#53: Let Me Guess, You Hate Cardio?

Running a 10K with Genevieve at 10 months postpartum 

A majority of people I talk to tell me about their pained joints, age limitations, or general disdain for cardio. But to quote Dean Karnazes, an American ultra runner, author, and speaker: “there’s magic in the misery. Just ask any runner.” It doesn’t help that popular culture glorifies lifting and tags anyone who focuses on cardio as a cardio bunny or weakling. I’ve been the person who shies away from cardio in favor of the gains. However, I contend that everyone should have some form of cardio training in their life and routine–or at very least movement. I’d argue my lifting, overall health, and body composition benefit from its inclusion. I will speak mostly to running in this post but know there are myriad forms of cardio challenges you could pursue that align with your preferences in movement. 

[Benefits]

There are numerous benefits from incorporating some form of cardio into your routine. Of course it aids in heart health by enabling your heart to pump blood more efficiently. It also enhances circulation and blood pressure regulation, and reduces risk of heart disease and stroke. Lung health and oxygen efficiency are additional benefits (I don’t even know what shortness of breath feels like). I often tell people “I run for my mental health” and there’s no surprise that cardiovascular activities boost mood, reduce anxiety and depression symptoms and improve cognitive function and sleep quality. Most people are “active couch potatoes” these days (hit the gym for 30-60 minutes to lift weights but are sedentary for the majority of their day beyond that). 

I firmly believe the trend of overly anxious and depressed adults relates to this trend. Yes, lifting weights helps burn some of that energy but cardio training scratches the itch in a superior way. Whether I am sprinting, running distance, or otherwise moving dynamically, it just regulates differently. I even use moving one’s body as a consequence with Genevieve. When she is extra aggressive verbally or in her body, she runs laps (the length of the driveway four times). Not only do I do this to burn off some of the heat and energy she’s dishing, but to hopefully help her connect with an outlet for when she’s feeling tense: to move her body. This is something I do for myself as well. It isn’t a punishment to move, it is a basic need and sometimes our behavior, mood, or negative thoughts can cue us in that we NEED to move our body, adding water to a metaphorical flame. 

Cardio also aids in building muscular endurance and enhances mitochondrial density, increasing the body’s ability to produce energy efficiently. I know for a fact I am a better lifter because of my cardio endurance. I can hold on for crazy supersets, drop sets, and 8-12 reps heavy so much more easily because by comparison to my endurance cardio, those activities are incredibly brief. And if you think running will deteriorate your muscle and physique, I challenge you to look up what elite cardio athletes look like (Florence Griffith-Joyner, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Ato Boldon, David Goggins to name a few) to see the power and strength their bodies exemplify. Or even Sam Sulek, a professional bodybuilder who advocates for the incorporation of cardio to one’s training routine. My husband and I both utilize running into our routines and have lean, muscular physiques in our mid-thirties. And of course, cardiovascular health for all the aforementioned benefits aids in longevity and vitality. So not only does it aid you in living more years but improves the quality of those years. 

[Movement vs. Cardio] 

So, while lifting culture is very popular, I hope you’ll resist falling into the active couch potato sack. In order to do that, moving more is imperative. I think of movement and cardio as separate strata. I seek movement throughout my day. I do not force movement but rather look for opportunities throughout my daily rhythm to be active. I allow this to change with the season of life or literal season of the year I find myself residing. And when something no longer works, I get curious about how I can adjust. Generally speaking, I am very active–easily hitting 15,000 steps a day to well over 20,000. A few examples of how I move throughout the day: 

• Walk my dogs in the morning 
• Walk on an incline of 6 slowly (speed 2.0-3.0) while I drink my post workout shake 
• Cool down walk ranging in speeds of 1.8-3.8 for a distance of 1-4 miles 
• Play with Genevieve, walk at parks, carry her around, etc. 
• Walk my dogs in the evening 

