarily long matches as there was no round limit. It's the same in weight training. Guys want to get big chests and do all sorts of goofy machine, cable, and dumbbell exercises. Meanwhile, the guy who's benching over 400 pounds has built a good chest and he hasn't done any of that.

"Hard work on basic exercise." There are no shortcuts.

You're right about that, Kuma. People tend to get so fixated on what's the most optimal thing to do that they forget to train at all! Even less then optimal training is better then none! It's just that as long as it's practical, I want to get the best results I can as fast as I can (I suffer from impatience).

Thanks for posting :banana:

[Kuma]

I'm sure several will also go jogging on different days though to 'improve' their sport. That's what I meant, if they trained harder they'd already be getting those benefits.

Gary

OK, now I get what you mean. I definitely agree in this case then.