Need a bike cardio routine

[Wariowokecancel]

155 lbs, 5'7", 40 years old, resting heart 77-85.

My cardio needs a lot of working on it despite walking all day, not driving much and taking stairs from hell a couple of times a day.

Got a nice stationary bike with a heart monitor, what sort of routine do I need to work on cardio?

I'm not worried about fat burning.

 

[selfcritical]

Adjustable resistance?

 

[Tosa]

What other exercise are you doing? Do you strength train? How often?

 

[ironwolf]

For indoor training, I prefer intervals/sprints to long steady state stuff. On the rare occasion that I do indoor cardio, 30-45 minutes is about my limit. I remember reading something by lance Armstrong years back where even he said that an hour of indoor riding was about his limit.

Time just dosent move when I'm riding a bike in the garage.

 

[swimmer1]

I agree with the above poster, i also prefer intervals....For cardio unless training for a specific long distance event, like a century, its been my experience that you will get the most benefit for your time doing intervals sprints, hills or combination of the two. Ive done multilple marathons, centuries and triathlons, and unless your going over an hour, you really aint getting the most benefit from steady state training.... For hills/ sprint intervals on indoor bike, do a five minute cruise warm up, then crank up the rpm/resistance and go hard for 15-30 seconds, cruise for 1 min (dont go real easy, keep rpms up just lighten tention to your warm up level).. Do repeats of 10-15... for ten then cruise for a 5 min cool down. That will help you a ton in cardio output, breathing control (regaining breath control while still going) and clearing lactic acid.
Thats a fartlek style training more than an all out sprint intervals, but its one good routine for bike or running.

 

[Tosa]

He said he prefers intervals, not that it gives the most benefit. There a benefits to both steady state and intervals, some of which overlap, and some of which are different.

 

[Wariowokecancel]

Adjustable resistance?

Yep

 

[Wariowokecancel]

What other exercise are you doing? Do you strength train? How often?

Some standard bullshit weights. Got a bench and kettle bells. Not squatting. Three times a week.

Plus BJJ twice a week and that shit kills me after an hour, I need to launder my gi every time. I mostly want to build endurance and drop the heart rate.

Oh and I'm getting the legal roids, TRT. Doctor prescribed because of 200ng/ml

 

[Wariowokecancel]

For indoor training, I prefer intervals/sprints to long steady state stuff. On the rare occasion that I do indoor cardio, 30-45 minutes is about my limit. I remember reading something by lance Armstrong years back where even he said that an hour of indoor riding was about his limit.

Time just dosent move when I'm riding a bike in the garage.

I can watch tv on the bike and once did all of robot chicken on it but I'm worried I was just fucking around.

 

[Wariowokecancel]

Thanks for the input guys.

 

[swimmer1]

How long you been doing BJJ? Ive never had issue with Cardio rolling unless giving up a bunch of weight. Are you eating enough, first off? And are you relaxed? Nothing will sap your energy like being tense. Cardio output for bjj is going to come best from hitting the matt. Your throwing around alot of weight doing any type of wrestling style fighting... It's extremely difficult to replicate without just rolling, closest would likely be high output calisthenics.. Learning techniques, how to use leverage, staying relaxed etc is what you need... I dont care how good of shape your in, a good blue belt will wear the shit out of you if dont learn how to stay relaxed, and good technique with leverage especially and developng ways conserve energy.

 

[ironwolf]

I can watch tv on the bike and once did all of robot chicken on it but I'm worried I was just fucking around.

You'd be better off sprinting during commercials and cruising dung the show....I've done that beforez

 

[Tosa]

I could comment on your resistance training, but that's not the topic of this thread. It's good that your doing something, at least, even if you're not squatting. Anyway, for a basic cardio routine for someone who is active, but hasn't been doing cardio specifically, I'd suggest starting with something like 20 minutes, 3x weekly, at 130 BPM, gradually increasing the duration to 30 minutes.

That'd just serve as an introductory phase, and it really shouldn't feel that demanding, but it prepares the cardiovascular system for more demanding training, and it allows your body to gradually adapt to the added activity. After which you'd take a look at how you're feeling about your conditioning while doing BJJ, and your resting HR. If you were really interested, you could do some conditioning assessments at that point as well. Then you'd figure out more specifically what kind of conditioning work you'd follow up with.

 

[Wariowokecancel]

How long you been doing BJJ? Ive never had issue with Cardio rolling unless giving up a bunch of weight. Are you eating enough, first off? And are you relaxed? Nothing will sap your energy like being tense. Cardio output for bjj is going to come best from hitting the matt. Your throwing around alot of weight doing any type of wrestling style fighting... It's extremely difficult to replicate without just rolling, closest would likely be high output calisthenics.. Learning techniques, how to use leverage, staying relaxed etc is what you need... I dont care how good of shape your in, a good blue belt will wear the shit out of you if dont learn how to stay relaxed, and good technique with leverage especially and developng ways conserve energy.

I ain't at the rolling stage after two months but still learning how to not get hurt and not hurt somebody.

Working on the basics as in hip bump twenty times on a dude who has 50 lbs on me. After going back and forth through the gym on a hip escape three times. Then toss him another ten times. Then go into an Amerikana from a bump. 20 times. Meanwhile I can't remember my son's name.

So I need that cardio.

