Cardio SUCKS- 5 Exercises for “Bad-Ass” Conditioning and Fitness
December 22, 2009 by John Cortese
Filed under Extreme Muscle Building, Hardcore Conditioning
Traditional cardio sucks- let’s face it… It’s boring, it’s tedious, and can get very monotonous. Here are 5 methods/exercises you can add to your normal workout routine as a “finisher” to end your training session, or as a replacement to your traditional, boring “cardio” routines you’ve been doing for the past 12 weeks (and had no results to show for it!) These are NOT easy, not pleasant, and may cause you to feel sick, nauseous, dizzy, etc etc etc.. If you don’t like breaking out of your comfort zones, that’s OK- this type of stuff isn’t for everyone! But if you’re ready to step it up a notch and take your performance, health, and fitness to a whole new level, consider these options!
Sled/Tire Dragging
This is probably my favorite conditioning tool out there. It’s easy to teach, easy to learn, and it’s fun! Not only this, but dragging a sled/tire can be done often due to the fact that there is no eccentric loading on the legs. Doing this can be easy- either get a traditional sled shown below, load some weight on it and get to dragging OR you can make one yourself and do it like we have done in the video below with a tire, tow rope, and some rope. Feel free to do all sorts of drags- forward, backwards, row, press, sprint, etc.. It’s up to you! Get creative- lighter drags done for 5-10 mintues non-stop are great for conditioning, heavier drags done over a given distance are great strength AND conditioner for the legs. Just do them!
Bodyweight Circuits
Bodyweight training circuits are great for all-around strength, fitness, and conditioning. Pick 3-4 movements, perform them in circuit fashion with little to no rest and repeat! It’s very simple. Again, there are a couple options here. You can go for maximum rounds in a given time, or give yourself a given number of rounds and try to perform them as fast as possible. Example circuit: 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats, 10 burpees done for 20 minutes! Sound easy? Try it out and let me know how it went afterwards!
Sprints
Yes, sprints are flat out awesome! In my opinion, every person should be sprinting. Humans were made to sprint and move/be agile, not perform slow, boring, long duration tasks. Ever seen a fat and out of shape looking sprinter? They are extremely lean and muscular and actually look healthy! If you haven’t sprinted in a while, start out with some gradual build-ups where you pick up speed as you go along over a given distance. If you can find a hill in your area, even better! Again, I prefer to start out with sprints over a shorter distance and increase the distance you sprint as you get more fit. It would make no sense at all to go out and try to do 200 meter sprints all out on day 1- you’ll just end up getting hurt! Start out with 30-40 yards and pick up the distance week to week.
Sprinter vs. Endurance Runner..
Complexes
Bar or Dumbbell complexes are tough, they’re hard, they’re brutal. In the words of Dan John, “I said it was simple, not easy!” These are not hard to do skill wise, however, they are very humbling and will challenge the way you think about fitness and traditional cardio! A complex is a series of exercies done without resting that flow from one to the next. If you’ve never done them before, start out with an empty barbell (45 lbs.) or a pair of light dumbbells. As the complexes become easier, add weight to the bar. This is seriously one of the best methods of shedding unwanted fat and adding some lean muscle to your frame. Here’s a quote from Dan John about Bar complexes (from davedraper.com):
“The most difficult thing to consider is the rep range. For a fat burning hit and a massive conditioning bang, try doing sets of eight.
Complex A for Eights
Row x 8
Clean x 8
Front squat x 8
Military press x 8
Back squat x 8
Good mornings x 8
Gently place the bar on the ground and rest! I like sets of three for adding mass to my young athletes. The more time under the bar, the more the body adapts by getting bigger. Moreover, it seems to also be most helpful on the playing field. When you watch a sophomore boy handle Complex A with 155 for three complexes of three reps each, you have to realize that this is a very strong human being, even if he’s just 15.You can play with any rep variations you like, but I’ve found that eights and threes are the best. If you do five sets of eight, you probably won’t be doing much more in this workout. Three sets of three make an excellent pre-lift warm-up or, with heavier weights, can be used as a strength and mass building workout.”
