Twenty years ago the thought of doing any kind of aerobics was anathema to bodybuilders. If a gym had a stationary bike, it usually rusted in a distant corner like an obsolete prop. Bodybuilders in those days looked at the physiques of runners and concluded that aerobic exercise was a sure route to a skinny body.
As bodybuilders turned more to scientific modes of training, however, they realized that aerobic training was the best definition-producing exercise. The reason was simple: You need large amounts of oxygen to burn fat, and aerobics literally means "with oxygen." Today, its rare to find a competitive-level body-builder who doesn't do some form of aerobics.
A champion who once harbored a fear of aerobics was Vince Taylor. Vince has a high metabolism, and once thought that adding aerobics to his bodybuilding program would result in a severe loss of hard-earned gains. But shortly before last year's Schwarzenegger Classic pro show, Vince consulted with eight-time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney. Haney told Taylor that adding precontest aerobics would allow him to eat more, thus preserving his muscle mass while simultaneously burning fat. Taylor took his advice and won the show in the best shape of his life -- with no loss of muscle.
But questions about combining aerobics and bodybuilding still confuse many people. Most bodybuilders realize that aerobics offer several advantages, such as burning off excess calories, turning the body into an efficient fat-burning machine, and allowing one to eat more to prevent catabolic muscle loss stemming from starvation diets.
Perils And Pitfalls
THE HEALTH ASPECT : To be truly physically fit requires attention to three main aspects of fitness:
muscular strength and endurance, flexibility and cardiovascular
fitness. Achieving balanced fitness means training all three aspects.
Normal bodybuilding covers muscular strength and endurance, stretching
helps you become limber and flexible, and aerobics build the
cardiovascular system.Conditioning the cardiovascular system should concern every bodybuilder, becuase cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in America. In 1988, for example, heart disease killed nearly a million Americans, as many as cancer, pneumonia, influenca and all other diseases combined.
Aerobic exercise helps prevent cardiovascular disease by lowering such risk factors as elevated blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, glucose intolerance and stress. While recent research shows that weight training is also capable of modifying these risk factors, aerobic training still more potent in this regard. ANAEROBIC VS. AEROBIC As usually practiced bodybuilding is anaerobic. This means that bodybuilding doesn't depend on oxygen, as aerobic activity does. The primary fuel for bodybuilding is stored carbohydrates ( glycogen) in muscle and liver. Since oxidizing (burning) fat requires oxygen, weight training isn't the best exercise for fat-burning.
Because of a larger oxygen intake, aerobics do promote fat-burning. Many bodybuilders, however, believe that aerobics burn only fat. In fact, you burn both sugar and fat in the course of a typical aerobic workout. For example, during a one-hour ride on a stationary bike, you burn fuel in the following proportions:
Blood-free fatty acids -- 11%
Blood glucose -- 13%
Muscle triglycerides -- 32%
Muscle glycogen -- 44%
This breaks down to 76% of total energy derived from muscle energy stores (triglycerides/glycogen),and 24% from circulating blood fuels (free fatty acids/glucose). For fat-burning purposes, the longer the session, the more you tap into fat stores. As the body's carbohydrate stores deplete -- first glycogen, later glucose -- your body gradually begins to use more fat to power the exercise. But maximizing fat-burning means performing a relatively low-intensity form of exercise. This is the reason that weight training burns mostly sugar; its high-intensity aspect requires this quick burning of fuel sources. Sugar in this instance refers mainly to stored forms of carbohydrate (i.e., muscle glycogen).
Recent research shows that doing aerobics in the morning before your first meal increases fat-burning by nearly 200%. This relates to lowered glycogen levels when you awaken. The decreased glycogen forces the body to dip into fat stores faster than usual. Drinking about two cups of coffee potentiates the fat release even more. But do the exercise right after drinking the coffee, since caffeine on a empty stomach may cause hypoglycemia (low-blood sugar). In addition, consuming a carbohydrate meal with the coffee will negate the fat-mobilizing effects of caffeine. On the other hand, more recent studies show that fasting aerobics is no more efficient at fat-burning than is eating prior to training. Perhaps the best way to determine if fasting aerobics will work for you is to try it.
According to guidelines set by the American Council of Sports Medicine, the ideal frequency, duration and intensity of aerobic exercise is: three to five days a week, 15-60 minutes, 60-90% of maximum heart rate.