 

[Wariowokecancel]

I could comment on your resistance training, but that's not the topic of this thread. It's good that your doing something, at least, even if you're not squatting. Anyway, for a basic cardio routine for someone who is active, but hasn't been doing cardio specifically, I'd suggest starting with something like 20 minutes, 3x weekly, at 130 BPM, gradually increasing the duration to 30 minutes.

That'd just serve as an introductory phase, and it really shouldn't feel that demanding, but it prepares the cardiovascular system for more demanding training, and it allows your body to gradually adapt to the added activity. After which you'd take a look at how you're feeling about your conditioning while doing BJJ, and your resting HR. If you were really interested, you could do some conditioning assessments at that point as well. Then you'd figure out more specifically what kind of conditioning work you'd follow up with.

So having resistance on a bike is a bad thing?

I've got the set up to do squats if I wanted to do but I'm not looking to build up strength at this time. Should I?

Running is something I cannot do because I'm a flat footed mf plus it bores me so it's bike or something else.

 

[ironwolf]

So having resistance on a bike is a bad thing?

I've got the set up to do squats if I wanted to do but I'm not looking to build up strength at this time. Should I?

Running is something I cannot do because I'm a flat footed mf plus it bores me so it's bike or something else.

No, don't build up strength. Being stronger is always detrimental as an athlete. Don't build strength.

 

[Wariowokecancel]

No, don't build up strength. Being stronger is always detrimental as an athlete. Don't build strength.

I am a 40 year dude, not an athlete, who is worried about his heart rate because I want to vomit after an hour of BJJ. I can pump iron to failure for that same time and just shake it off. Yoga ain't no thing for me as well.

 

[swimmer1]

That is normal man... Cardio is about training your body to use oxygen and glycogen, clearing lactic acid etc... If your not training near your vo2 max, your not getting much out of your training in neither those reguards.... Steady state cardio has minimal effect on body adaptation until your into that time frame of over an hour, and even still thats not going to be a great deal help for you... Theres a reason marathon runners dont win iron man triathlons, the mile, or 400's.... Throwing around guys 50 lbs heavier than you takes athleticism. Your 40 and not an athlete and thats fine, but you cant be lazy and cruise fitness training and expect the body to adapt... For grappling (phisically one of the most demanding activities ive done) You need to have a good balance of strength and endurance. Because most of your moves are explosive, you cant train your body to adequately recover for these explosive go/pause movements training a completely different way.

 

[ironwolf]

I am a 40 year dude, not an athlete, who is worried about his heart rate because I want to vomit after an hour of BJJ. I can pump iron to failure for that same time and just shake it off. Yoga ain't no thing for me as well.

W lol pumping iron to failure isn't a great idea either.

If I were you I'd do my bjj, work on 2-3 strength sessions a week and throw in some sprints.

Definetly start lifting. Squatting and shit.

 

[Tosa]

Absolutely use resistance on the bike. Use whatever resistance and RPM gets you working at the appropriate intensity.

Absolutely squat. Having a decent strength base, and the movement skills to do basic lifts well, will enhance whatever other athletic training you do.

Cardio is about training your body to use oxygen and glycogen, clearing lactic acid etc...

It's about many things, which are best trained at a range of intensities. But moderate intensity training prepares someone for higher intensity training. It's like with lifting - even if strength is the goal, you're not going to start off a training cycle with a bunch of 90%+ work.

If your not training near your vo2 max, your not getting much out of your training in neither those reguards....

The aerobic base is generally developed well below VO2max (Eg. 70% VO2max). The AT/lactate threshold is also below VO2max, so the lactic acid energy system is best trained a good bit below VO2max (Eg. 80% VO2max). On other hand, the ATP-PC energy system is trained way above VO2max (Eg. 170% VO2max). The percents are approximations, to illustrate a point, and vary based on a number of different things.

Additionally, the anaerobic energy systems are ultimately dependant upon the aerobic energy system. So if you're looking at a activity where there are multiple anaerobic efforts within a relatively short period, a well developed aerobic base is pretty important.

Steady state cardio has minimal effect on body adaptation until your into that time frame of over an hour, and even still thats not going to be a great deal help for you...

That's not true. There are so many studies showing positive training effects of steady state work with shorter durations.

Theres a reason marathon runners dont win iron man triathlons, the mile, or 400's....

And 400m runners don't win marathons. And sprinters don't win the mile. Shot putters don't win at BJJ. Etc. Someone who specializes in one sport not being able to win at another sport says nothing about the validity of using a particular aspect of their training for other athletes. You could just as easily say that powerlifters don't win "Insert sport other than powerlifting", so people training those sports shouldn't squat. But that's nonsense.

Your 40 and not an athlete and thats fine, but you cant be lazy and cruise fitness training and expect the body to adapt...

For the body to adapt, it just needs the training stress to be more than what it has experienced before, and the chance to recover. So if someone hasn't been regularly doing cardio, they can improve with just moderate intensity training. To continue to improve, training needs to become progressively more demanding. It's like if someone is new to strength training, they can start off learning technique with an empty bar, and since they're so new to it, they'll still get stronger.

Because most of your moves are explosive, you cant train your body to adequately recover for these explosive go/pause movements training a completely different way.

The bodies energy systems can't sense the "moves are explosive". They only respond to what demands are place upon them. It's only necessary to train the appropriate energy systems, and appropriate musculature.