The Science of Cardio, Part 2
In Part 1 of “The Science of Cardio” we covered some of the basics of cardio physiology and why it’s important.
Now I’m going to introduce you to a few “behind the scenes” cardio concepts. This will help provide some rationale for your cardio workouts and explain some of the variables that impact your cardio fitness:
VO2 Max
You’ve probably heard this term before, but what exactly does it mean? VO2 literally means “volume of oxygen.” VO2 Max is simply the maximal amount of oxygen your body can use during exercise. The higher your VO2 Max, the better your aerobic capacity (cardio) is. You can actually find out what your VO2 Max is by having it tested on a bike or a treadmill at a performance training facility. VO2 Max testing is a great way to determine your current cardio fitness and to see how you are able to improve it over time.
With the proper cardio training, nutrition and supplements, you can improve your VO2 Max significantly by:
· Increasing cardiac output, or the amount of blood that your heart is able to pump to your working muscles.· Increasing the efficiency that blood is delivered to the working muscles, by increasing the number of blood vessels that supply the muscles.
· Increasing oxygen uptake by the muscles (the cell’s ability to both extract and use oxygen) through increased oxidative enzymes and more mitochondria.
Lactate Threshold (aka Anaerobic Threshold)
You may have heard these terms thrown around before, and they are basically synonymous. Lactate threshold is defined by a sudden rise in the levels of lactate in your blood during incremental exercise. For example, let’s say you’re on the stationary bike doing 100 Watts and increased your workload by 30 Watts every 4 minutes. If we were measuring the lactate in your blood during each 4 minute period it would remain level, up until the point of lactate threshold. At that point, we would see the lactate level begin to rise from the baseline (see figure 1). This is the intensity at which our body begins to shift gears – from aerobic to anaerobic energy pathways. Note that this does not mean that you suddenly go from 100% aerobic to 100% anaerobic. What it means is that your body begins to rely more heavily on anaerobic energy as the effort increases. It also means you will start burning less fat and more carbohydrate, not to mention producing more lactate as a byproduct of metabolism.
Ok, this is really interesting, but who cares, Mr. Scientist? You should care because lactate threshold directly relates to how long it takes before you gas out. The longer you can delay hitting lactate threshold, the longer you will have before gassing, thus your cardio is superior.
In the figure at the top of the page, you can see how lactate rises as workload gets harder and after training, lactate threshold increased (these are actual test results from an 8-week block of training).
The bottom line: superior cardio will allow you to execute your skills while your opponent simply does not have the energy to fight back. Now that’s pretty interesting.
* Energy Management
In competitive road cycling there is a term for using precious energy during a race called “burning matches,” which I think translates well to the sport of MMA. The “burning matches” analogy goes like this: you start with a full book of matches to burn during an event, and once you’re out of matches... you’re kaput, fried, gassed! Your challenge is to get the maximum results from the matches you have to burn.
How you mange this depends primarily on how many matches you have to start with. Your cardio program is all about increasing the number of matches you have at the beginning of a fight. If you start the fight with relatively few matches, your strategy may be limited to going for a knockout in the first 30 seconds of the fight. If you have several matches to burn, you can always take the first round knockout IF the opportunity presents itself, but you will have several other options that you can go to depending on how the fight plays out. Having this tactical maneuverability during a fight is key, and it all links back to the condition of your cardio.
Also you will manage your match burning better as you gain experience in competition. During an event, your adrenaline is through the roof and your heart is beating in your throat, which can cause you to behave much differently than you do in training. You are over-excited, may jump around too much, make ineffective strikes, and generally wasteful movements – all of which burn matches and contributes to fatigue. Everyone will go through this, and it’s part of competition, but the more you compete, the more efficient you will get.
* Nutrition and supplements
When losing a fight is not an option, you need to fine tune your body to gain every advantage against your opponent. To do this, you need to treat your body like a Formula 1 racecar. Do those race teams put just regular old gas in the car? Hell no! That’s some serious high octane fuel they put into those beasts. You need to do the same. All of the training and competition you do demands the highest quality macronutrients (carbs, fats and protein) and the proper supplements.
About the author
David Nader, MS, MBA
David is an exercise physiologist and biopharmaceutical industry veteran. David started AdapTx Labs to apply the science of exercise physiology to the sport of MMA to help fighters maximize their performance. David is also a competitive bicycle racer.
About AdapTx Labs
AdapTx Labs works with fighters to maximize performance through a scientific approach to training. AdapTx Labs is the first company to develop proprietary cardio and energy boosting supplements for MMA fighters. Their flagship products, CardioFactor™ and PreFight™, when used together, give fighters a complete cardiovascular edge. CardioFactor™ is a daily supplement designed to help fighters not gas out, while PreFight™ delivers a boost just prior to training and competing.
To get information and to purchase, go to www.AdapTxLabs.com.