I write this post amidst a bodybuilding prep where my cardio is actually much less than it has been in my lifestyle maintenance. That being said my current cardio practices (using that term to describe what my coach has me do each week in my plan at 6 weeks out) is as follows: 

• 30 minutes of stairs (I focus on speed intervals, spending most of my time on level 15 and 20 with the max of the machine being level 20)
• 1-mile fast run with a sub-7-minute-mile goal twice a week (I complete this after my two week-day upper-body days)

In recent years my routine included running 20-35 total miles per week in addition to lifting. Or I would substitute those runs for two speed-work Stairmaster days (120 minutes and 100 minutes). However, I am focusing on a bodybuilding goal and already have a relatively lean physique. So, while I have less cardio, I still move often throughout the day (10,000-20,000 daily steps). Even if building lean mass is your goal, there is still a place for cardio and movement in helping you find a great maintainable physique and aid in your overall health. 

If you’re just getting started with cardio, I highly recommend focusing on movement. You can let that be generally in life or adding some movement at the gym (before, after, or a little bit of both). You’ll likely find that just increasing movement will cause you to feel sore or notice your joints. Those noticings don’t mean the increased movement is bad for you, but rather that your body is adjusting to moving in a way it is not used to (just like sore muscles that you haven’t worked in a while–or ever). I highly recommend walks after meals, to aid digestion. If you want to aim for a running goal: try getting your body used to WALKING that distance first. So, if you want to push for a 5K or a 10K, make sure you can walk constantly for 3-6 miles before running. 

[Key Concepts: From My Experience] 

Cardio is hard because you don’t do it. IF you want to improve your cardiovascular abilities you have to practice it; but more importantly you have to push past the “I suck at this” stage. That means you will have to run/walk, start slow, have cramps, shin splints, be sore, notice your joints. But your body–IF you set goals and practices that GRADUALLY challenge your body’s cardiovascular abilities: you will improve, just like in weightlifting. And I promise, the hardest part of any run is always the beginning of your run. Most people are “just not a runner” in the same way I don’t speak French: I don’t practice the language. You won’t be fluid in your movement–just like you wouldn’t be in a language–that you don’t practice. You will be clunky, it will be uncomfortable, and inefficient at first, be patient.

If you want to start running, I have a few recommendations. First and foremost: get good shoes. I’d recommend Brooks, Mizuno, On Cloud, or Hoka. Additionally, going to an actual running shoe store (I go to Waco Running Company) to get fitted in a brand, style, and size. I wear an 8.5 in my Jordans to train but wear a 9 in most runners. I test run the shoes outside and can talk about options of shoes based on my current running practice with the employee who is better versed than I am in available shoes. My joints rarely bother me when I run, and I always know I am due for new shoes when I start to notice my knees during or after my runs. Now, I prefer my Jordans on the Stairmaster or steady-state movement. BUT you will never catch me running without my runners. 

When beginning to run, most people focus on their stride and foot placement, but I prefer instead to put my attention on my breath. I want a calm and relaxed pattern of breathing, and I find naturally my feet will stride best when I move in accordance with my breathing. 

• First breathe in through the nose and mouth together 
• Expand your belly first, then ribs, then chest 
• Exhale fully through mouth allowing gentle contraction in abs 

Cramping can also be alleviated using the breath. Cramps often arise from inefficient breathing, with air being trapped and pushed on your intestines or diaphragm. When I have a cramp, I will take 3 very exaggerated belly breaths in and force the air out of my mouth on the exhale. Usually by the third breath, the discomfort fully subsides. When you’re new to running your stride and breathing are likely more sporadic and inefficient, but as you practice (during the actual run and just runs over time) you will find your rhythm in your body and improve efficiency. 