To determine your maximum heart rate, subtract your age from the figure 220, then determine 60-85 % of that figure. Training within that range is called the target heart zone. You can figure out your pulse by holding your index finger lightly to the radial artery in your wrist for 10 seconds, then multiplying that figure by six. Or else simply count your pulse for six seconds and add a zero to that number.
As you become for fit, your resting pulse will decrease. The average pulse is about 72; some endurance athletes show pulse levels as low as 30-40 beats per minute. This reflects a greater stroke volume of the heart, and means that your heart is pumping more blood with each beat. While this is obviously an advantage, a low resting pulse isn't the best indicator of fitness. A better indicator is how quickly your pulse returns to normal after being elevated during exercise.
Studies show that cardiovascular fitness can be built through as little as three aerobic sessions a week for 20 to 30 minutes each session. But the longer the workout, the more fat you burn. The same holds true for frequency: The more you train, the more fat you burn. You need at least four aerobic sessions for 30 minutes each per week to affect body composition. In practice, 60 minutes is ideal. Any longer than that increases the incidence of both injuries and over-training.
While one long session of aerobics is best for fat-burning, many bodybuilders prefer to divide their aerobics into two or more daily sessions. They feel this imparts a greater boost to metabolism, thus burning more fat. Past studies showed that aerobics raised the post-exercise metabolic rate anywhere from 30 minutes to 24 hours.
But more recent studies indicate that the post-exercise metabolic rise may not amount to much. How long you continue to burn calories after exercise appears to depend on the intensity of the workout (the higher the better) and your level of conditioning. Doing aerobics regularly builds oxidative enzymes in the mitochondria of cells that promote fat-burning. But the body works on a "use it or lose it" principle. This means that if not needed, you lose this superior fat-burning ability.
This is one reason why a bodybuilder should always include aerobics in a year-round training program. The old notion of bulking up went out with high-button shoes. The de rigueur look of bodybuilders today is lean and mean. Maintaining the fat-burning apparatus within cells through year-round aerobics helps promote this look. DO AEROBICS INTERFERE WITH STRENGTH GAINS? Several studies show that aerobics may indeed do so. This relates to the physiological principle of exercise specificity. In short, doing endurance exercise such as aerobics builds structures in the cells (mitochondria, increased blood capillaries, slow-twitch muscle fibers) that are the opposite of those produced by strength training. These past studies show that building the endurance aspects of muscles interferes with development of strength factors in muscle, such as an increase in intramuscular contractile proteins (actin, myosin).
The cause of this interference is speculative, but may involve a drop in the ability of a muscle to produce force, increased muscle-protein breakdown as a result of decreased testosterone due to over training, a decrease in anaerobic muscle enzymes needed for efficient strength function, or an interference with muscle-fiber recruitment patterns.
Does this mean that bodybuilders trying to increase strength and size should avoid aerobics? Not necessarily. What's needed is a dose of common sense. Since many bodybuilders cycle their training into different periods throughout the year, it's a good idea to use a maintenance aerobic program when trying to add muscle mass, particularly if you're not that big to begin with. A maintenance program could be as little as two to three days a week of 20-30 minutes. Studies show that even this minimal level of aerobics will maintain both cardiovascular and fat-burning systems. The key is maintaining training intensity if you reduce frequency and duration.
Obviously, bodybuilders who do four hours of daily aerobics before a contest are courting disaster. Such bodybuilders often drastically reduce either calories or carbohydrates. If their body-fat levels are already low, where does the energy to power all that aerobic exercise come from? Muscle.
DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS Boredom is a frequently encountered problem with aerobics. You don't get the same feedback, such as increased poundages, that you get with weights. The remedy involves using variety in your aerobic training while sticking to the aforementioned guidelines of frequency and intensity levels.
The boom in exercise over the last decade has produced many excellent modes of aerobic training. Each has advantages and disadvantages, but all are capable of providing excellent aerobic conditioning.
Most bodybuilders avoid jogging and other forms of running. Experience shows that jogging and other forms of running. Experience shows that jogging imposes too much stress on weight-bearing joints, such as knees, hips and the lower back. With every step you take in running, you pound these joint structures with three to five times your body weight, depending on the surface you run on. For a 200-pound bodybuilder, a one-mile jog produces 500 tons of stress on those joints. