What type and how often do you do cardio besides Foundation?

Hi,

the headline says it all.

Greetings, Phil

I train (and teach) martial arts 3-5 times a week.  These sessions range from less intense skill training to very intense HIIT intervals, as well as everything in between.  This keeps me in good shape cardio wise.  Really, there are few things better than burpees for conditioning.  Once every few months I'll challenge myself to see how fast I can do 50 burpees, or how many burpees I can do in X amount of time (this one sucks).  Add in pushups or tuck jumps to each rep to add spice.

Using primarily this conditioning program, I managed to run a 5k charity run a few months ago in just over 21min.  If I liked running more and actually trained it I could probably get below 20min, but I don't  Incidently, many runners who take our fitness courses tend to see their run times drop.

Previously I had done swimming a couple times a week, but I dropped it as I just started BJJ 3-4x/week, and we do have some cardio-type stuff at the beginning of class, and 30-40 mins of rolling each class, which I definitely see bringing up my conditioning base a metric-ton. 

Other than that, not much, though I suppose I walk a lot every day cause I am a good mile from friends places/grocery stores/college etc, so its not unusual that I can get in to the 8+ miles range. 

I walk to and from work 5 days a week; so 6 miles a day.

I don't really like running so I'm not sure what my cardio vascular endurance is like.

I am a runner and cross country skier, so I do endurance work for average 5-10 hours per week.  For optimal health, I think 3 workouts of 30 minutes is adequate.  Jump rope, run, sprint, HIIT, bike, hike.  Have fun and mix it up, unless you are training for something in particular.

i ride bmx at the skatepark i've leaned out lately after getting back on the saddle.

I take the dog down the park with a football and walk/run/sprint about for an hour or so 5 to 7 times week practicing shooting, dribbling, keepy uppy and the odd dive. I've been doing this since April and haven't felt nimbler or lighter on my feet for a long time.

I used to run for cardio but found it quite dreary and always seemed to ache. Now I feel I am playing around like when I was little and although I don't really have any structure but I try to push it every few days especially after a F1b workout and I find I just look forward to it every day.

I sprint twice a week and bike and/or paddle board and/or swim at least one day a week.

swimming, once a week or twice. Will probably get more attention/higher priority in the future.

KB Swings

I started riding a unicycle about 6 months ago.  Took two months to get 10 yards, but now it is fantastic cardio and balance training.  Always fun and always more skill to adapt.

run 3 times per week which includes sprinting hills, intervals and a longer jog

I walk everywhere I can in my town, makes a huge difference to my mobility in the hips and back being in this habit...

I train bjj 2 hours * 3 days/week, which ranges low to mid to high intensity...

Other martial arts training on my own time; not as much as I'd like....

And I take a Poliquin leaf and do 6*30s all out sprints with 4 minutes rest between 2* a week. Im a terrible and reluctant sprinter, and that sort of distance is my absolute nemesis, but it definitely does the job and holds my attention much more than jogging

Right now, I just do the occasional sparring, but once my routine regularizes I'm going to be doing variations of sprints/runs from 200m to 800m in length two times a week.

Thanks for all the input!

A lot of cool stuff

Is it true that you need to run 30min to train your endurance?

I cant run 30min straight, so I tought I would just run 10 min and then after a while run 15min and so on....

I will increase the speed first, when I am able to run 30min. Maybe I will add some sprints.

Is this a good approach?

Yes, it's easy to overdo sprints at first but if you don't do more than 30 minutes jogging at a time, you will be fine (unless you run at 20kph).

@philtaylor

look at doing the couch to 5k program, great for people beginning to run

I will give couch to 5k a try! Thanks for the tip!

I dident like running untill i found this app https://itunes.apple.com/fi/app/running-for-weight-loss-pro/id636240052?l=fi&mt=8

I run now 2 times a week. Best interval program that i have tryed. I also do bjj and mma for 5 times a week.

tfeal said:

I take the dog down the park with a football and walk/run/sprint about for an hour or so 5 to 7 times week practicing shooting, dribbling, keepy uppy and the odd dive. I've been doing this since April and haven't felt nimbler or lighter on my feet for a long time.

I used to run for cardio but found it quite dreary and always seemed to ache. Now I feel I am playing around like when I was little and although I don't really have any structure but I try to push it every few days especially after a F1b workout and I find I just look forward to it every day.

When you say you practising diving, is that the play acting as well. Having a rather amusing image going through my head!

tom040287 said:

When you say you practising diving, is that the play acting as well. Having a rather amusing image going through my head!

Yeah I was being a bit facetious  but I have done a few forward and backward rolls to mix things up a bit.

I work a manual labor job that requires me to lift light(ish) boxes (5 to 60lbs) and walk 8-12 miles a day, but before I was working this job I did hill sprints 1-3 days a week and some tennis or ultimate Frisbee. Look up Jim Wendler and RossTraining, both are great sources of fun/effective conditioning! 

4 times a week with running or biking.

I run (400-3k training), swim (3-6*/week at a leisurely pace with friends) and play football as much as possible.