Another mistake people make when starting to run that adds to loathing the practice is going too hard too fast. They want each run to be the longest or the fastest, they want to run every day, etc. If you’re just getting started, I’d recommend that you try running twice a week (this is assuming you’re already balancing other fitness activities). Have one run focus on improving your speed and the second improving your distance. The goals you set should not be lofty, but rather EASILY obtainable. Your speed goal might be to run half a mile every week for six weeks with the goal that you run it faster each week. By locking in your distance, you are able to focus on the variable of speed. By choosing the same distance you’re also letting your body get used to running FASTER but at a distance it knows. After six weeks, if you’ve been able to hit the goal for most of those weeks, increase your distance to three-quarters of a mile or one mile for another six weeks. 

For your second run of the week, you might grow your distance by adding .25-.5 miles to your run every week. So, if you start out running one mile the second week you’d run 1.25 miles, the third week 1.50 and so on. During these runs you are not worried about PRs. You can absolutely notice your speed, but the goal here is just to get your body used to pushing beyond the distance it is used to. I personally like to add “I am not allowed to walk” because this naturally slows your pace and keeps you from pushing while simultaneously growing your threshold for turning work into rest. 

Now I will spend some time discussing different types of cardio you can choose to incorporate. Steady-State Cardio (LISS) is where you keep a steady pace the whole time. This might be jogging, a brisk walk, cycling or time on the elliptical. It should feel comfortable and your heart rate is low to moderate. This burns fat, builds endurance, and is low stress to the body. A great starting point and what I would refer to as movement. MISS (moderate intensity Steady State)
is similar to LISS but requires more effort. You can talk but not in full sentences. The benefit to MISS is improvement in aerobic capacity and stamina. Zone 2 Cardio is a form of steady state cardio that is slow, and easy that relies mostly on fat for fuel. It feels very relaxed and you can have a conversation while doing it. This aids heart health, recovery, and endurance. Tempo or threshold cardio is a steady pace that is comfortably hard–just below your max that you can sustain; talking is tough but you’re working. This helps you run faster for longer. HIIT (high intensity interval training) includes short bursts of hard effort followed by rest. Your heart rate should be high during work and drop during rest. The benefit of this form of cardio is improvement to speed and conditioning, burns a lot of calories fast, and is time efficient. This aids in boosting metabolism and athletic conditioning.

Most often people include cardio when they are trying to lose weight for a new year’s resolution or to “cut” for summer. If you combine cardio for the sole purpose of losing weight and dieting–you will hate it. But instead, if you look at the menu of options above and try to create a sustainable relationship with them–regardless of a bulk, maintenance, or cut your body composition, conditioning, and overall health will improve. Or better yet: train for a race and enjoy the process of preparing for a cardio challenge as a focus. 

[Better Cardio, Better Grit]

Everything I do in the gym–from cardio to yoga to lifting–I consider as play. I am exploring what I enjoy, what’s effective for achieving my goals, and pushing my body and mind out of their comfort zone for the sake of growth. To quote Dr. Stuart Brown, the founder of the National Institute for Play, “play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens, renews our natural sense of optimism, and opens us up to new possibilities.” To be playful in a gym setting, in my opinion, allows us to practice bolstering strength, grit, and perseverance that translates to how we handle real-life problems and circumstances. When I do a Sarah Beth yoga flow practice, she describes the  balance in “holding on or letting go” and I always take that into my real life. There are times when something is hard, but I can hold on and overcome it. But there is also a time when I need to avoid force and control and allow for a release. By playing with a distance run or a sprint I can actually practice building those mental muscles for trusting myself to intuitively do what’s necessary. 

