"oh, you lift... do you do any cardio? well you should..."

Note to readers: I am not knocking cardio... ok, read on


ok ok ok, I am sick of this scenario. You have some one that isn't very strong pushing the envelope on me doing more cardio "because it is better overall for your mind body spirituality blah blah blah"

first of all... mind your own workout. i don't come over and knock your bike over when you are cycling, DO I?

I got a heart rate monitor after constantly bickering with some of these people. I had told them before that while lifting the amount of weight that I do with the correct periodization program and sticking to proper rest time intervals that I guarrantee my heart rate stays higher for a longer period of time than people doing just cardio.

"but Rob yours (heart rate) is just up for short bursts" ... While I would love to think that I am a machine, you can't just put your heart on low after doing five sets of romanian deadlifts. I used the heart rate monitor today and while resting for a minute and fifteen seconds my heart rate stayed above 140 and directly after each set i glanced at the heart rate on the watch and it was in the 180s every time, creeped into the 190s on the last set of 8.

let me guess, "that can't be accurate, your heart rate can't be that high during just lifting"
I completed a VO2 Max test last fall and I got my heart up to 208 on a treadmill... IN AN EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY LABORATORY... please argue with me about this... it happened. the max heart rate formula (220-age) is for the average population, it is not a Golden rule by any means. athletes can push themselves above that mark. "oh, that machine was broken" "NO YOU DIDN'T" and all the other random rebuttals that will receive, lok at this. I went beofre my budy and a GA strength coach at UK. I motivated them out of sheer competition to get 210 and 209 beats per minute on the same VO2 Max protocol... thanks

"you need to do more cardio for your health" my hdl cholesterol hovers around 30... yea, i know that is low... TOO BAD MY LDL (bad cholestesterol) IS 37----> extremely low. I have talked to various physicians that told me it is nearly impossible to increase my HDL when my LDL is that low and I shouldn't be worried about those levels because I am in great physical condition... but what do they know, they are just doctors

I am not knocking cardio, if that is your thing, do it. it isn't my thing. there is an abundance of research that comes right out and states that doing too much cardio in an athlete's training regimine will stunt his/her strength gains... it will decrease the amount of possible strength gains that would be attainable if that athlete JUST focused on resistance training. there are also articles that show that one to two sessions a week of explosive resistance training CAN HELP endurance athletes... I wrote a paper on specificity of training this semester as well as presented it to my peers, if you would like a copy let me know... it has the references attached so you can check out the specifics on the articles and research I am throwing out there.

it is simple, I want to be as physically strong as possible. I will and do devote mulitple hours per week lifting, researching better and different ways to resistance train, and then when the time comes, writing another program with CLC, CSCS, CPT (www.swonkdiesel.blogspot.com). I don't like being weak sauce. If a friend needs to move, I want to be able to help, not be the fifth guy on a couch. I want functional ability... that is great if you can run 20 miles a day or every other day... my question is this: WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO NEED THAT???????????!!!!!!!!!!!! If I need to help some one move or carry something I don't have to call three of my buddies to help me.

"Hey Bill, let's run to Richmond from Lexington because I need bread" ... you will never need to run that far at one time... like I said, if running, cycling, swimming is your thing, you love it, it is your stress reliever, how you are best motivated by beating yourself every day.... f'n fantastic. I am glad you have a passion. My passion is resistance training.