Enough with the big fat guys

A conditioning guide for strength athletes

Here's what you need to know...

1. Planned wisely, training strength and conditioning at the same time can make you stronger.
2. The myth that endurance training causes strength loss was taken from studies that looked at extreme cases.
3. GPP (General Physical Preparedness) is not as important for powerlifting competitions, but is even more important when it comes to training for these competitions.
4. A solid base of conditioning will speed up recovery after strength training.
5. Mobility cycles will kill two birds with one stone: better mobility and better overall conditioning.

Strength and endurance?

You've probably heard that strength athletes should avoid cardio and conditioning and instead focus exclusively on the strength side of the sport.

Perhaps you have listened to this advice. After all, it makes sense. Training for endurance and strength at the same time will not give you optimal results for either endurance or strength.

But is this really true? Have you ever taken a closer look at how different types of training can support each other?

Rev up your engine

Conditioning is about more than just improving your mile time, increasing your VO2 max or getting lean for the beach. Conditioning can be an engine for your body's power source.

Regardless of your sport, conditioning is a part of your training plan that needs to be put into action. The type of sport you play will only dictate the style and type of conditioning training.

The research on simultaneous training for strength and endurance:

Scientific research has shown that even with simultaneous strength and endurance training, further strength gains occur.

Studies by McCarthy et. Al. and Kraemer et. Al. show improvements in strength in the groups that trained strength and endurance that were comparable to the improvements observed in the groups that only trained their strength.

The myth of a loss of strength through endurance training was derived from studies that examined extreme cases. In the field of strength sports, this way of thinking was simply adopted, which is particularly true for the sport of powerlifting.

Strong and completely out of shape?Powerlifter:

Powerlifting has evolved and changed over the last few decades and is slowly starting to grow out of the old-school mindset.

It has always been accepted that powerlifters are overweight and don't need any athleticism or conditioning.

I single out powerlifting because it is one of the few sports that is all about maximum strength and does not require any form of endurance. It's a sport where each effort can last maybe seven seconds at the top end of the scale, with long pauses between each attempt.

If you look at this sport as an outsider, then you could easily argue that there is no need for any conditioning for athletes of this discipline. But those who are a little more familiar with the science can attest that there is such a need, taking into account recent findings in the field of simultaneous training for strength and endurance.

Some research has shown that training for both endurance and strength at the same time will result in a lower impact on strength gains. This is a problem in a sport that is all about maximum strength.

However, this consideration does not usually take into account that the studies mentioned used a higher volume of endurance training and did not consider a well-planned program. Instead of delving deeper into this topic, people simply take the conventional wisdom on strength and endurance training for granted and ignore conditioning completely.

The problems that come from this idea are many and dangerous.

The construction of a foundation

When building any impressive landmark, a solid foundation is necessary. Without this base, the structure will crumble and soon fall apart. The same is true when we talk about a strong and muscular body.

If the base is not strong enough, then it is only a matter of time before progress will stall and injuries will occur.

In the three major exercises, the fundamentals of the movements are an important foundation. In other words, you need to know how to perform squats, bench presses and deadlifts correctly and without compensations. This is essential for any strength athlete and is a prerequisite for continued progress.

This goes hand in hand with something called General Physical Preparedness (GPP). GPP means that the body's energy systems are conditioned to work longer and more efficiently.

A powerlifter will rely more on the ATP/CP (adenosine triphosphate/creatine phosphate) system for short, maximum power releases on race day.

However, when it comes to training for a competition, a strength athlete with better GGP compared to a strength athlete with poor conditioning will be able to perform more work sets and more exercises and therefore achieve better strength gains.

Working to increase mitochondrial density and increase muscle glycogen stores will allow a muscle to be able to work longer, which in turn gives the athlete the ability to train longer and more intensely - and better training equals better results.

Energy systems and recovery

When it comes to recovery, strength athletes are always trying to get a head start. From supplements to sleep and nutrition, strength athletes try everything to find the next big thing.

Why? Because faster recovery means more training and more training means better results.

But what does conditioning have to do with recovery? The answer is simple: energy systems.

When we exercise, we create chemical changes that cause the fatigue we feel. Muscles use energy substrates such as ATP as a source of energy. Lactic acid and hydrogen ions accumulate (the burn we all love and hate) and glycogen stores are slowly depleted.

Through better conditioning, an athlete can improve oxygen delivery to the muscles, achieve more efficient ATP production and burn lactic acid. The aerobic system is the primary source of energy for regeneration.

The transportation of nutrients, hormones, metabolites and waste products through the blood is essential. The ability of the blood flow to pump the required nutrients to the muscles and to remove the waste products produced during exercise plays an enormous role in both performance and health (2).

With an improvement in nutrient and oxygen transportation, an exerciser will not only be able to exercise longer at a higher work capacity, but also recover faster and more efficiently after exercise. This improved recovery will lead to more frequent and efficient training sessions.

An additional aspect of these improvements is the competition day. Many of these competitions last for hours, and by the time it's time to deadlift, many athletes are already exhausted and failing at weights they've done over and over again in training.

With an improved aerobic base, the body can fully recover after each attempt and stay fresher throughout the day, which will lead to new personal bests.

Fit or fat?

If you look at the history of powerlifting, there are two things that have always stood out: these people were insanely strong and they were also fat.

