If you get past the conditioning phase of cardio (whatever kind of cardio you choose, not just running), you too may learn to love it as much as you love pumping iron.  You’ll find ways to do progressive cardio.  You can have your cake and eat it too.

People who are cardio haters have recently glommed on to the HIIT craze (high-intensity interval training).  I’m working on a more elaborate article comparing HIIT to steady state cardio for fat loss, but here’s a preview:  HIIT is not necessarily better for fat loss.  Like any modality of exercise, HIIT has pros and cons.  One con is that it is really hard to do properly and so most people only think they are doing HIIT – actually, they are just doing intervals.

While I think HIIT could make some sense, for some people, some of the time, I’m one of those freaks who likes long, steady-state cardio.

Regardless of HIIT vs. steady state, there’s a movement afoot that says “If you are lifting weights, you don’t need to do any cardio at all.”

Huh?

Fitness Gurus On Crack

Lots of fitness experts are saying that you should stop cardio altogether! Why?

I think part of it is a combination of fad, lemming behavior, and marketing.

You see, people want to believe they can skip cardio.  Most people hate cardio and will believe any argument that tells them what they already want to hear.

Wouldn’t it be great to hear that you can be healthy and lean without having to do any work?

So these fitness gurus play “you can skip cardio” on their flutes, and many people start following them.

And these guys are in great shape to be sure.  So if they look that good without doing cardio, it must be the ticket, right?

Smith Machine Squats Inferior To Free Weight Squats

In a recent study (see Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: December 2009 – Volume 23 – Issue 9 – pp 2588-2591) researchers figured that the Smith Machine was probably better for activating certain leg muscles because the lifter wouldn’t be focused on stability so much.  The logic, like most people would have thought, was that attention to stability reduced activation of the leg muscles in free weights, whereas the Smith Machine users could focus more on the leg muscles.

Well, turns out they were wrong!  They measured the same lifters (i.e. people) using a weight on each exercise equal to 8 reps maximum.  And they measured 7 different muscles (including some abs and lower back).

Surprisingly,

Join the forum discussion on this article, or comment below.

Back when I was out of shape, each January I started using a phrase to make a joke out of the junk I was eating.  I’d say “I’m bulking up for the Winter Games”, a lame reference to gaining weight for the Olympics, as I chowed down my French toast.

Of course, that kind of bulking up is not acceptable!

What Is A “Bulking” Phase?

pic: Should you do a "bulking phase"?

Simply put, bulking means adjusting your exercise and your diet in order to focus exclusively on building muscle, without much care about adding fat too.  It’s generally easier to add muscle if you are willing to add some fat too.  For example, to add 5 pounds of muscle without adding any fat is really hard but if you are willing to gain 5 pounds of fat too (so 10 pounds total weight), then it’s pretty easy.

But what about the age-old habit of bodybuilders to do cycles of bulking and cutting?  Usually, they  would bulk up (gaining muscle and fat) in the off-season – when not competing.  Then they’d cut (shedding fat while trying to preserve as much muscle as possible) just before a contest.

I do not recommend this, especially in the extremes that some bodybuilders do.  I’m not a “bodybuilder”, but I am a “body builder” (note the space).  But even if I was, the idea of swinging from 25% bodyfat to 5% bodyfat, and back again, seems crazy.  Of course, your phases could be less extreme.

Even the recreational lifter is faced with an important question:

Should I bulk up this winter?

Here are some pros in favor of bulking up…

Yes, Bulk Up In Winter

If many of these apply to you, then maybe you should try a bulking phase now:

• I’m really trying to gain mass and I’ve tried everything else I know
• It sounds fun to me
• If you are a classic ectomorph (naturally skinny) then use this as a time to experiment with bulking
• I’m an experienced lifter, and I’m already pretty lean, but want some extra muscle
• I’m having a hard time getting in cardio this Winter because of weather, and in a bulking phase you generally eliminate or drastically reduce regular cardio
• I’m a lean woman, and I know that for my female chemistry “bulking” isn’t going to make me bulky – but I would like more muscle so I don’t look like a twig

If you are going to bulk, eating is a huge part of it.  You need a lot more calories.  In terms of adjusting your workout, I have just released Hypertrofreak which you might be interested in.

Hypertrofreak is two programs in one – they both are split routines, where you focus on specific muscles on specific days, rather than full body routines.  You can read more here, including some comments from other people who have used it. [http://worldfitnessnetwork.com/more/hypertrofreak.html]

Note:  Hypertrofreak is NOT for beginners.  If you haven’t been lifting regularly for at least a year, please do not order it.

Now, here are some opposite points – why you should NOT do a “bulking” phase:

Join the forum discussion on this article, or comment below.

Remember when we asked you to Take Your Worst Picture Ever?  Well it’s time to take it out.  If you haven’t taken it yet, or are new to World Fitness Network, we’ve got reminders at the end of this post…

What Do You See?

That old picture of yourself – is that what you still look like? Have you made any progress?  Have you made enough progress?  I’m not here to lecture you – I’m here to help you lecture yourself.

If you think you’ve made good progress, skip to the Take a New Picture section and then compare.

