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Other/Mixed Can conditioning/GPP replace cardio?

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
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Vulcan300

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Hello all,

I've been working out using complexes for a bit now. It's been very invigorating, I really love using them. The issue is that I wonder if doing cardio (burpees and jump rope) alongside my complexes is too much work in a week. My question is if the conditioning/GPP that complexes provides means that I do not need to do cardio?
 
No one needs to do cardio anymore than anyones needs to do strength training.
@Vulcan300 what are your goals?
Just general fitness. I want to look good and feel good. I'm not really interested in pursing any major strength or endurance goals. Just want general strength and endurance.
 
Just general fitness. I want to look good and feel good. I'm not really interested in pursing any major strength or endurance goals. Just want general strength and endurance.
If you want general strength and endurance, well, you have to train both.
You could go the middle road, do a GPP ballistics protocol such as Al Ciampa says here:


But you won‘t get the same results.

Edit: if you are still unsure which way to go, change just one training variable for a month, log how you are recovering and whether you like it. Keep or discard. Repeat the next month with another training variable… until you find a balance you feel confortable with.
 
Just general fitness. I want to look good and feel good. I'm not really interested in pursing any major strength or endurance goals. Just want general strength and endurance.

Given your goals, I would follow this template:


You can do complexes on one conditioning day and burpees/skipping the other.
 
My question is [ : is it indicated that ] the conditioning/GPP that complexes provides means that I do not need to do cardio?
Forgive the edit. I had to reread it a couple times to think about the way you're posing the question.

So, my understanding of the question is that you're wondering whether the burpees and jump rope practice substitutes for unspecified cardio training.

The answer is either No or yes depending on how you mean it.


Endurance or strength endurance ?

The thing is that I draw distinctions between burpees and running. I don't regard burpees as a cardio event. I regard them as a strength endurance event; A question of how many times can I use strength to exert this dose of force. That's a different thing for me than running or jogging or bicycling. Burpees are pulsed discreetly like pushups. Another strength endurance event. This grants the motions primary access to atp/cp exposure at first and digs into glycolysis second.

In bicycling thinking how long can I generate continuous motion forward with the benefit of momentum and the consequences of lost inertia over terrain. And a bicycle machine pedaled at a maintenance pace can be characterized as primarily aerobic fatty acid metabolism followed by glycolysis and in rarer events primarily CP fueled, momentarily.


Stress and recovery

I've been puzzling over this in reading and looking at @Brett Jones iron cardio routines. I fancy them to be strength endurance events.

And I've been fascinated by the differences between breath recovery and heart rate recovery.

I note that in my clean and jerk practice my breath recovers without fail every 30 seconds. While my heart rate is mostly steadily rising. It dips a little but not much.


Conditioning masquerades as cardio

There is some conditioning aspect that's improved by such a practice but on its own it hasn't expanded the distance, nor increased the pace at which, I can walk jog or run.

Also cardio events are exquisitely discreet, preparation wise. That is to say bicycling will do little to prepare you for a foot race and vice versa. And , I harken back to an old study where they had participants practice on a one legged bicycle with only one pedal. And they measured improvements in the vo2 max of the participants in the study. Then after a time , the switched the side of the pedal and it's as if they never rode the bike at all. All those gains in vo2 max were "lost".

All that to say that in my day to day life I can get away with substituting my cardio with some conditioning. Seems to work well enough. I can carry more and heavier boxes from the car, and it's easier to get up and down the stairs and I can pick up the kids and hold them for a while longer. But if you have a goal to run further, and faster, you're not gonna get significant improvements from anything other than training for your running directly by running.
 
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Just general fitness. I want to look good and feel good. I'm not really interested in pursing any major strength or endurance goals. Just want general strength and endurance.
Well… the longer I live, the less and less I’m sure I know what general fitness really means. I’m sure you will be just fine with doing what you want if don’t want to pursue more traditional ‘cardio’.

But I’m probably the wrong guy to ask since I hang out with cyclists, climbers, ultra runners, adventure athletes and other godless reprobate heathens…
 
Just general fitness. I want to look good and feel good. I'm not really interested in pursing any major strength or endurance goals. Just want general strength and endurance.

When people talk about "feeling good" in a general sense, for me, that boils down to 3 things:
1) Move stuff around without getting hurt/tired. Solution: lift stuff.
2) Get up/down without getting hurt/tired. Solution: practice getting up/down (mobility)
3) Move yourself around, probably for an hour or so at a time, without getting hurt/tired. Solution: practice moving yourself around for an hour or so at a time (cardio)

So, my vote is, yes, the average shlub really needs to do "cardio", in whatever form that takes. But that's just my $0.02.
 
Listen the two episodes of "The Drive" by Petter Attia where he talks with Iñigo San Millan, they talk about zone 2 training wich I consider the best aerobic/cardio exercise....

#201 - Deep dive back into Zone 2 | Iñigo San-Millán, Ph.D. (Pt. 2) - Peter Attia

Are pretty interesting both episodes, there are pretty important metabolic changes in a mithocondrial level that are only achieved by doing this kind of work.
 
Well… the longer I live, the less and less I’m sure I know what general fitness really means. I’m sure you will be just fine with doing what you want if don’t want to pursue more traditional ‘cardio’.

But I’m probably the wrong guy to ask since I hang out with cyclists, climbers, ultra runners, adventure athletes and other godless reprobate heathens…
Godless Reprobate Heathens, could be an active wear start-up or some such in there. Maybe a bike shop that sells mountain gear, weapons, kettlebells, whiskey, steak, and coffee.
 
When people talk about "feeling good" in a general sense, for me, that boils down to 3 things:
1) Move stuff around without getting hurt/tired. Solution: lift stuff.
2) Get up/down without getting hurt/tired. Solution: practice getting up/down (mobility)
3) Move yourself around, probably for an hour or so at a time, without getting hurt/tired. Solution: practice moving yourself around for an hour or so at a time (cardio)

So, my vote is, yes, the average shlub really needs to do "cardio", in whatever form that takes. But that's just my $0.02.
This is my feeling 100%, i also agree with @Steve Freides. I did a nice snatch session outside today and would walk down the block between each set while i caught my breath. It felt really good, i think I remember hector Gutierrez talking about this approach on a podcast once too.
 
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