Cardio for athletic performance

When I was younger I always thought that being able to run five miles non-stop would get me in shape for a season of varsity soccer.

Boy was I wrong. Running at the same pace for 20 minutes didn't do jack for my in season conditioning.

The running I did in soccer was completely different then what I was doing on my own in the preseason.

In one minute of the game I could slowly be jogging to receive a pass and the next minute sprinting at full speed towards the net trying to shake defenders.

There was no carry over from the preseason to the season however from preseason to post I found that this was the opposite.

The constant pace change of the sport had conditioned my heart beyond what any sort of cross country work out had done.

I was running faster and doing more miles in less time then I was doing prior.

So what happened?

I’ll let the scientists and people much smarter then myself to figure this out but for my two centsI can only say that cross-country style running is a complete waste for sports conditioning.

Unless, I compete in an endurance sport rarely do I run super long distances.

Instead I find simply practicing the sport will give you the best conditioning you can get for it.

The more you the play a sport the longer you will be able to play it.

Now, that does not mean you can’t supplement your practice with conditioning.

However, instead of doing the typical knee crushing and ankle breaking long distance running people are obsessed with doing I suggest doing fast paced sprint style conditioning.

Do wind sprints, hill runs and suicides.

My favorite is lifting weights and swinging kettlebells.

If you raised your eye brow in confusion to the lifting weights part of the last sentence then let me explain.

When we lift weights for endurance we are working on speed and variety.

Something, I do not recommend in a strength building phase.

However, take a work out and do circuits from the floor to the ground and then let me know if you aren’t getting a cardio workout.

Here is a suggestion instead of focusing on the poundage on the bar focus on the time it takes you to complete a workout.


Work to minimize rest time.

Another classic is supersetting with reverse body parts like doing bench immediately followed by pull ups for reps.

Also, kettlebells nothing can compare to the affect of swinging a kettlebell for five minutes straight,

Not only is it taxing on your muscles but also your heart and your mind.

It takes will power to grind out five minutes of swings with a heavy weight and then it takes guts to try and best your reps by 10 next week.

Barefoot style running in the winter and for the cheap

So ever since I read the book Born to Run I have been dying to try my hand at barefoot running or at least running without normal running shoes.

Well now there are all these shoes coming out that are being marketed as barefoot running shoes like the Vibram 5 Fingers, Nike Free and I think Timothy Ferriss mentions something called Terra Bosa in his book The 4-hour body.

The problem with all of these shoes are well there expensive and I don't really have that much money at least not enough to justify quite yet purchasing shoes that look like a pair of socks.

My alternative so far (as of yesterday) is to wear those beach shoes you can buy at Rite Aid for $10 in the summer. The soles are flat and thin and are actually surprisingly warm when worn with a thin pair of socks inside them.

I'm not sure if I am reaping all the benefits from running this way as opposed to running in those other shoes or going barefoot, but until then I will probably continue to run this way and since it is winter I will keep my socks on underneath the shoes.

Overall, I have to say that running this way yesterday was quite a bit different then running in normal running shoes or even in Converse Chuck Taylor's (which was my previous solution to running barefoot).

I have to say that when I ran this way the muscles in the middle of my feet got pretty tired and my ankles actually felt like they were getting worked out. I'm guessing that as far my ankles are concerned is that running this way is forcing them to stabilize body and work at keeping its balance more when running this way.