In Part 1 of “The Science of Cardio” we covered some of the basics of cardio physiology and why it’s important.
Now I’m going to introduce you to a few “behind the scenes” cardio concepts. This will help provide some rationale for your cardio workouts and explain some of the variables that impact your cardio fitness:
VO2 Max
You’ve probably heard this term before, but what exactly does it mean? VO2 literally means “volume of oxygen.” VO2 Max is simply the maximal amount of oxygen your body can use during exercise. The higher your VO2 Max, the better your aerobic capacity (cardio) is. You can actually find out what your VO2 Max is by having it tested on a bike or a treadmill at a performance training facility. VO2 Max testing is a great way to determine your current cardio fitness and to see how you are able to improve it over time.
With the proper cardio training, nutrition and supplements, you can improve your VO2 Max significantly by:
· Increasing cardiac output, or the amount of blood that your heart is able to pump to your working muscles.· Increasing the efficiency that blood is delivered to the working muscles, by increasing the number of blood vessels that supply the muscles.
· Increasing oxygen uptake by the muscles (the cell’s ability to both extract and use oxygen) through increased oxidative enzymes and more mitochondria.
Lactate Threshold (aka Anaerobic Threshold)
You may have heard these terms thrown around before, and they are basically synonymous. Lactate threshold is defined by a sudden rise in the levels of lactate in your blood during incremental exercise. For example, let’s say you’re on the stationary bike doing 100 Watts and increased your workload by 30 Watts every 4 minutes. If we were measuring the lactate in your blood during each 4 minute period it would remain level, up until the point of lactate threshold. At that point, we would see the lactate level begin to rise from the baseline (see figure 1). This is the intensity at which our body begins to shift gears – from aerobic to anaerobic energy pathways. Note that this does not mean that you suddenly go from 100% aerobic to 100% anaerobic. What it means is that your body begins to rely more heavily on anaerobic energy as the effort increases. It also means you will start burning less fat and more carbohydrate, not to mention producing more lactate as a byproduct of metabolism.
Ok, this is really interesting, but who cares, Mr. Scientist? You should care because lactate threshold directly relates to how long it takes before you gas out. The longer you can delay hitting lactate threshold, the longer you will have before gassing, thus your cardio is superior.
In the figure at the top of the page, you can see how lactate rises as workload gets harder and after training, lactate threshold increased (these are actual test results from an 8-week block of training).
The bottom line: superior cardio will allow you to execute your skills while your opponent simply does not have the energy to fight back. Now that’s pretty interesting.
* Energy Management
In competitive road cycling there is a term for using precious energy during a race called “burning matches,” which I think translates well to the sport of MMA. The “burning matches” analogy goes like this: you start with a full book of matches to burn during an event, and once you’re out of matches... you’re kaput, fried, gassed! Your challenge is to get the maximum results from the matches you have to burn.
How you mange this depends primarily on how many matches you have to start with. Your cardio program is all about increasing the number of matches you have at the beginning of a fight. If you start the fight with relatively few matches, your strategy may be limited to going for a knockout in the first 30 seconds of the fight. If you have several matches to burn, you can always take the first round knockout IF the opportunity presents itself, but you will have several other options that you can go to depending on how the fight plays out. Having this tactical maneuverability during a fight is key, and it all links back to the condition of your cardio.
Also you will manage your match burning better as you gain experience in competition. During an event, your adrenaline is through the roof and your heart is beating in your throat, which can cause you to behave much differently than you do in training. You are over-excited, may jump around too much, make ineffective strikes, and generally wasteful movements – all of which burn matches and contributes to fatigue. Everyone will go through this, and it’s part of competition, but the more you compete, the more efficient you will get.
* Nutrition and supplements
When losing a fight is not an option, you need to fine tune your body to gain every advantage against your opponent. To do this, you need to treat your body like a Formula 1 racecar. Do those race teams put just regular old gas in the car? Hell no! That’s some serious high octane fuel they put into those beasts. You need to do the same. All of the training and competition you do demands the highest quality macronutrients (carbs, fats and protein) and the proper supplements.
About the author
David Nader, MS, MBA
David is an exercise physiologist and biopharmaceutical industry veteran. David started AdapTx Labs to apply the science of exercise physiology to the sport of MMA to help fighters maximize their performance. David is also a competitive bicycle racer.
About AdapTx Labs
AdapTx Labs works with fighters to maximize performance through a scientific approach to training. AdapTx Labs is the first company to develop proprietary cardio and energy boosting supplements for MMA fighters. Their flagship products, CardioFactor™ and PreFight™, when used together, give fighters a complete cardiovascular edge. CardioFactor™ is a daily supplement designed to help fighters not gas out, while PreFight™ delivers a boost just prior to training and competing.
To get information and to purchase, go to www.AdapTxLabs.com.