General endurance/fitness level of lifters

me0231

I'm curious. I've always been told you have to train what you want to be good at, so if you want better cardio endurance, you have to do cardio. I always felt that my muscles were fairly strong but that I just couldn't keep up breathing for any type of strenuous cardio stuff. Seeing the increase in strength in just one month of a beginner lifting program, I'm starting to rethink that. Maybe my muscles were just too weak to keep up.

So I'm wondering, does strength training alone (heavy lifting with 8-10 reps) also increase general endurance? And I mean general fitness endurance like a long hike or ball hockey for example, not running a marathon or something that will obviously take dedicated training. Would love to hear any thoughts on this.

rybo

No. Not to any appreciable level.
Granted having more strength generally makes things easier, but having the aerobic capacity to go along with it is better. Also having a better aerobic capacity can make for easier recovery and more work able to be done during your lifting sessions, which will equate to more strength gains over time.

se015

My endurance isn't great because I don't do cardio and when I do high volume lifting such as high reps and low rest period, I'm out of breath very easily, but I'm bulking and I don't like doing cardio so that's my own fault lol

Rusty740

I play hockey on a regular basis. I found the biggest thing that increased my endurance was losing a bunch of weight (obviously) maintaining for six months, then cardio (just running 15 minutes a few times per week) really helped for those long shifts on the ice. I found that while cardio made a difference I could really feel, strength training made a difference in short term performance like puck battles, short sprints and that type of thing. It seems obvious, and I'm no pro, but cardio made a noticeable difference in endurance and strength made a less noticeable (but still there) difference in short term (10-15 second) bursts where strength was required. I think the biggest exercise you could do for the long hike or ball hockey would be squats or power cleans.

sinead29

Since i started lifting i cut back my circuit classes from 3 a week to 1. I lift 3 times a week but ive noticed since i started prioritising the weights my endurance for the circuit classes had dropped and i do struggle a bit more. However i much prefer weightlifting so its not an issue but i guess you cant have the best of both worlds!

me0231

Thanks everyone for their input. I've always hated the gym because I kind of equaled gym with long boring cardio sessions that nearly killed me. I'm new to lifting, but so far I absolutely love it and for the first time in my life I'm actually looking forward to going. It's not a chore to go.

I guess I will need to find a cardio activity that I feel the same way about.

BrianKMcFalls

I think it's all about balance and your current goals. Kinda like gaining strength while cutting, it's not really possible for anyone beyond novice level. So if you're lifting hard and heavy and trying to also train for endurance, something is going to suffer, probably both. LISS is probably your best bet for cardio; walking, hiking, easy biking, maybe some yoga. Lots of people also incorporate prowler work into their lifting program, which depending on how you use it, can improve; strength, speed, power, conditioning, or combinations of those.

Rusty740

me0231 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for their input. I've always hated the gym because I kind of equaled gym with long boring cardio sessions that nearly killed me. I'm new to lifting, but so far I absolutely love it and for the first time in my life I'm actually looking forward to going. It's not a chore to go.

I guess I will need to find a cardio activity that I feel the same way about.

I don't think there are any fun cardio activities to be perfectly honest

cwolfman13

me0231 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for their input. I've always hated the gym because I kind of equaled gym with long boring cardio sessions that nearly killed me. I'm new to lifting, but so far I absolutely love it and for the first time in my life I'm actually looking forward to going. It's not a chore to go.

I guess I will need to find a cardio activity that I feel the same way about.

most people don't think outside the cardio machine box...I would die if some piece of cardio equipment was my cardio. Most of my cardiovascular exercise is recreational activity...road cycling, mountain biking, rock climbing, hiking, swimming, etc...

me0231

Rusty740 wrote: »

I don't think there are any fun cardio activities to be perfectly honest

Haha you're probably right. I'm not going to worry about it just yet, I don't want to pile on too many things at once. For now I'll keep lifting and losing the rest of the padding. Maybe incorporate some more LISS as suggested above but more to keep active rather than a strict program.

sijomial

me0231 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for their input. I've always hated the gym because I kind of equaled gym with long boring cardio sessions that nearly killed me. I'm new to lifting, but so far I absolutely love it and for the first time in my life I'm actually looking forward to going. It's not a chore to go.

I guess I will need to find a cardio activity that I feel the same way about.

Are there no sports you enjoy?
Or get outside......
This is my idea of fun cardio.

sardelsa

While strength training and building muscle hasn't really helped my endurance (at least not that I am aware of), it has helped those short blasts of power.. plyometrics and sprints etc. I don't run/sprint but a few months ago just for fun, I ran at a really fast pace down the street... it felt like I was riding on top of an animal and my legs weren't even my own, haha. It was insane the amount of power and leg strength I had.

Packerjohn

Interesting article from Mike Robertson on cardio:

http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/blog/long-duration-low-intensity-cardio/#

joinn68

Rusty740 wrote: »

me0231 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for their input. I've always hated the gym because I kind of equaled gym with long boring cardio sessions that nearly killed me. I'm new to lifting, but so far I absolutely love it and for the first time in my life I'm actually looking forward to going. It's not a chore to go.

I guess I will need to find a cardio activity that I feel the same way about.

I don't think there are any fun cardio activities to be perfectly honest

I was going to say swimming, hiking, playing with kids, @cwolfman13 as already listed them

me0231

Packerjohn wrote: »

Interesting article from Mike Robertson on cardio:

http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/blog/long-duration-low-intensity-cardio/#

Very interesting, thanks for sharing. I'm so sore from my last set of squats that I won't be doing much today or tomorrow but I think it's a good goal to implement some LISS training on my rest days. Maybe if I don't need to kill myself with a crazy hard cardio session I won't mind it either.

ijsantos2005

I would argue that lifting does give you a solid endurance base.

timsla

You can always do HIIT with kettle bells or a complex session. Best of both worlds. Working in a hypotrophy phase into your strength training is good too. A la juggernaut system

ijsantos2005

I can go out and run a 5k in under 25 minutes with out much effort and I only strength train. I guess it depends on what you consider good enough cardio endurance.

mmapags

me0231 wrote: »

Packerjohn wrote: »

Interesting article from Mike Robertson on cardio:

http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/blog/long-duration-low-intensity-cardio/#

Very interesting, thanks for sharing. I'm so sore from my last set of squats that I won't be doing much today or tomorrow but I think it's a good goal to implement some LISS training on my rest days. Maybe if I don't need to kill myself with a crazy hard cardio session I won't mind it either.

I feel like this all the time. My priority is 3 good strength sessions per week. Most of my cardio is walking, so LISS. I also do some run/ walk intervals when I have the 2 days in a row off from strength. I also agree that some of my strength training has a cardio benefit to it. As an example, it's like doing sprints when I do 3 sets of 8 power cleans. Killer!!

Also, I am only concerned with so much cardio benefit. I have a reasonable v02 max, low 40s, and I am not into endurance sports like running. So, really just enough for overall health.

mmapags

Packerjohn wrote: »

Interesting article from Mike Robertson on cardio:

http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/blog/long-duration-low-intensity-cardio/#

Interesting article! I was happy to discover that I'm doing something right with my lower impact cardio. My RHR is 54. Not bad for a guy on the wrong side of 65.

ck2d

Why don't you try HIIRT - high intensity interval resistance training. Basically, between weight lifting sets, instead of sitting there doing nothing, you do 1 minute of HIIT type cardio. Like, a minute of skipping rope or box jumps or throwing a medicine ball, etc etc. The point is to get your heart rate elevated so that weight lifting sessions also have cardio benefits. You kill two birds with one stone.