Useful Conditioning Protocols To Build A Better Gas Tank

We all know that cardio is good for health and fitness. But, the prospect of sitting on a bike or rumbling on a treadmill for 45 minutes isn’t for everyone.

What if I told you, you didn’t have to do that to get fitter?

Let’s dive into some conditioning applications that you can add to your training today to start making some cardio gains.

When I program conditioning, I chunk my workouts into one of three buckets:

• Low stimulus: aerobic energy system, lower intensity, steady state, longer duration, short rest periods

• Moderate stimulus: glycolytic energy system, moderate intensity and duration, typically intervals or repeats

• High stimulus: ATP-PCr energy system, high intensity, short duration, long rest periods, sprints or sprint clusters

Assault Bike Power Test

Before we get into the fun protocols, I think it’s useful to lay out a power test I use with myself and my clients. I learned this from Kyle Dobbs from Compound Performance, and it gives a simple framework for structuring conditioning sessions.

Sprint for 10s on the assault bike, as fast as you can. Rest for 1:50. Repeat. Keep repeating this until your output (measured in watts) drops below 85% of your max.

So, if your max output is 1000w, and your output drops below 850w in round 6 - stop there.

(I don’t have a video of me doing this at full pelt - so you’ll have to make do with a video of me being gentle on the assault bike…)

Low Stimulus: Aerobic Training

Your 45-minute ride on the stationary bike is a good example of aerobic system development: it’s relatively low intensity and performed for a longer duration, at a relatively steady heart rate.

When training the aerobic system, I want to train between 4:00 at the low end and 60:00 at the top end. Performing intervals of 4:00 will still train the aerobic system but at higher thresholds than a steady-state bike ride for 60:00.

Here are four options I regularly use to train the aerobic system:

• Steady-State/Continuous:

  • 20:00-60:00 duration

  • Heart rate below ~70%

  • Low intensity

• Low Intensity Continuous Training (LICT):

  • When performing LICT, I pick a few cyclical movements and perform them in blocks with little to no rest in between

  • Sometimes I perform these at lower heart rates and intensity, or I will increase the intensity and use these as a ‘moderate stimulus’ application

  • I love these for adding some movement variability at lower intensities, and it’s a fun change to traditional cardio training

• Tempo Intervals:

  • This is one of the conditioning applications I learned from Joel Jamieson

  • 15s @ 75% maxHR / 45s Rest (or ‘active recovery’) x 10-20 rounds

  • This can be a more engaging and fun option for someone who doesn’t like steady-state cardio

  • Perform intervals of 15s at RPE 7-8, followed by a 45s rest or ‘active recovery’ (ie. going at a warmup pace)

  • For a complete beginner to cardiovascular training, this is a gentle introduction to higher intensities

• Higher Threshold Intervals:

  • If I want to target the aerobic system at higher thresholds, I will perform intervals between 4:00-6:00 in duration for 3-6 rounds

  • I prefer the assault bike or treadmill for these

  • Start at a wattage that is between 15-20% of your peak power output (as taken from your assault bike power test)

Moderate Stimulus: Glycolytic Training

To train the glycolytic system, I tend to perform intervals between 00:30 and 2:00 in duration. Typically I prescribe these with between a 1:3 and 1:4 work-to-rest ratio for clients depending on their fitness level.

These are still sub-maximal, so the overall goal is usually to accumulate some volume at this intensity. Therefore, performing these without adequate rest makes it harder to complete enough rounds.

Here are two options I use regularly in training:

• Tempo Repeats:

  • I prescribe these at intensities between 25-40% of max power output as gleamed from the assault bike power test.

  • Interval duration: anything between 30s and 2:00

  • Rest should be long enough that you can complete 6-10 rounds without output severely dropping

  • When I first started doing these, I would either go too hard in the work period, or not rest long enough, or both. So I ended up gassed by the third round - not a great way to build some volume!

• Metabolic Circuits/Metcons:

  • This is your classic Crossfit WOD or circuit.

  • Usually, I will prescribe these at a fixed intensity of RPE 7-8 so that my clients aren’t completely wiped by the end of the session.

  • As always, intensity drives the adaptation - if you wanted to perform a circuit like this at a lower intensity, that could also be an option for biasing the circuit towards an aerobic adaptation

High Stimulus: ATP-PCr Training

This system produces energy the fastest. A 100m sprinter or a powerlifter going for a 1RM derive most of their energy from this system. Although energy is produced the fastest by the ATP-PCr system, it can only produce energy for short durations (up to 15s).

Training this system requires a lot of rest to replenish its ability to produce energy, so we typically prescribe work-to-rest ratios of between 1:12 and 1:20.

Here are three ways I train this energy system:

• Sprints:

  • I will do these resisted with a sled or perform hill sprints if my primary focus is acceleration, or I will perform them unresisted if I want to train higher speeds

  • The aim is always to perform these at maximum effort: we are trying to go as fast as possible

• Assault Bike Sprints:

  • This is the power test, as outlined above

  • Perform rounds of 5-15s sprints, followed by a long rest of at least 1:12 work:rest

  • If you can perform +10 rounds of these, I would look to improve your max power output

  • If you struggle to perform more than 5 rounds, I would aim to improve your capacity to repeat these high outputs

• High-Intensity Continuous Training (HICT):

  • Again, this is something I first learned from Joel Jamieson and have seen Kyle Dobbs using too.

  • The idea here is to train the body’s ability to repeat max effort reps over a longer duration.

  • In the protocol below, you will work continuously for A1 and A2, only resting between reps and between rounds.

  • These circuits are quite glycolytic, but I use them as a high-stimulus application if I am in an accumulation phase. They’re useful for accumulating some max effort volume.

How To Structure Your Training Week:

• High/Low Model:

  • This is something I first learned from Charlie Francis, and I believe it’s a fairly well-known model in track and field nowadays.

  • Some of your training sessions will be high-stimulus, and the others will be low-stimulus. The exclusion of moderate-stimulus sessions serves to reduce the potential for overtraining and burning out. This can be especially useful if your conditioning is done alongside resistance training which is often glycolytic/moderate-stimulus.

  • This way, you still get to train the aerobic and ATP-PCr systems without feeling wiped out.

• 1-1-1 Model:

  • With this model, you have one exposure each to low, moderate, and high-stimulus conditioning sessions.

  • I find this works best alongside heavy, lower-volume resistance training. I wouldn’t typically pair this conditioning model with accumulation-based strength training.

• 1-2-1 Model:

  • If you want to push your conditioning a little further, whilst maintaining strength levels, this can be a good place to start.

  • You get an extra exposure to aerobic training whilst still training the other two energy systems. I find this works well if your primary goals are conditioning-based, and you’re not looking to push your strength training.