For example, when I sprint, I am practicing my ability to hold on. This is because I have agency: if I am dying and mentally want to be done, well I remind myself I can go faster to put myself out of my misery faster. And in fact, I believe that if your mind is able to tell you how hard what you’re doing is, you can actually (and should) go faster to quiet that voice and BE in your body. My preferred pattern for sprints is as follows: 

• Run a warmup (lap or mile) increasing the speed (so a quick-ish mile but not your fastest)
• Stop, Stretch out on the treadmill 
• Begin a pattern of a one-minute sprint with a two-minute walk (very slow to recover, like a 2.0-2.5)
• I repeat this pattern with each sprint getting faster (usually ranging from 9.1-11.0 on the treadmill) 
• When I get towards the end, I will run a cool down (lap or mile again at a quick-ish pace but not your fastest)

Now, I’d like to discuss a few considerations for the above practice. First and foremost DO NOT jump to the side of the treadmill for a harsh stop while sprinting. For one: your distance and pace are lies. But more importantly this is SO HARD on your body and joints. Your body needs to warm into and cool down from the pace range, let it do that. A true sprint is no longer than 45-60 seconds, so build to your max speed for that long and then bring it back down. You want to come back down to a slow enough pace to allow your heart rate to recover AND build into a faster sprint. I rarely run into issues in my body from running (and I will do 5-7 miles of this sprint pattern including a warmup and cool down running mile) and I believe this comes from my ability to build up as I go. Could I maybe sprint faster while I am ‘fresh?’ Maybe, but I could also pull something. I prefer to build up and empty my gas tank at the end, or to “finish strong” to quote my good friend and ultra-athlete Pollyann Keller (see her blog www.fosterkid2ultraathlete). 

If you’re just beginning to sprint, you might start with something like this: 

• Walk one lap on a 3.5 
• Sprint on a 5.0 for 1 minute, walk on a 2.0 for 2 minutes, Sprint on a 5.1, walk on a 2.0, repeat with a sprint build until you get to 5.5 
• Walk one lap on a 3.0 

Distance running is a different beast entirely. While yes, I can go faster to improve my time and make the activity end a tad sooner, it just takes a looooong time to run a greater distance. Last year my active recovery days were ten-mile runs. This would take me about 82 minutes to complete (I was pretty solidly between an 8 '00-8' 20 for my average pace). I would run my first eight miles with a slow build up pace (start on a speed of 7.1 and each mile increase by 0.1) and then do speed work for my last two miles. The slowest speed I would run on would be a 7.0 for the entire duration of my run–for 82 minutes. Now, I had to build up to that, but for me the practice was turning work into rest. I would run on an 8.5 but if I needed rest, could not go slower than a 7.0. Now, I say “couldn’t” but what I mean by that was that I’d hold myself accountable to challenging myself. Whenever I was starting out, I would begin my run with the constraint of not being allowed to walk and the leniency of saying “6 miles is good, 8 miles is great, 10 miles is the goal.” This flexibility allowed me to find satisfaction in pushing my body but listening to it too. Rarely, if ever, did I need to cut my run to 6 or 8 miles. But knowing I could, allowed me to push past the part of me that wanted to stop the run. 

Distance running helps me push past circumstances and excuses by locking into a flow state. I am able to stretch my patience and tolerance because 82 minutes of constant movement without rest is HARD. But there are situations or circumstances in life we just have to exist within. I am mentally and emotionally better at coping in those circumstances from my distance running practice. In fact, I believe I was more tolerant of flow with the lack of sleep in the fourth trimester and just rolling with Genevieve’s newborn needs from this bolstered tolerance. 

When I would get on a treadmill or go outside to do a distance run, I had to contend with how I felt that day or the day’s weather and not fall into excuses (I am sore from leg day, GI issues, fatigue, it’s windy, too cold, too hot, etc.) but rather knew I could show up, do my best, and hold on through whatever arose. What I always realized was anything that bothered me at the start of the run usually subsided at some point. Just like in life: hard times or feelings pass, just keep going. And just like with sprinting: if my mind is talking about how hard this feels or cataloging things that don’t feel great, go faster. I don’t mean by a huge margin, but increase your speed by 0.1-0.3 and see if the voice quiets or the body settles in. But keep in mind, to truly learn when you need to hold on or let go, you will have to get it wrong. Sometimes you might push too hard and be a bit tender or sore–that’s simply information for when your ego is talking or your body. Learning is experiential but keep play at the forefront and you’ll open up new possibilities for your body and mind. 

