Powerlifting is primarily an alactic anaerobic sport. There’s no doubt about that. What I was wondering is how does one periodize their conditioning.
Is there ever a time you really want to work the lactic system?
I do understand that working alactic conditioning will help one recover between short bursts and aerobic conditioning will help with recovery between workouts. So I’m not so sure if there’s a place for lactic conditioning.
What do ya’ll do for conditioning and how do you decide when to do what type of conditioning.
I tend to let my conscience be the guide. When I feel like a fat fuck, I’ll do more stuff. Mtn biking, run hills with a 50ish # ruck and a fully loaded chest rig ( 6 30 rd AR mags, IFAK etc), prowler work, big ass tire flipping, whatever. The days I feel like a stud, I do less stuff or maybe even sit on my ass lol.
As far as programming, IDK I never did but training anerobic capacity is easy. Just do intervals and keep it simple ; don’t “nerd it up”.
There was a time not too long ago when I was thinking I needed to focus more on conditioning, and I probably still do, but it’s not too high on my priorities list. I’m fairly active as it is and walk a good distance every day to and from work and for the daily errands.
As such, my present conditioning consists of:
Walking
Walking with groceries and other heavy objects (no car = “instant conditioning”)
Going up and down my stairs to our fifth floor apartment several times per day
Carrying crates of bottled water up and down the stairs for my wife, who consumes lots of bottled water (I’m more of a tap water guy)
Doing mobility/prehab/rehab work
Probably not enough, but it’s all my schedule can currently afford on top of training. I used to play squash every week and found that to be a great means of keeping up cardiovascular health without sacrificing muscle. But I don’t really have the time anymore and my squash partner moved away.
When the time comes that I feel as though conditioning is a must, I’ll probably do some interval training on the Concept 2 rower once or twice a week.
The level of cardiovascular conditioning(heart lung power) you have directly dictates how fast ATP is replenished in the body. It is best developed through maximal intensity intervals with minimal rest, not steady state aerobic training. I highly recommend reading the book The Complete Guide To Soccer Conditioning by Raymond Verheijen. He provides very simple explanations for these mechanisms. Raymond is very knowledgeable in this field.
Regarding programming the conditioning into your weekly template I highly recommend the works of Thomas Kurz for this. He states that for instance if you perform a high volume strength workout for the lower body(for example) it may take 72 hrs to recover. Now obviously you cant train only 2-3 times(if your an athlete) a week so what you can do is come back to the gym later in the day and do a smaller workout(no more than 60% of the earlier workouts volume - but maybe even 20-30%).
If your early session was 60 mins non stop you want to keep your later session to 35 mins maximum, or maybe even 10-15 mins. The reason is smaller workouts are faster to recover from. A brief anaerobic effort may take only a few hours to fully recover from. That is why volume has to be properly distributed and you cannot have too many extreme volume sessions in a week (Verkhoshansky used 3 major sessions a week with recovery workouts on the consecutive days). Th latter session has to be of a different type though(i.e not another heavy strength session). He states that this actually speeds up recovery as a bonus.
I use the tabata protocol primarily for conditioning, and pick big compound movements ala Dan John. My 2 go tos at the moment are log clean and press and front squats or safety squat bar squats. Sometimes, I’ll employ a circuit routine for time with 3 movements that hit the whole body (like KB swing, dip and chin) and see how many rounds I can manage. Otherwise, I’ll just pull the sled or go for a walk.
I just see it as a chance to get in some extra volume and help with recovery. I figure, the better shape I’m in, the harder I can push myself in training, which means the better my strength becomes on the platform.
Disclaimer: I do not know jack shit about being in shape or lean, but I just started doing prowler pushes (makeshift prowler) supersetted with high rep kettle bell swings.
i look at conditioning as a way to make my training better in that i can do more volume in less time. in other words, i know i will get stronger doing 5 and even 10 rep sets and doing it again and again. so i do conditioning that allows me to do those sets with less rest between sets or even do more sets in a workout. i also do conditioning with the thought of active recovery. just something to get my body moving between lifting so i dont feel so beat up and stiff.
the activity you do should be based more on what you will do consistently whether it be running, jumping rope, swings, prowler, etc.