Cardio is the term for those activities that raise your heart rate and stress your cardiovascular system. Another term - the term we prefer - is conditioning.
Conditioning tends to come more with the idea of a purpose, like training versus exercise. Cardio is more something you should do to get out of breath and sweaty.
There are three general reasons people do cardio.
Cardio encompasses three energy systems.
Conditioning for lifters will typically stress the aerobic and glycolytic energy systems, as lifting stresses the phosphagen system (and the glycolytic as well).
Why and How Lifters Should Do Cardio: Conditioning for Strength AthletesMost lifters will want to incorporate some easy aerobic activity and then high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
For the aerobic activity, things that simply get you active suffice. This can mean walks. If you enjoy other activities, such as swimming, running, or biking, by all means do those in Zone 2.
To include intervals, you should perform low-impact, low-skill activities for relatively short durations repeatedly a few times a week.
This can look like accessory circuits at the end of your workouts, hill sprints, prowler pushes, or some type of machine intervals (bike, rower, elliptical, etc.).
Why and how lifters should do cardio depends, but there are some general principles and best practices that make sense for your performance and health.
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