I know we all like to joke that the only cardio a lifter needs is working sets of more than five reps. The reality is that working on your cardio is good for your health, your lifting, and if you’re doing strongman… Babe, work on that conditioning. When I first started in strongman, I had a pretty good cardio routine of cycling, so I was shook to discover how much things like a yoke run or sled pulls knocked the wind out of me. This illustrates the difference between cardio and conditioning. Conditioning is one type of cardio, but let’s talk about what differentiates them.
Cardio
Cardio can include anything that gets your heartrate up. There are many different ways to think about cardio intensity, but Zone 1, 2, and 3 are pretty straightforward. Zone 1 is low intensity where you can still talk pretty easily. Zone 2 is a little uncomfy, and you can talk, but maybe in shorter phrases. Zone 3 is high intensity and you can’t really speak.
Zone 1 and 2 cardio are great for your health. Zone 1 is great for recovery from lifting, and good to just increase your overall activity level. Zone 2 work has more benefits for your heart and lung functioning. Generally in zone 3, you’re only working for a brief amount of time, and might intersperse that with recovery time in a lower intensity zone (sometimes called HIIT).
Conditioning
Conditioning is a more sport specific and intense form of cardio. For the athletes we coach in powerlifting and strongman, conditioning will usually include some cardio with an element of strength – things like sled pushes/drags, weighted walking lunges, farmers carries for speed, or kettlebell swings.
A session like this is shorter than a zone 1 cardio session. It might be structured as an AMRAP (as many reps as possible) or EMOM (every minute on the minute), and helps your body get acclimated to the type of work that will be demanded of you in strongman. This was the component that was missing for me when I first started strongman and found that the yoke just killed me. (To be fair, if you’re not laying on the ground for a minute after your yoke run, did you really try?) Conditioning work will make those sessions feel easier.
Working on your cardio fitness side-by-side with your lifting is good for your overall health and wellbeing. That being said, low to moderate intensity cardio might not help that much with prepping for strongman events, and so it’s helpful to include some conditioning work to get your body used to the demands that you’re going to throw at it.
