Metcon – For Size and Strength

Increase your heart rate and build your body

But too much cardio can lead to problems. However, it is possible to avoid them. Here’s why metabolic conditioning will boost your gains, plus two workouts to try.

Cardio for Gains

Is it possible to use aerobic or conditioning work to help you build muscle? Yes. Better aerobic fitness means you’ll be able to bring more oxygen and nutrients to muscles. Aerobic exercise actually increases the number of capillaries. This is similar to having more roads for nutrients-laden blood to travel through to reach more muscles and organs.

This is an important issue. Oxygen and nutrients fuel repair and recovery. A person with more capillaries (roads) can cover more ground in a shorter time and improve muscle function. And more capillaries mean there’s a greater ability for waste products (such as lactate) to leave muscle and not impair the recovery process. Aerobic fitness can lead to improved delivery and better clearance.

It also increases the number and quality of mitochondria which, in turn, leads to more factories that process oxygen to create more energy. A higher aerobic fitness can increase your ability to tolerate and recover from hypertrophy and intense strength training.

Aerobic conditioning isn’t a detriment to your gains. Actually, the reverse is true. You’ll be able to make more progress by having better aerobic fitness. Oh, and it’ll actually improve your chances of living longer. There’s that.

What about the Interference Effect?

Researchers looked at the possible interference that aerobic training could have on strength and hypertrophy. What is the general consensus? Doing your cardio can bring you more benefits. Do your cardio and metcon work when you are able, not during your weight training.

Also, don’t go overboard. These are just two of the things you need to keep an eye on:

1. Cardio should not be done for marathon training. Instead, it should be 2-3 sessions per week that last between 20 and 50 minutes.⁣
2. You should not be doing sprint work, but rather work under 80% of your maximum VO2 max. For the duration of the conditioning, aim to maintain a heart rate of 60-70%. This is commonly known as “Zone 2 Work” and it’s worth your time to get familiar with it.

How to do it

Aerobic conditioning doesn’t have to mean walking on an inclined treadmill for 60 minutes. That’s fine, but it isn’t the only way to skin the aerobics cat. In fact, if you’re keeping your heart rate in the correct zone, you’ll find a few different ways to accomplish this work without getting bored.

Strategy 1: EMOM Exercises

EMOM (Every minute on the minute) is a great way for you to keep a steady pace for longer periods of time. In this case, we’ll be using EMOM for longer durations with minimal rest between movements.

These are the guidelines

• For 45 seconds, work for 15 seconds. You can work for between 30-60 minutes.
• During the exercise, keep your heart rate between 60-70%

Here’s an example:

EMOM: 40 minutes

Monitor your heart beat. For the duration, your heart rate should be between 60-70%. If you’re not, reduce your effort level. None of this work should be even close to max effort, more like a rate of perceived exertion (RPE) of 6 or 7 – a pace you can maintain for a long time.

Strategy 2: Mixed Modality work

This can be done for shorter periods with a slightly higher RPE (around 8.). You should use a ratio of 1:3 for work to rest. This type workout takes more effort.

Mixed is great news Modality work The fact that there are many options is that it tends not to be as numerous. “enjoyable,” and it’s even a sneaky way to a little more body-part specific training volume.

These are the guidelines

• Take 20-30 minutes.
• Maintain a heart rate between 70 and 80% of your maximum.
• A work/rest ratio of approximately 1:3 is a good idea (rest three times as often as you work).

Here’s an example:

• Whatever you have space for

Rest for 3 minutes if you take less than 1 minute to complete a round. This will allow your heart rate to drop to 110. This will take about 20 minutes.

How to program it

Here’s an example:

• Day 1: Lower Body Strength
• Day 2: Mixed Modality Conditioning
• Day 3: Strengthening your upper body
• Day 4: Aerobic Emom
• Day 5: Complete Body Strength
• Day 6: Aerobic EMOOM or Mixed Modeality Conditioning

If you’re strapped for time and still want to improve your conditioning, your split may look like this:

• Day 1: Body strength
• Day 2: Aerobic EMOOM
• Day 3: Aerobic Emom
• Day 4: Body strength
• Day 5: Mixed Modality Conditioning

If you’d like to do the bare minimum of conditioning and still make gains, try this:

• Day 1: Legs & Abs
• Day 2: Chest & Biceps
• Day 3: Aerobic Emom
• Day 4: Hamstrings & Glutes
• Day 5: Triceps & Delts
• Day 6: Aerobic Emom

This kettlebell example is poor. High pulls are better than cleans. While learning the movement, be prepared for bruised forearms. Although I love snatch, there is a learning curve. Most trainees will get blisters if they don’t do it right the first time. It would be easier to swing one hand until you master snarch.

Yes, you can substitute cleans. This is just one example. There are many other ways to reach the same stimulus.

Doesn’t this go for learning curves for all exercises? To properly perform KB cleans and swings, it took three sessions with an RKC instructor.

One can create KB-complexes with any type of exercise they like.

Great article. This is the sort of training I’ve been doing for some time in my middle age.

Excellent article. This article is very helpful. “good better, best” The end of the article will contain recommendations. It makes it very easy to implement, regardless of what one is doing.