[Wing It, intentionally]

There are so many gadgets, trackers, and metrics one can use. Personally, I feel focusing on those variables (especially as a novice) is overwhelming and unnecessary. When I decide to run, I show up as I am for that day. I listen to my body as I move, and at the end I will look at my apple watch to notice what I ran each mile at, my average pace, my average heartrate, and my average cadence. These measures give me an indication about how challenged I was by the individual run and how it compares to my current performance trend. Sometimes a run can feel hard and I might have wanted to quit, but by the run’s end it will be right in my typical performance. This can feel especially rewarding that I was able to push past physical or mental barriers without quitting–the satisfaction from the runs you do that FEEL hard is greater than simply getting a time PR.

While I am running, I notice my heart rate (my treadmill links to my watch so I can observe that metric during my run easily). I do not watch tv or listen to podcasts when I am running (unless I am doing a pretty slow 10-13 mile run and I will usually do an audiobook). Instead, I listen to a playlist that fits the type of run I am doing and I get myself into a flow state with my body. If I am sprinting, I listen to Rage Against the Machine, System of a Down, Beastie Boys, The Prodigy, and anything by Jack White. If I am running an 8–13-mile run, I listen to flowy girly shit– Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Spice Girls, anything like that. The energy of the music matters for my flow and attention, so be mindful of what practice you’re doing and what kind of music or stimulation helps you flow with your practice. If I am running, and not doing speed work, I love talking to people while I run. I spend 80% of my run at a speed where I can easily carry a conversation, though as I progress with distance I may begin speaking less and preferring to listen more. My last two miles I usually do speed work and that’s when I pause conversation and listen to music. 

Since I am present in my body during my runs, I’ve noticed how my heart rate reflects bodily sensations I experience. For example, I don’t break a brow sweat until I run for a while at a heart rate of 145 BPM (like 1.5-3 miles). I can keep a conversation until I am around 165 BPM; When I am around 175 BPM, I don’t want to talk anymore. When my heart rate is at 180 BPM, I don’t want to drink water anymore and when my heart rate is over 190 BPM (usually the very tail end of speed work at the end of my distance runs) I will have a sensation of wanting to throw up if I sustain without slowing for too long. 

Right now, I run a 6-minute-30-second mile twice a week and I am hardly breaking a sweat by its end, and my average heart rate is around 150 BPM. I have had two runs twice a week for five months and have gotten faster while simultaneously improving my efficiency (better cadence and heart rate). Running right now is not my priority, so I am not trying to kill myself with PRs. But I will notice how difficult or easy the run was (during and my recovery after) and carry that forward with my next run (i.e. beginning on a 9.2 as the slowest speed instead of my usual 9.1). Noticing can help you select the next baby step forward in your primary and secondary goals but try not to let your ego get wrapped up and smothered by them. Excellence comes from sustainable and consistent progress and maintenance. 

 So, it is less that you hate cardio–or are otherwise predisposed to “not be a runner.” Instead, think of it as a language you aren’t fluent in. Get shoes that are actually for running (fun fact: you can train in runners, but you shouldn’t run in trainers), begin by first increasing movement and follow that up with easily obtainable goals for speed and distance. Show up, be present with your practice, and listen to your body (not your mind, which will tell you to stop and that you aren’t a runner). Remember that there’s a whole menu of cardio play out there: biking, cycling, Stairmaster, swimming, dancing, jump rope, and even bootcamps. Experiment with which resonates for you and practice. And no, one week or two months isn’t enough time to not suck at it–doing Duolingo for that long won’t make you fluent in French. You will not be fluent in your cardio practice in that short of time. BUT you will notice improvements and benefits (physical and mental) in this time. For those who embrace running or other cardio practices know “every run begins with resistance and ends with release.”