IM HYBRID TRAINING
Killer Cardio
By Eddie Avakoff, owner of Metroflex LBC
Five aerobic-based workouts that will help you lean out but not burn up your muscle.
H
ere’s the deal: Everyone wants a six-
pack. However, few can say they enjoy
sacrificing their muscle mass in the
pursuit of the cardio that’s necessary to
achieve those shiny washboard abs. First and
foremost, low body fat, especially in the ab-
dominal-looking-like-an-Abercrombie-model
sort of region is more of a testament to one’s
disciple in the kitchen and dinner table than
anything else. Nevertheless, there certainly
are more strategic approaches to burning fat
than others when doing that whole song and
dance we all cardio.
Having done my share of competitive
cardio as a former competitive triathlete and
finisher of multiple long-distance obstacle
course races, I have several rules and ideas
about how to use endurance-style training to
look and feel your best.
Keep It Anaerobic
Take a look at a football player: Lean and
muscular. Their sport is very anaerobic and
explosive—the average play in a football
game is roughly seven to 10 seconds of
playtime, followed by 40 seconds of down-
time, otherwise known as “rest” from our
perspective. Now take a look at a marathon
runner: Lean and … well, just lean. In fact,
downright skinny to some standards, and
often with a slight fat roll around the middle.
And rightfully so. Their body adapts physically
(and aesthetically) to their given sport. In
the football player’s instance, his anaerobic
conditioning allowed him to maintain muscle
size and power, while the marathon runner’s
demanding endurance (aerobic) efforts have
dropped any and all extra weight in order to
travel as far and fast as possible. What does
this tell us if we’re trying to maintain muscle
and lower body fat during our workouts? Keep
the cardio anaerobic.
72 JUNE 2017 | ironmanmagazine.com
WHAT DOES THIS TELL
US IF WE’RE TRYING TO
MAINTAIN MUSCLE AND
LOWER BODY FAT DURING
OUR WORKOUTS? KEEP
THE CARDIO ANAEROBIC.
Mix Weights And Running
While generalized circuit training is well
and good, I implore you to dive just a little
deeper into a really decisive use of weights in
running, almost like a superset in weight