Tuesday - Cardio Vs. Aerobic Endurance

Spring break is in full swing. It has been gorgeous outside. With this, comes the need and desire for many of us to hit the road and do some running.
Before doing so, make sure you understand how this will have an impact on your "training".
If you recall my advice yesterday, I mentioned that "training" is doing something specific to work towards a specific goal.

For many runners, running or other Aerobic endurance exercise feels good but sometimes does not really have a specific goal in mind. Mixing the occasional run in with CrossFit will yield better results that just running alone. However, running too much without other types of Training in place, can lead to increased injury and weight loss due to muscle loss.

When it comes to weight loss and getting in shape, doing too much Aerobic exercise can be a major setback to your "training" goals.

Cardiorespiratory fitness or “REAL cardio”:

 “The capacity to efficiently deliver oxygenated blood to working muscles.”

Aerobic/Endurance fitness:

“The efficiency of the oxidative metabolic pathway (being good at low slow distance stuff fueled by this pathway).”

Do we understand the difference?

True cardio means your heart is efficient at pumping blood to the muscles that need it (which mostly definitely has to happen during weight training or short intense exercise) and aerobics or endurance means the ability to perform prolonged, low-intensity exercise which does not contribute to power performance.

“Aerobic training actually interferes with maximal strength and power gains.”

So as a shift in your understanding, it is important to understand that virtually every workout that we do in CrossFit is considered Cardio (cardiovascular) exercise. It may not be Endurance training, but that is okay unless your goals are for endurance purposes. We have several athletes that do CrossFit to increase their Endurance for things like marathons. For this purpose, yes, endurance training is needed.

For increased cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy.... CrossFit is just for you.

Group Warm up

line warm up

Endurance:

800 meter run for time (don't skip out on this, even if you think it is going to take you a while)

Metcon

Chipper (15 min AMRAP) 

2 Ground to OH 115/75

2 Floor Sweepers

2 Knees to Elbow

2 box jumps

2 double unders

4 Ground to OH 115/75

4 Floor Sweepers

4 Knees to Elbow

4 box jumps

4 double unders

*adding 2 more reps to each exercise each round 15 min cap is over)