The concept of cardio is a common topic in relationship to weight loss and body composition. It is also very common to debate cardio vs interval training along with other callisthenic HITT versions of cardio, but often times distance running is what epitomizes cardio. I used to demonize cardio do to my previous dogmatic stance against distance running. My thought on the idea on distance running/cardio have changed albeit slightly.
To start it is a good idea to create a list of positives and negatives with some slanting to remain slightly dogmatic.
The good and the bad of cardio/ long distance running
| The Good | The Bad | The Ugly |
| Helps relieve stress | May create injury due to gait/posture | May cause overuse injury |
| May help people lose bodyfat percentage |
Weight loss from cardio can be perceived as BF% when often times it is more likely water weight |
Cardio has never been demonstrated to be more efficient than interval training at conditioning the body for “realistic”(1) work output |
| Helps people have a goal in relation to course distance and time |
Once a certain distance/time/course goal has been demonstrated sooner or later intensity or volume will need to be added to progress |
Too often people add distance and not intensity. Interval training tends to demonstrate greater achievements in time for distances |
| Running distance can condition the body travel at a moderate pace for a long distance |
Distance running tends to make the higher threshold motor units behave like slower threshold motor units. |
Athletes involved in high levels of cardio can lose their ability to demonstrate power in various activities until they lower cardio volume |
| In the correct program you will gain or maintain functional range of motion |
Loss of mobility due to running only | Chronic injury due to short range of running gait |
| Genetics/Epi Some people were designed to run/row/ski far |
Genetics/Epi Some people were designed to lift or throw heavy objects or run fast or a little bit of each |
Genetics/Epi Some people lack motivation because they blame genetics |
(1) What the author defines as realistic work output
Taking the above slanted rubrics one would seem to be left with few alternatives when in actuality there are a myriad of things you can do that are and or can be aerobic and or anaerobic. I think the best way to describe the alternative to the monotony of distance running and or any cyclical activity would be to describe it as skill training most of which I can be describe as anaerobic and can be done by yourself.
| Gymnastics | Dance | Rock Climbing | Olympic Weightlifting |
In conclusion, the goal of skill mastery can lend itself to a sense of accomplishment that is not seen in steady state cardio. A good time frame would be 30-45 minutes a day, 5-7 times a week. Distance running is not the some evil hobby. Distance running without some goal of getting a better time at said distance is the enemy. Rather than work for volume of an activity work towards mastery of a skill there in.The idea here is rather than to trudge along doing the same thing over and over monotonously is to obtain a skill and to learn something new along with the vocabulary there in. Within each section each group there are various skills boxing has a great variety of combination of punches you can throw at a bag if you buy a membership to a boxing gym you can pay a person to train you in how to throw a punch efficiently and break down the subtle intricacies of said combat vs getting into some version of cardio kickboxing that has no real carry over to real life. Gymnasics and Yoga have similar attributes where you can learn and perfect a new pose or skill all of which have a greater difficulty and a progression to the point where mastery of one skill leads into another. With the advent of the internet there is virtually no limit to the number of skills you can learn that that have various progressions. People want to help, and be recognized for their talent.