Make Your Workouts More Aerobic
August 10th 2007 16:29
The newcomer to weight training often brings with him/her some preconceptions, rising out of the needed simplicity of introductory workouts, which are best relinquished when familiarity with the whole concept of weight training is achieved.Certainly one of these is the idea that weight training is somehow fundamentally at variance with aerobic training. I have written in the past about the error of believing that weights cannot improve aerobic capacity. For today a few principles that can make your workouts as aerobic as you wish.
The reason that running, cycling, and treadmilling are aerobic is simply that they employ the legs in rapid movement over a period of time. The legs make large demands on the cardio and pulmonary systems simply because they are so large. This fact means that weight training centered on legs is likely to be aerobic. If you are a beginner in weight training, it is very important to incorporate leg training from the very beginning and to consider it as integral a part of workouts as any other part.
This size principle also means that the muscles of the back are quite capable of putting stress on the heart and lungs, if they are trained with intensity. The sad fact is that the legs and back are two areas of the body that fall behind the more popular chest and arms in most training. All workouts should begin with a back or leg session, if you wish to gain the benefits of aerobic weight training.
The average beginner is urged to space his/her sets enough to allow recovery between them.This is an important safety measure for beginners whose fitness probably is not sufficient to barrel through workouts. As one becomes more adapted to training, however, it is very important for aerobic purposes to limit time between sets. The less time between sets the more the aerobic will be the stimulation.
A simple way to highlight aerobic training is to train two body parts at the same time. An example might be to do a set of chest exercises and then immediately a set of hamstring exercises. This kind of back and forth training will stress the heart and lungs more,but the two muscles are not closely enough related to make it impossible to do adequate sets.
Even better results can be achieved by combining sets of different body parts with a serious time limit for your entire workout. Set yourself a 20 set workout and try to complete it in 20 minutes. If you actually take 25 minutes to complete your work you will see that a minute a set is a useful goal for workout speed, though it is very difficult with moving weights and walking between machines to do it. The aerobic effect of this rapid workout will be obvious. Your servant, as always.
The reason that running, cycling, and treadmilling are aerobic is simply that they employ the legs in rapid movement over a period of time. The legs make large demands on the cardio and pulmonary systems simply because they are so large. This fact means that weight training centered on legs is likely to be aerobic. If you are a beginner in weight training, it is very important to incorporate leg training from the very beginning and to consider it as integral a part of workouts as any other part.
This size principle also means that the muscles of the back are quite capable of putting stress on the heart and lungs, if they are trained with intensity. The sad fact is that the legs and back are two areas of the body that fall behind the more popular chest and arms in most training. All workouts should begin with a back or leg session, if you wish to gain the benefits of aerobic weight training.
The average beginner is urged to space his/her sets enough to allow recovery between them.This is an important safety measure for beginners whose fitness probably is not sufficient to barrel through workouts. As one becomes more adapted to training, however, it is very important for aerobic purposes to limit time between sets. The less time between sets the more the aerobic will be the stimulation.
A simple way to highlight aerobic training is to train two body parts at the same time. An example might be to do a set of chest exercises and then immediately a set of hamstring exercises. This kind of back and forth training will stress the heart and lungs more,but the two muscles are not closely enough related to make it impossible to do adequate sets.
Even better results can be achieved by combining sets of different body parts with a serious time limit for your entire workout. Set yourself a 20 set workout and try to complete it in 20 minutes. If you actually take 25 minutes to complete your work you will see that a minute a set is a useful goal for workout speed, though it is very difficult with moving weights and walking between machines to do it. The aerobic effect of this rapid workout will be obvious. Your servant, as always.
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