If you haven’t made progress, do these things right now:

1. write down every excuse you can come up with; don’t hold back!
2. now rank those excuses by their “power”; the stronger their power over you, the closer to the top of the list they go
3. for each of your top 5 excuses (more if you have the gumption), write down at least one action you are going to take to eliminate it as an excuse moving forward
4. take your top 5 excuses and share them with someone who cares about you; ask them for their advice on how they think you can eliminate those; don’t share the previous step with them – you want original ideas
5. take the combined list of approximately 10 ideas to combat your 5 major excuses, and tape the list to your bathroom mirror
6. every day (especially on your workout days) recite that list out loud;  if you get embarrassed reading it out loud, good!  you’ve got to break through some barriers if you want to eliminate those excuses
7. now act!

And time to take a new picture:

Haven’t Taken Your Picture Yet?  Or Need To Take A New Picture?

Did you fail your self-evaluation?  Or are you just now planning to get in shape, but haven’t quite started yet?

Or even if you’ve made progress, you now need a new benchmark – a new picture.

Go into your room and take all your clothes off. That’s right, strip down to nothing but your briefs, your Spiderman Underoos, your boxers, your lingerie, whatever you are wearing underneath.

Should I workout if I’m still sore?

This is a constant debate.  Should you still lift if you are sore from your previous workout?

I’ve tried to find some science behind an answer, and one thing might surprise you:

Soreness is not directly related to recovery. It is an indicator, but not a direct correlation.

More important than soreness is consistency.

You need to find a lifting program that is designed to accomplish the goals you want.

Then you need to stick to that program.

If that program says you need to work out today, then you need to work out today.

Period.

But if you are finding that after a couple weeks you are still sore from a previous workout ahead of “today’s” workout, then you probably need a different program.

Let’s dive deeper…

If you are doing full-body routines, usually they are 3x/week.  That means you usually have a day off between every workout and once a week you have two days off.

If you are always sore, for several weeks, then you might need to move to 2x/wk or explore semi-split routines.

If you are doing a semi-split routine and every time you do lower body, you are still sore from the previous workout, then you might need to change your frequency.

You also might find that muscle group A is sore today but you aren’t working with that muscle group anyway.  Hopefully it’s obvious that you don’t need to skip today’s workout for that!

But don’t skip a workout just because one day you are still sore. Work

If you’ve been lifting for some time, you’ve no doubt heard that phrase.

The brief explanation: Over time, you need to consistently add work to your muscles, beyond what they are used to doing.

This can take the form of going up in weight.   Or adding more reps.  Or adding more sets.  Or lifting more explosively.  Etc.  For more ideas, click here.

These, and other, techniques keep you progressing – your muscles have to get bigger in order to accomplish the added work.  And bigger muscles can be progressively overloaded more.  And they in turn get bigger.  It’s a virtuous circle!

[Another technique for consistently making progress involves switching your routine itself periodically, but that’s a different post…]

My point being that you

a)    Hear about progressive improvement in weight training a lot.

b)    Have several techniques at your disposal to accomplish it.

Even if you are saying to yourself, “I’ve got the right amount of muscle now, I don’t need to gain any more,” then you need progressive overload (and periodization) just to prevent muscle loss.  Otherwise, in a few years you are going to see less and less muscle mass due to sarcopenia.

But What About Cardio?

How do you keep progressing in your cardio?

I mean, if your body will reach a sort of homeostasis with weight training unless you continually force it out of its comfort zone, won’t that happen with cardio too?

The short answer is yes, but it’s more subtle.

See, it all starts with goals.

Why are you lifting weights?

Probably to gain more muscle mass.  And that’s really hard to do.  As I’ve written before, gaining muscle is much harder than losing fat.

Which brings me to “why are you doing cardio?”

Chances are, it’s to lose fat (or worse, to lose “weight” – ughh – please don’t ever use that phrase, “lose weight”).

Sure, for some of you it’s to build endurance.  Or compete.  Or you simply love running.

But most you have it tied to the calories it burns and the impact on your metabolism.

And make no mistake, you will reach a point where doing the same cardio week after week will stop producing fat loss.  Your body will adapt.

How To “Progressively Overload” Your Cardio Training

Everyone would love to be able to hop up to a chin-up bar and bang out 15 reps right?

But can you do it?  Are you actively working towards doing it?

They are a great barometer of overall fitness (though no single movement is proof of anything).

The average person can only do one or two bodyweight chin-ups (grip with your palms towards you).

Even most lifters can only do 3 or 4 reps.

And there are sadly many people who can’t even do a single rep.

Stats are generally worse for pull-ups (grip with palm facing away from you).

Because they are difficult, most people resort to the pull-down machine.  While the pull-down machine isn’t bad per se, it gives people an excuse to never get strong enough to do 10 or 15 reps of bodyweight chins.

But for you, since you are reading this, that’s all going to change!

Effective Techniques For Doing More Pull-ups and Chin-ups

Here’s what I recommend, in sequence.  Once you can do what is prescribed, move to the next one.  Don’t try to do all these in one workout – you’ve burn out and not see progress.

1. Simple Hangs
   • Hang for at least 60 seconds.  Do 4 sets per workout.
2. Half Hangs
   • Again just hang, but this time your arms are bent at 90 degrees.

Note – these are not necessarily in order.  We’ll save the debate about which “one” is the most important for later…

The Big 7

1. Squat
2. Deadlift
3. Chest Press (Bench Press)
4. Rows
5. Chin-up/Pull-up
6. Military/Standing Pres
7. Dips

There are many variations to each of these.  Dumbbell versions, barbell versions, seated vs. standing, different grips, different angles, etc.

But the key things about this list:

a) they are all compound movements, not isolation exercises

b) together, they hit every major muscle in the body (yes, they