[MarsJ]

I have recently got into powerlifting and was wondering everyones opinion on cadio or conditioning in powerlifting and general strentgh training.
It is often said that strength athletes should not do any cardio outside their lifting as it will cause negative adaptations of muscle fibres, take energy away from their main work outs, hamper recovery and make it more difficult to gain muscle.
since this site promotes a mix of strength and conditioning training what are peoples views and experinces with this? do conditioning stlye workouts effect max strength?

[Franz29]

It depends how you do them. Sure, long slow cardio will be detrimental but you can build up a solid cardio base using shorter, more intense workouts. Keep them under 10-15 minutes and perform them after lifting and you should see some positive adaptations.

For example, yesterday my workout was along the lines of
Deadlift 3x2 (set a new 1RM in the process)
Bench Press 3x3
Pull-Ups 3x3

then 15-12-9
Power clean
Dips (on rings)
about 2 minutes 30 seconds of extra work but I defy anyone to say I wasn't getting some "cardio" in.

[Gubernatrix]

MarsJ, on 16 June 2010 - 09:52 PM, said:

I have recently got into powerlifting and was wondering everyones opinion on cadio or conditioning in powerlifting and general strentgh training.
It is often said that strength athletes should not do any cardio outside their lifting as it will cause negative adaptations of muscle fibres, take energy away from their main work outs, hamper recovery and make it more difficult to gain muscle.
since this site promotes a mix of strength and conditioning training what are peoples views and experinces with this? do conditioning stlye workouts effect max strength?

It depends entirely on your training aims. This is not a cop out - there are very few (if any!) hard and fast rules about what an individual should or should not do in their training.

All the reasons you list above are true to a certain extent (although I am not sure about the phrase 'negative adaptations', but I think I know what you mean). If you are a competitive powerlifter or weightlifter there's really no reason in terms of the sport to do any additional cardio and many competitive PL-ers and WL-ers don't do any.

However there are many reasons why you as a human being might want to do a bit of extra cardio. You might want to have a better level of 'running around' fitness or endurance, or you might want to get into another strength sport like strongman, where some cardio endurance can be a benefit.

Personally, I've done both - strength plus cardio, and exclusively strength. I have no doubt that if you focus exclusively on strength work, you will get better at strength work than if you don't. However, a relatively short bit of cardio like Franz describes won't have a huge impact on your strength unless you are operating at an advanced/elite level.

I used to train like that: big strength session followed by short met-con of 5-10 minutes high intensity. It's a good way to train because it keeps a bit of cardio fitness while allowing you to focus on strength. However I used to phase out the met-cons in the run up to a powerlifting meet.

Recently (the last six months) I have been doing just strength work. Again, like Franz says, it's not like your heart and lungs don't get a workout! But my endurance has definitely suffered. Question is, do I want/need it back?

All training is compromise.

[MarsJ]

thanks guys. My focus is powerlifting and i have my first comp in a months time so all my training is purely strength based. i would just like to be able to maintain a reasonable level of fitness for life in general, sports, fun, health, leaness, emergencies etc. it seems a good idea to have a few workouts similar to that of the fkdw a couple of times a week and phase them out around competition time.

[Gubernatrix]

Sounds sensible.

What comp are you doing?

[Andy]

Sorry getting to this one late. If you are going to do any cardio type stuff then I would leave it to after your strength sessions or even on a seperate day. If you want to keep the fat off then very slow long duration stuff on off days will predominantly burn fat while keeping calorie expenditure to a minimum but then your health, recovery and emergencies (i take it this would mean having to run somewhere fast for a period of time) would suffer. Some steady state single mode aerobic stuff can assist in getting rid of lactic acid build up after workouts and aids blood flow. If you are training for a comp then i would say keep it to a minimum for sure.

[MarsJ]

I'm competing in the east midlands novices championships in northampton on the 24th july and can't wait!

by emergencies i mean times when you may need to run for some reason, to escape or reach someone. i'm a voluntary first aider so may ocasionally need to do this but its not a major concern with training.

I was thinking a few sprints/runs or kettle bell circuits 10-15 mins on off days or upper body days one or two times a week depending on time, energy and recovery and phase them out around competition time.

[Gubernatrix]

MarsJ, on 21 June 2010 - 10:47 AM, said:

I'm competing in the east midlands novices championships in northampton on the 24th july and can't wait!

I was thinking a few sprints/runs or kettle bell circuits 10-15 mins on off days or upper body days one or two times a week depending on time, energy and recovery and phase them out around competition time.

Good luck! Which federation is it?

What you suggest above sounds perfectly sensible. I wouldn't bother now until after your comp though.

[MarsJ]

Its the great british powerlifting federation. I'll be competing unequipped in the 82.5kg catergory.
like you said i'll wait untill after the comp to include conditioning workouts. If all goes well the next comp won't be untill november so thats plenty of time to get some work in.