Cardio and Running for Muscle and Strength

 Some people seem adamantly against running as a form of exercise for the sake of increasing your cardio health. Yes, there are alternatives to things in life, but running is difficult, and a good challenge. Because it has taken me so long to adapt to running there were times I thought that some people's body's are more built for running (which I'm sure is true). But nonetheless, you are human, and should be able to do what other humans do.

A program I found to start running from scratch is called C25K (Couch to 5K). It took me 5 years to complete this beginner runner's program. I would get shin splints, ankle pain, and knee pain. And it would affect my ability to lift weights, so I kept abandoning the idea of training cardio.

 

Last year when the Pandemic started in 2020 and the gyms closed, I decided to focus on push-ups, pull-ups, yoga, and running. The weather was very hot to be running outside, but I did it anyway, and the gyms opened up for a few weeks. I joined a gym and started running on a treadmill in air conditioning. The gyms closed again, and I knew I'd have to run outside in the heat, and I stopped running again for 2 months. The gyms reopened for another 3 weeks, and I started running again, and I was using all of the machines at the gym, and I was desperately trying to do anything to lose weight. Once the gyms closed for that third time, I continued running outdoors - even when it became cold (40s and 50s F).

The trick to completing this program was to get enough recovery. The program tells you to do 3 runs a week, and the whole program is 9 weeks. For me, at around week 4, I started only doing a run once a week, and I successfully completed every run thereafter. I'm currently on Week 9, Day 2, which is to run for 30 minutes straight. I've done this once now, I've ran 28 minutes about 4 times, I ran 25 minutes about 4 times, so I finally hit a goal I set 10 years ago in 2011. I wanted to be able to run for 20 minutes, and then push for 30 minutes, and I'm at the 30 minute mark now.

The cardio has really aided me in the gym. I don't get tired as easily at the gym which is very important. Before I do a heavy lift, the way I brace myself, and breathe, is aided by the increased cardio and lung capacity. My body feels lighter. It conditions your knees, ankles, and feet a bit, and it gets circulate blood flow, which helps recovery.

I'm not sure how I'll progress in running from where I am currently because all of my runs have been 20-30 minutes, and I like that brief amount of time. I don't know that I want to run for longer periods, and I don't know that I want to run faster either. And I'm not sure I'd want to just repeat the same 30 minute every week, but if I did do that - it would be worth it for the benefits. I'll probably push for 40 minutes, and perhaps a full hour.

One last thing I want to mention is that when trying to tackle this running program, I was using just a treadmill, and when my ankles or knees hurt, I would tape them, and this would get me through running sessions, but the pain of my ankles and knees only increased as my running became longer. So it was important for me to not use tape to aid my ankles and knees so that they could be conditioned, and I also think that running outdoors is superior to a treadmill. It's a more natural running technique outdoors, and it's nice having a change of scenery. It's bizarre to be in a gym, on a treadmill, and having people stare at you for half an hour, or people shuffling by your treadmill very slowly. It just feels like there's so many distractions on the inside of a gym. It's like sensory overload, and you have to try and block it all out, whereas running outdoors feels more peaceful.

And my commitment to running forced me to clean up my diet, and quickly. I felt like overeating food bloated me, and made running more difficult. And eating leaner and lighter foods makes sense when you need your digestion to not bother you. It's like it's easy to consume too much food and become overweight if you're just sitting down a lot of the time, whereas an athlete needs to eat a certain diet to remain athletic.

I think that's why so many people eat foods with poor nutrition. They don't have a need or a reason for their body to be maximally operating. If you're going to fend for your life, and you're able to train for a year before this happens, the way you exercise and eat will be very different than if you have an office job, and you don't exercise. In the latter scenario, I know at least for myself, that you just reach for high caloric foods so that you can just eat something quickly and get on with your life. I'm sure people don't cook their own food for the same reason. They don't see why they're need a higher performing body, and they don't want to waste their time.

Lifting Routine For Muscle and Strength

 Due to the pandemic of March 2020, I, like many people, had to take a break from the gym for months since they were closed across the country. Getting back into lifting consistently can take the body a while to condition. So I had been just showing up, and doing full body routines. This worked well, but the higher I increased the poundage of the weights, the less my body was able to handle recovery. It took a number of months to get to that stage, which is why you never stop training in the first place. It was really the same as getting injured and being unable to lift for months.

Once I realized my recovery was inadequate, and that my diet, supplements, and sleep are on point, I decided to start programming my workouts again. Two routines I've liked using over the years are 5/3/1 and GZCL, which are similar to each other. GZCL is a variation of 5/3/1. It has higher percentages that you train with, so that you're lifting heavier weight than base 5/3/1. It can be hard to determine how much volume you should have in a routine. Over the years, I've been injured many times through too much volume, and of course too much weight can also cause injury.

I've probably ran GZCL routine longer than anything else. And I think it's good, but it doesn't have enough volume prescribed, but that's kind of the point that it's not supposed to be your entire routine. I feel like I preserved strength, but held back too much during GZCL. So the routine I've chosen to do is 5/3/1 the full deal, which I'll explain. Below is the main chart which determines how much weight your lift. The percentage being based off your training PR, which is 10% of your actual PR.

3x3          3x5          5/3/1        3x5, deload
Week 1   Week 2    Week 3    Week 4
70% x 3   65% x 5   75% x  5  40% x 5
80% x 3   75% x 5   85% x  3  50% x 5
90% x 3+ 85% x 5+ 95% x 1+ 60% x 5

There are 4 types of sets you do in this routine for each lift that's programmed. Firstly are the warm-up sets (50%). Secondly are the actual work sets, which you see above in the chart. The last set in the work sets, you do as many reps as possible. Thirdly are the Joker sets. These are sets that are 5-10lb heavier than your last work set and with the same amount of reps or less. You can do an unlimited amount of Joker sets, and these sets define the program. Fourthly, are a trio of drop sets.

I think there's a lot of brilliance to those 4 types of sets. The warm-up set is only prescribed as one set. This means you're not wasting energy and time on too much warm-up, which I have been guilty of. The work sets are the most important - they must be done. The Joker sets allow to you lift as heavy as you want every workout, meaning you don't need to use too high of a PR for the entire program if you don't use your actual PR. Lastly, the Drop sets force you to not completely drain yourself on the Joker sets. The Drop sets are no joke. And I like leaving exercises with clean reps opposed to struggling and being close to injury.

Although the Joker and Drop sets aren't necessary - if you skip them, 5/3/1 will have extremely slow moving progression. The Joker sets allow you to readjust the PR you're using as well if you find yourself doing too many Joker sets. A downside of this routine could be that you get too obsessed with breaking PRs, and the Joker sets injure you.

Another problem with any 5/3/1 variation could be if you program it on two lifts that use a body part on you that has prior injuries. I'm currently running it on:

• Hack Squat (475 Training PR)
• Lat Pulldown (180 Training PR)
• Barbell Row (250 Training PR)
• Sitting Cable Row (180 Training PR)
• Kroc Rows (100 Training PR)
  

I'm on the first week, and it's gone very well. I've done 4 out of the 5 above. I was happy to find that the cable exercises worked on 5/3/1 too. I know Kroc Rows are pretty odd to run with it, but I'll find out tomorrow how it goes, and I'll report back.