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The Case For Sustained Cardio

By Coach Shawn

Have you said, felt or thought any of the following: 

“I don’t want to get out of breath so easily…” 

“I don’t want to get so tired so quickly in my workouts.”

“I want to be fitter.” 

“I want to be able to do more.” 

In our current training cycle there’s a day dedicated to what we call “Sustained Cardio.”

It’s not overly difficult and it’s not supposed to be. 

What is it?

In simplest form, it’s holding a very doable pace for longer periods of time (15-45 min+)

Whether that’s initial time spent or the overall total time.

That pace would feel like 2nd or maybe 3rd gear.

You COULD go much faster but your strategically not. 

Why?

We are specifically working on our aerobic foundation.  The ability to process oxygen and do a specific task for a longer period of time. 

The Benefits?

Endless. 

1st lets get the obvious out of the way – heart health. We NEED to regularly work the heart muscle.  

It’s enjoyable and as many realized, has a meditative quality to it.

Why is that? You’re so present on WHAT exactly it is you are doing and you’re more in tune with your breath work

It is doable by EVERYONE.

This is our foundation within fitness.

What our bodies fall back on when we hit the proverbial wall within our workouts. 

Lacking this looks and feels like “I have to stop because I can’t breathe.” 

Example at its best: The CrossFit Games Athlete

Not that we are trying to be professional athletes, but if you’ve ever watched a CrossFit Games athlete compete or even workout you may think, “they never look like they get tired!”

They continually work on and build their foundation through long, steady sustained cardio. 

It’s a foundation an all fitness. 

Similarly to relate it to strength, to become stronger we first must be able to get in GOOD and the CORRECT positions. 

How often?

Should it be the only thing we do and train? The only “gear” we hit?

We don’t believe so.

Limited gears provide limited options.

It’s a PIECE of a very big (fitness) puzzle.

And depends on your goals, but we like 1-3x a week if possible.

Purpose & Intention

There is a purpose and method to everything within training. 

Leaning into every single purpose, every single training day with intention and focus will reap you many benefits.

Avoid these MISTAKES:

Avoid the mistakes we can make like skipping days because “it looks easy” or “tomorrow looks better” or “I’m already good at that” or whatever nonsense we can create in our minds. 

The things we need the most are things we all must remain extremely committed and consistent with. 

That’s how we make continued progress and achieve more.

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