Aerobic revelations
6 October 2005If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Big people, more often than not, have a hard time with aerobic exercise. Most heavy folks labor under the illusion that cardio implies jogging, running or riding on one of the various cardio machines. This is mistaking mode for goal. The goal of cardio is to systematically raise the heart rate for a protracted period. As Bill Pearl, one of my Iron Mentors once told me in an interview I conducted for Muscle & Fitness magazine, Marty, the heart doesnt care how it gets elevated just as long as it gets elevated. That stuck with me and this comment, along with a bit of information I gleaned from Dorian Yates formed the foundation for my cardio approach. Dorian related that for his cardio he would often walk his dogs around the neighborhood at a speedy clip. This seemed hardly enough, at first blush. He explained that when he weighed 285 in the off season and was starting his trim up procedure that eventually would end with him weighing 260 with a 4% body fat percentile, walking at a brisk pace elevated his heart rate to 75% of his age-related heart rate maximum. Any more intense a heart rate than this, he rationally reasoned, would tear down muscle so why would he want to do that? He said rhetorically. Big folks are amazed that they dont have to kill themselves doing cardio. What? No jogging, no running, no spin class? Dorian knew that generating a 90% of age-related HR max would do two things, neither desirable: first, he wouldnt be able to complete the proscribed session duration. Exceeding lung capacity would put him into oxygen debt and he would be forced to curtail the session. Secondly, he had worked so damned hard in the gym and at the training table to build muscle that he wasnt about to do anything that would tear that muscle tissue.
Doing too much cardio or doing cardio too intensely is counterproductive. For Dorian, for me, and for Bill Pearl, cardio is a means to an end, a way to lower body fat percentile, improved endurance, oxidize additional calories and improve internal organ function. We did not perform cardio to become better joggers, better swimmers, better runners, better stationary bike peddlersif we happen to improve our performance using these cardio modes then this is a welcome side benefit not the primary purpose or reason. Im a moderately big guy, 5-10 and I range in weight from 205 to 240, depending on season and if I have a competition looming. I found Dorians truth to be self-evident. The heavier I became the easier it became to generate an increased heart rate. Conversely, the lighter I was the harder I had to work to spike my heart rate up to the target range. Enter the obese. Guess what? It takes hardly any activity at all for a person carrying 40% body fat to generate a 70% heart rate. So why jog? Why run? Why jump rope or perform any high-impact/high intensity cardio it is injurious and potentially fatal. Why not walk? Why not walk outside in a beautiful park or pristine natural setting? I have been introducing my TV participants to the joy of backwoods walking using a heart rate monitor and it has been such an incredible revelation that now I have to hold them back. They love it and tell me over and over, I cant believe this is exercise! I hate exercise! But I love this! This is not exercise Oh yes it is, it is low-impact cardio exercise that can be dialed in to achieve that days cardio intensity targets.
Now the hefty folks want to walk in the morning, they want to walk in the evening; they want to walk on weekends. Now I have to tell them not to overdo it. Now cardio has morphed from drudgery into pleasure and the miracle of enthusiasm has taken root. The heart rate monitor is critical both for them and me as their coach and trainer. If I walk with an obese person when they pass the cardio redline we stop. We allow everything to simmer back down before commencing again. My friend Betty gets out of breath when she reaches 120-beats per minute, so we cruise at 105 to 110. As soon as she reaches 120 and starts to labor we stop dead in our tracks and allow her heart rate to drop back to 90. I reassure her, Even while we stand her waiting for your heart to settle back down you are receiving the aerobic benefit of an elevated heart rate. And she is. By stopping and standing when we hit the redline muscles are allowed a momentary respite to clear away toxins and waste products. The revved up heart and lungs are allowed to normalize and sync back up, the central nervous system ceases sending out cease-and-desist synapses and the body is allowed to recollect itself for the next effort. Then we hit it again, rested, revitalized and renewed. Interestingly enough, this is the same procedure I use on myself when I hit the super-steep mountain trails only I go into this stand and recover procedure when my heart rate spikes to 175. I allow it to simmer back down to 130 before recommencing.
So the methods I learned from Pearl and fine tuned listening to Yates, the methods I use myself and teach the elite athletes that visit me, these self-same principles have been passed on to obese Betty in her quest to overcome her maladies and be rid of the body fat that weighs her down like a literal ball and chain. On behalf of Betty and myself, thank you Bill and thank you Dorian. Your commonsense approach, your clarity in not confusing mode with goal is giving new life to folks who need it most.
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