Alternative Cardio methods

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Id like to compile a list of methods of cardio which bodybuilders use to get into condition that is not your basic steady state- longer duration type of cardio- Basically looking for cardio methods that may increase (or at least decrease muscle loss in lower body) lower body size, along with fat burning benefits

so go a head and list exactly what kind of training you do, or have done:
on the stationary bike
â?¢ 5 minute warm-up
â?¢ 30 seconds all out followed by 2.5 minutes of low-intensity cardio X 5

obviously this is just your run of the mill HIIT training-- however i thought it might be helpful to post a bunch of different types of workouts for everyones benefits.

go a head and post what you do

2

Try and be specific about how your workouts go

dont just say: Car Pushes

tell me how long you push the car for, how much you rest in between pushes, and any other pertinent details !

3

I do stationary bike.

3 mins steady then 1 min as hard as I can, do 30 mins of it.

Other days I just take 2 20 mins fasted walks to lectures.

EDIT

If I feel mental and wanna do some extra work load I will do sled work after training.

Consists of me dragging a sled at walking pace 4 x 100 metres then sprinting 2 x 100 metres repeat and 2 more sprints.

I only rest before and after each sled run

4

I live next to a park in Glasgow which has a massive set of stone steps. Running up those a few times ruins me.

Also, I like to take my dog to the park and chase pigeons. That’s some HIIT right there.

5

[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
Id like to compile a list of methods of cardio which bodybuilders use to get into condition that is not your basic steady state- longer duration type of cardio- Basically looking for cardio methods that may increase (or at least decrease muscle loss in lower body) lower body size, along with fat burning benefits

so go a head and list exactly what kind of training you do, or have done:
on the stationary bike
â?¢ 5 minute warm-up
â?¢ 30 seconds all out followed by 2.5 minutes of low-intensity cardio X 5

obviously this is just your run of the mill HIIT training-- however i thought it might be helpful to post a bunch of different types of workouts for everyones benefits.

go a head and post what you do

[/quote]

Not sure if you’re cutting right now, but if you are how do you plan on progressing your HIIT? The only thing I like about boooring steady state (beside listening to sports talk radio) is that progession is fairly idiot proof.

6

[quote]Mdgray82 wrote:

[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
Id like to compile a list of methods of cardio which bodybuilders use to get into condition that is not your basic steady state- longer duration type of cardio- Basically looking for cardio methods that may increase (or at least decrease muscle loss in lower body) lower body size, along with fat burning benefits

so go a head and list exactly what kind of training you do, or have done:
on the stationary bike
�¢?�¢ 5 minute warm-up
�¢?�¢ 30 seconds all out followed by 2.5 minutes of low-intensity cardio X 5

obviously this is just your run of the mill HIIT training-- however i thought it might be helpful to post a bunch of different types of workouts for everyones benefits.

go a head and post what you do

[/quote]

Not sure if you’re cutting right now, but if you are how do you plan on progressing your HIIT? The only thing I like about boooring steady state (beside listening to sports talk radio) is that progession is fairly idiot proof.[/quote]

No im still in “off season” mode right now. But im trying to do some planning if i end up competing in september.

i think with HIIT the way to progress is add more sessions.
for example you could start with 1 session a week and work up all the way to 5 sessions a week perhaps

probably when you to that point you will have to add in some LISS though, the problem with the progression of liss is you can start with a moderate amount, but then before you know it you are doing double 45 minute sessions every day.