Get creative with these. Perform 3-5 sets of a complex, rest 60-90 seconds after each complex. If you do these right, you won’t want to do much else afterward!
Jump Rope
This is highly underrated! This is so simple to do, easy to access (a jump rope will run you $3-5!), and can be done almost anywhere. My favorite way to do this is just do a given number of reps, do them for time with little rest, or perform intervals, i.e. 30 seconds all out, 30 seconds rest for 10 minutes. Don’t get fancy and over think it!
I hope you enjoyed these 5 ways to incorporate into your workout routine. I prefer to do these at the end of a training session after you’ve lifted some iron, or this can also be done on an “off” day when you feel like getting an extra workout in. Don’t forget to have fun, get creative, and mix it up! You’ll be glad you did!
Now my question to you is…
What is YOUR FAVORITE Conditioning Method that you like to use??? Leave me a comment below!
Have a great week!
John Cortese, YFS
When I am on a hike, most of it is very slow cardio. To mix things up a bit, I will throw in hill sprints on difficult parts of the trail or I’ll pick up a big rock, branch, or old fence post and carry it up a hill. Last time I was hiking the ridge above Shell Beach, I found two old fence posts strung together with barb wire…and carried/dragged it up 400 ft elevation gain in just 1/8 of a mile!
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John Cortese Reply:
January 6th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
Olde E-
Nothing wrong with that kinda stuff at all! I like to mix it up for the most part, but I prefer the shoter duration/higher intensity “conditioning” methods for most clients.. That sounds like a lot of fun though, carrying stuff, picking it up, throwing, etc. Sounds like a kick ass way to get some strength and fitness work in!! You da man!
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Great post! These are all excellent ways to ramp up your conditioning. My only problem would be trying to concentrate if the girl from the picture ever showed up at my gym.
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John Cortese Reply:
January 11th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
HAHA- Rich, same with me.. Maybe bring some horse blinders with you
Glad you enjoyed the post!
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Hey reliable Info. It is much useful Later you Think about it. Increasingly valuable. Aloha.
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John Cortese Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
Thank you, John! Keep training hard.
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Hi, I just found your site and I must say it’s excellent! There’s such a wealth of information here. I’d jump at the chance to intern at your facility if I were living in America.
Anyway, I do have a question about sprints for the different goals of fat loss, fitness or conditioning. Would it be more effective to do 6x200m or 12x100m for fat loss? I’m guessing 12x100m, as it has you at a higher intensity.
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Clement, thanks!
Like I mentioned in the hamstring injury thread, would be better to start off with shorter distances on a hill or with a light tire to limit how fast you can go. Reason being – your legs need to get back in sprint form by working on short distances first.
Example Day 1: 5 x 40y on hill, Day 3: 8 x 40y on hill, Day 5: 10 x 40y on hill; Day 8: 2 x 4 x 50y on hill, etc etc… Be smart, listen to your body! You’ll have to cut back a bit somewhere in your training if you start to ramp up the conditioning aspect as well, so keep that in mind. Your lower body weights volume will need to be adjusted to allow you to get some quality conditioning in.
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I change my conditioning routine every 6-8 weeks. I currently do a circuit where I alternate between rope skipping, sledgehammer swings on a tire and kettlebell exercises. I set a Gym Boss Timer for 40 seconds of work and twenty seconds of rest, and repeat twenty times. It starts with skipping rope, sledge, rope, kettlebell, then repeat sequence for twenty minutes.
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John Cortese Reply:
October 22nd, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Randy, that’s bad ass! Solid stuff man. Keep up the great work.
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I agree with you!
I heard this morning from colleague that in some fancy gym will be extra charged cardio ?!!
Some people have money to burn
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John Cortese Reply:
November 2nd, 2010 at 7:24 am
“Extra Charged Cardio”… Does that mean they are going to charge you extra to use the “Cardio” equipment? HAHA. What a joke.
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I switched from long, boring jogging to sprinting. 3x per week I do (12) 40 yard hill sprints on a semi steep hill. Saves time and builds up conditioning level much better. There are some extremely steep hills I want to try where I live but traffics an issue. I’m going to try those hills early in the morning when there’s not as much traffic–especially on weekends.
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