Yes, I said FAT.

Old-school powerlifters all seemed to share the same traits and none of those traits matched their bodybuilding counterparts. When I was younger, I just accepted that weight was an advantage, but today I have come to realize that the higher body fat percentage is not an advantage, but in fact a hindrance.

Why do many powerlifters get fat in the first place?

To get stronger, we need to maintain a caloric surplus and when we do this in combination with a lack of conditioning, weight gain is inevitable.

For a strength athlete like a powerlifter, strength is the main goal and therefore nutrition becomes a tool to develop strength rather than a sexy look. This is all well and good, but there is a way to achieve both.

The best of both worlds

Science and practice have helped us make many breakthroughs in the world of nutrition. We now know more than ever before and we know the culprits behind fat storage.

We have also begun to learn about the medicinal effects of certain foods and how they can support our performance in all areas of life. It's time we start using this knowledge for strength and body development.

By paying attention to the macro and micronutrients, we can manipulate our diet not only to lose fat, but to maintain our strength or even get stronger at the same time. To do this, however, we must use conditioning as part of our programs.

In short, powerlifters no longer have a reason to be fat.

In fact, it makes sense for a powerlifter to be as lean as possible. Powerlifting is divided into weight classes and you only compete against other powerlifters in your weight class.

So if two powerlifters weigh 100 kilos and one has 10% body fat and the other has 20% body fat, the math tells us that the powerlifter with only 10% body fat has more muscle mass and therefore a higher potential for strength.

So it's only logical to be leaner than your opponents, to have greater potential.

Let's put this into practice

Conditioning for strength athletes will improve body composition, work capacity and recovery, all of which will lead to a more efficient athlete and a better workout. The big question now is how to build such a program so that it doesn't interfere with strength training.

A strength athlete is not going to run mile after mile and spend hours on the elliptical every week to improve their conditioning. There is no need for these amounts of endurance training and the exercise selection should be more specific to the sport itself.

During the off-season, most of the aerobic base should be built up. This is the time of year during which 3 to 4 training sessions of 20 to 60 minutes each can be scheduled per week.

These workouts could be anything from walking, stadium stair running or sled pulling.

As a strength athlete approaches the competition season and begins the preparation phase, the frequency should be reduced and exercise selection could be adjusted.

Some of the best things for conditioning are timed weight sled pulls, agility cycles and training with the medicine ball. Whatever you choose, the goal will be to keep your heart rate in a range of about 130 to 150 and keep lactic acid buildup to a minimum.

Increase slowly from week to week by adding time or repetitions. It is most helpful to schedule lower body workouts the day after a heavy squat or deadlift workout and upper body workouts the day after a heavy bench press workout.

This allows an increase in blood flow to the damaged muscle groups, speeding up recovery and alleviating muscle soreness.

Below is an example week of training with conditioning:

Monday

Bench press 5 x 2 85%
Bench press with close grip 3 x 8
Rowing with chest support 5 x 10
Pull-ups 4 x 10
Tricep press 3 x 15

Tuesday

25 minutes flexibility circuit

Wednesday

Squats 5 x 2 85%
Paused Squats 3 x 6
Romanian Deadlift 4 x 8
Glute-Ham Raise 4 x 8

Thursday

20 minutes sled pull with 20 kilos

Friday

Overhead press 5 x 5
Pull-ups 5 x 10
Dumbbell rows 5 x 10
Tricep presses on cable 3 x 15

Saturday

Deadlift 8 x 1 70%
Front squats 5 x 5
Ab rollout 5 x 10

Sunday

60 minutes walking on the treadmill with incline

Agility circuit

One idea is to integrate flexibility circuits. These kill two birds with one stone and can be an excellent addition to any training plan.

Start with 4 to 5 exercises aimed at training flexibility in exercises or areas where you lack flexibility. Perform 15 to 20 repetitions per exercise. Perform the exercises in the form of a circuit and repeat for 15 to 30 minutes.

Your heart rate should remain in the region of 130 beats per minute and you should work up a sweat. This not only helps your fitness but also improves the quality of your movement.

Stop with the excuses

Powerlifting has a stigma of being a fat and lazy sport. People who don't want to do cardio choose to simply move heavy weights.

But powerlifting is about more than just moving weights. Powerlifting epitomizes both physical and mental strength. It takes drive and courage to move under the weights that you know could crush you.

There is grace and athleticism involved in form and positioning, and those who succeed feel a sense of pride.

Shatter that stigma and show pride for your abilities, your body and your athleticism. End these stereotypes and create a new look for powerlifting and other strength sports.

Build fitness, improve your recovery and set new records.

References

1. McCarthy et. Al. Compatibility of adaptive responses with combining strength and endurance training. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise [1995, 27(3):429-436].
2. Kraemer et. Al. Compatibility of high-intensity strength and endurance training on hormonal and skeletal muscle adaptations. Journal of Applied Physiology. March 1995. vol. 78 no. 3, 976-989.
3. Strength training and cardiovascular training side by side: How does one affect the other? Sport Fitness Advisor.
4. Jamison, Joel. Ultimate MMA Conditioning. 2009 Performance Sports Inc.

By Chance Cianciola | 03/31/15

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/no-more-strong-fat-guys

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