7

tabata front squats

8

[quote]Mr. Walkway wrote:
tabata front squats[/quote]
now there is a cool idea

i dont know much about tabata, is that supposed to be done with weights or just bodyweight? i know its supposed to be a whole bunch of reps really fast hahah

9

[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:

[quote]Mr. Walkway wrote:
tabata front squats[/quote]
now there is a cool idea

i dont know much about tabata, is that supposed to be done with weights or just bodyweight? i know its supposed to be a whole bunch of reps really fast hahah[/quote]

with weight

20 seconds as many reps as u can
10 second rest
repeat for like 8 sets I think? or maybe it’s 15

10

[quote]Mr. Walkway wrote:

[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:

[quote]Mr. Walkway wrote:
tabata front squats[/quote]
now there is a cool idea

i dont know much about tabata, is that supposed to be done with weights or just bodyweight? i know its supposed to be a whole bunch of reps really fast hahah[/quote]

with weight

20 seconds as many reps as u can
10 second rest
repeat for like 8 sets I think? or maybe it’s 15 [/quote]

It’s 8 sets, since I remember the whole workout lasts 4 mins. or so, but it’s brutal, even with a wimpy 95 lbs. which is what I was using. According to Dan John (should be an article somewhere) you should be able to hit at least 8 reps on every set I think, and you’ll hit significantly more reps on the first set most likely.

This was one of the hardest things I’ve done for conditioning and I think it helped grow my quads as well. The only reason I stopped doing it after a while was because it was so brutal.

11

Tire Dragging.

One set is up 30 yards and back so about 60 yards total. Going one way, for legs, it amounts to about 40 steps or so, for chest usually 12 reps and for back usually 14 or 15 reps, so of course, double that for one set.

Weight used is enough to make it difficult where my power/rep speed were decreasing at the end of 30 yards (slightly uphill), rest a few seconds as I turn my tire around, then finish with the slight downhill 30 yards (this worked out perfectly in terms of fatigue).

Rest is minimal, just enough after one set to get breathing under control.

My favorite protocol was 4 sets of legs (uphill forward drags, downhill backward drags), 3 sets of press (same both ways), and 2 sets of pull (low pull uphill and high pull downhill).

I decreased the sets as I went because there is quite an involvement of chest statically contracting (to hold the ropes) on the leg work, and with the scapular movement on a tire sled press, also plenty of lat involvement on the chest work. By the time I got to pulling, my back and delts were already pretty fatigued.

Took about 20 minutes to complete.

It truly felt it helped me get very lean and preserve muscle.

12

Here is my short list:

Grab my jump rope and pretend I am white Apollo Creed

Yard Work right after i get back from lifting

Dog rows(have a big wolfish mutt, he grabs one end of the rope toy, lock jaws on and I try my best to “get it” from him for 10-15 min straight…no joke)

Horizontal Cardio girlfriend willing…

13

I did Tabata a few weeks(goblet squats, safer)it lower my morning heart rate to 32.
I would suggest monday jump in tiger cage, wednesday jump in lions cage, friday jump in cage with tigers and lions with T-bones in your pockets.

14

[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:
Tire Dragging.

One set is up 30 yards and back so about 60 yards total. Going one way, for legs, it amounts to about 40 steps or so, for chest usually 12 reps and for back usually 14 or 15 reps, so of course, double that for one set.

Weight used is enough to make it difficult where my power/rep speed were decreasing at the end of 30 yards (slightly uphill), rest a few seconds as I turn my tire around, then finish with the slight downhill 30 yards (this worked out perfectly in terms of fatigue).

Rest is minimal, just enough after one set to get breathing under control.

My favorite protocol was 4 sets of legs (uphill forward drags, downhill backward drags), 3 sets of press (same both ways), and 2 sets of pull (low pull uphill and high pull downhill).

I decreased the sets as I went because there is quite an involvement of chest statically contracting (to hold the ropes) on the leg work, and with the scapular movement on a tire sled press, also plenty of lat involvement on the chest work. By the time I got to pulling, my back and delts were already pretty fatigued.

Took about 20 minutes to complete.

It truly felt it helped me get very lean and preserve muscle.
[/quote]

How many times a week were you doing this? and did you find that it had any effect of your lifting?

