Cardio-Strength Training

While many of the articles here on UltiTraining have focused on the S in S&C–Strength&Conditioning–it’s important not to forget the importance of staying well conditioned during the college/club season.

Many teams rely on LSD [long-slow distance], scrimmages, and sprints after practice for their conditioning, but can we do better? There’s definitely been a trend away from LSD towards interval training in the last few decades. What boxers call roadwork we often may associate with slow jogs/runs, but modern fighters often incorporate interval training, circuits, and complexes into their conditioning routines.

In this blog post, I’ll explain some basic ideas and programs adapted from Coach dos Remedios‘s new book, Cardio Strength Training, and describe two KB-based complexes you can try out in your own conditioning routines.

Coach Dos’s book starts out with the reminder that Dr. Tabata’s 1996 study showed that “a simple 4-minute protocol using negative rest periods (20 seconds of high intensity work followed by 10 seconds of rest) five times a week (a total of 20 minutes) was more effective than traditional steady state cardio performed for 60 minutes, five times per week.” In fact, “in a fraction of the time, they found greater aerobic and anaerobic gains in the short, high-intensity interval group!”

That said, it’s somewhat difficult to replicate the intensity you need for the Tabata protocol in your average University gym, but coaches have tried a number of variants to this basic method.

In Cardio Strength Training, Coach Dos and Alwyn Cosgrove put forth the hypothesis that “a strength training–interval training hybrid outperforms both strength and interval training… something that great coaches already know. Wait for the researchers to catch up…” Coach Dos then describes a number of different ways to hybridize strength training and interval-cardio work, including complexes, density training, on-and-off circuits, and repetition sets. To keep things simple, this blog post will only briefly touch upon kettlebell complexes (the book has more details on dumbbell and barbell complexes).

What is a complex? Alwyn Cosgrove defines a complex as “performing two or more exercises in a sequence with the same load”. In other words, you might perform a number of snatches followed by a number of overhead squats without putting down the weighted implement.

Cosgrove argues that while sprint-based training does condition for cardiorespiratory fitness, one must also condition the muscle groups themselves to handle high levels of lactate. And while there are running-based methods to condition muscles / lactate processing, Ultimate players definitely get plenty of running in during practice, tournaments, and sprints after practice. Enter dumbbell / barbell / kettlebell complexes, which allow athletes to train for improved “metabolic conditioning”.

The following video demonstrates a basic Kettlebell complex and an advanced, double K’bell complex. These complexes were adapted from Coach Dos’s book and slightly modified.

Beginning KB complex:

• 3 sets of 6-8 reps of {KB swing, Goblet squat, Push Press}. Rest 1-2 minutes between sets.

Advanced/Double KB complex:

• 3 sets of 6-8 reps of {High Pull, Clean & Push Press, Dbl. KB Snatch, Front Squat}. Rest 1-2 minutes between sets.

[Note: the KB form demonstrated in the book could be a tad bit better. Instead of the quarter squat, try performing the KB swing like a moving deadlift, hiking the ‘bell between your legs. When you clean the ‘bell to rack position, keep the ‘bell & elbow close to the body. Finally, when pressing the ‘bell overhead, keep the wrist “straight”, as in a punch or a knuckles-down push-up.]

Alwyn’s article on complexes has two different DB complexes and CorePerformance has an interview with Coach Dos that mentions how to do bodyweight complexes. Start light, with longer recovery periods. With less than 100 lbs on a barbell or 12-16kg on your K’bell, you’ll still rack up thousands of pounds of total work per set.

Don’t forget that your body/mind adapts to what you do, and simply doing the same sprint intervals you’ve done for weeks, months, years may not create the same kind of “metabolic disturbance” that they once did. Coach Dos cites The New Toughness Training for Sport where Jim Loehr talks about “the concept that if there is no personal confrontation, there is no progress… if you are not doubting yourself or not thinking of other things that you could be doing instead of the task at hand, you’re probably not working hard enough on your complexes.”

Work hard, comrades.