lifting till your heart explodes

[lilchit]

just out of curiousity, why is lifting heavy weight not considered a cardiovascular exercise? honest question here.

 

[needsize]

Cuz when lifting heavy most take fairly long breaks between sets which allows the heart rate to slow back down, taking away it's effectiveness as a cardiovascular workout. That's why I superset back and forth to get the best of both

 

[Leander]

So in other words by performing supersets I can get an productive cardio workout while weight training?

 

[supertech69]

Timed sets are a great way to get both. I don't do them but, I've got a friend who does. He's pretty much non stop when he's in the gym. He doesn't lift as heavy but, you'd neer know it by looking at him, he's fairly large @ a low BF%

 

[needsize]

So in other words by performing supersets I can get an productive cardio workout while weight training?

I think so, but it's harder on some exercises, ie deads and squats, for those I pick a much easier exercise to superset with, just enough to keep my heart rate up but nothing too taxing. I still manage to do all my heavy lifting this way, it just takes a bit to get used to.

 

[louden_swain]

Hell, when you do reps between 12 and 15 on the leg press and squats. . . .you are working the heart muscle. I can also say that working the back provides cardiovascular benefits.

 

[ZZuluZ]

Cardio is defined as using OXYGEN as your source of energy.

Oxygen is the primary source of energy for slow twitch fibers which are used with smaller loads.

Using big loads [6-12 reps] is using primarily fast twitch fibers which use glycogen as fuel.

Hope this answers your questions. Heart beat is irrelevant to something being labeled cardio or not.

-Zulu

 

[Lumbuss]

Using big loads [6-12 reps] is using primarily fast twitch fibers which use glycogen as fuel.

-Zulu

That is not correct. Glycogen isn't the main source of fuel for type II fibers.

 

[ZZuluZ]

Then what is it?

I'm fairly sure I'm correct here.

-Zulu

 

[needsize]

When you train faster with less time in between sets, you will burn more calories within a given workout, and as losing bodyfat is simple math, burning more calories than you ingest, a weight training session done this way provides more benefits than just building muscle