Kinda confused on what you guys do for cardio. I’m well aware of all the hillsprints, prowler pushes/drags and all the sled work. I’m just kinda confused on which days to do it. Here’s what my program looks like.
Monday - ME Lower
Tuesday - ME Upper
Wednesday - Off
Thursday - DE Lower
Friday - DE Upper
I was thinking of doing two high-intensity cardio days and the rest being low intensity days on which I walk. Any ideas on what days to add them in?
CS
I’ve been dealing with the same issue myself. My program is a lot different and it’s a 3 day program. On mondays I squat anywhere between 70-90%, deadlifts wednesday the same way. Fridays are light squats and bench work.
Generally speaking I do light to moderate prowler pushes on monday for added volume. Wednesday I do do heavier prowler pushes, pulls, and rows with blast straps. I’m trying to work in hill sprints but I have a hard time motivating myself because this Art Hill - St. Louis, Missouri - Sledding Places on Waymarking.com is my hill.
I try to take the dog for a walk tues, thurs, saturday and sunday.
I’m no expert so I could be way off with my approach but I figure some cardio/gpp is better than none.
It’s not optimal for powerlifting, I’m sure, but I just basically do the triathlon events for cardio. I either jog 2-3 miles, ride a bike for 10-15 miles, or swim 10-20 laps. I’ll get on the elliptical if I’m trying to shed a few lbs. I’ve learned that if I jog regularly for longer than 3 miles, my maxes start to go down as my body shifts more into an endurance mode. When I want to tax the system and get gassed, I’ll do sprint intervals in the pool. If I had a sled or prowler I’d work them into the routine.
I walk the dog about once a day, Maybe I should put on a 50lb vest. haha
As far as timing, I never do cardio the day before a lower body workout, and I don’t swim the day before ME bench as it works my shoulders too much. If I were on your routine, I’d switch the lower and upper days around, so I could capitalize on those off days and do high-intensity cardio on sunday and wednesday, and maybe some lower volume stuff on saturday. But I like doing something active every day. If you want to truly keep those days as off days, I’d just do the high intensity stuff after your upper body days, as you don’t have to hit lower until 2-3 days later.
As far as just regular cardio, i.e. waddling away on a treadmill or something, you can do that pretty much everyday as long as you don’t overdo it. Something like 20-30mins at 50-60% Max HR wouldnt hurt your lifts. And LOW intensity cardio like that actually helps you recover faster. Something about the way increased aerobic response shifts you from sympathetic to parasympathetic dominant.
For sprints, push’s, hill sprints, whatever else you want to do, it depends on your goals as to where to impliment them. If it is just for conditioning purposes, do them after your workouts as often as you like. If you are trying to improve your speed and explosiveness, do them before your workouts, after a warm-up.
I only suggest this because I am assuming you are limited on time. If you can split it up throughout the day, do it. It just can’t be optimal to work on so many skills in one session.
As far as high intensity on off days, thats a good idea. Like I said, the low intensity stuff won’t mess with your lifts.