15

Wake up, take ECA, HOT-ROX, or whatever thermogenic or fatty acid releasing compound along with 5 humapro tabs, wait 30 min. Then 20-40 min walking on an incline at 3-4 mph. 5 tabs humapro after that, and then eat when hungry. The weekly frequency and the duration of the cardio are determined by how behind or ahead you are on your prep/diet

16

400 Meter sprints. They burn a shit load of energy in a short time, by your second sprint you will be ravenous, by your fourth you will hate yourself, then by the fifth you will probably of coughed up a lung. If done properly, your whole body should feel energy deprived (hard to describe) after the end of every single sprint, and the legs should feel incredibly oxygen deprived. Running Man do the elite athlete level or good shape one that CT had written for your contest prep cardio.

Also you likely won’t lose any muscle in your legs, or at least I haven’t noticed any loss (considering I am getting stronger both in reps and maxes and bigger…) and I frequently do sprints as ‘extra workouts’ for some GPP work.

17

[quote]myself1992 wrote:
Wake up, take ECA, HOT-ROX, or whatever thermogenic or fatty acid releasing compound along with 5 humapro tabs, wait 30 min. Then 20-40 min walking on an incline at 3-4 mph. 5 tabs humapro after that, and then eat when hungry. The weekly frequency and the duration of the cardio are determined by how behind or ahead you are on your prep/diet [/quote]

Thats what i did for the majority of my contest prep, and it although it worked well, once you get up to 90 mins a day it starts to SUCK INSANE AMOUNTS OF ASSS

my idea for my next prep is to first start dieting without cardio, then add in some high intensity–then start adding in some incline walking- never exceeding 45 minutes a day in the most hellish stage of prep.

18

[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:

[quote]myself1992 wrote:
Wake up, take ECA, HOT-ROX, or whatever thermogenic or fatty acid releasing compound along with 5 humapro tabs, wait 30 min. Then 20-40 min walking on an incline at 3-4 mph. 5 tabs humapro after that, and then eat when hungry. The weekly frequency and the duration of the cardio are determined by how behind or ahead you are on your prep/diet [/quote]

Thats what i did for the majority of my contest prep, and it although it worked well, once you get up to 90 mins a day it starts to SUCK INSANE AMOUNTS OF ASSS

my idea for my next prep is to first start dieting without cardio, then add in some high intensity–then start adding in some incline walking- never exceeding 45 minutes a day in the most hellish stage of prep.[/quote]

That’s what I did but started with the fasted walks first and then added high intensity.

Dropped 20lbs doing no cardio but the fasted walks and just letting the diet do the work.

Not gone up past 30 mins of cardio per day yet (unless I fancy doing the sleds for the banter) and I’m still getting leaner!

19

Rowing machine sprints for 45 or 60 secs all out, rest 2-3 mins repeat 10 times, finish off with 10 mins very light steady state. Testing yourself for 1000m is also pretty brutal

20

[quote]Mdgray82 wrote:

[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:
Tire Dragging.

One set is up 30 yards and back so about 60 yards total. Going one way, for legs, it amounts to about 40 steps or so, for chest usually 12 reps and for back usually 14 or 15 reps, so of course, double that for one set.

Weight used is enough to make it difficult where my power/rep speed were decreasing at the end of 30 yards (slightly uphill), rest a few seconds as I turn my tire around, then finish with the slight downhill 30 yards (this worked out perfectly in terms of fatigue).

Rest is minimal, just enough after one set to get breathing under control.

My favorite protocol was 4 sets of legs (uphill forward drags, downhill backward drags), 3 sets of press (same both ways), and 2 sets of pull (low pull uphill and high pull downhill).

I decreased the sets as I went because there is quite an involvement of chest statically contracting (to hold the ropes) on the leg work, and with the scapular movement on a tire sled press, also plenty of lat involvement on the chest work. By the time I got to pulling, my back and delts were already pretty fatigued.

Took about 20 minutes to complete.

It truly felt it helped me get very lean and preserve muscle.
[/quote]

How many times a week were you doing this? and did you find that it had any effect of your lifting?[/quote]

I could do it about 3 to 4 times per week max. But as my contest prep wore on, I would notice that if I did two days in a row, or 3 in a 4 day stretch, I’d be dragging the following day.

Luckily, the tire dragging is eccentric-less so that lets you get away with a bit more volume than other activities.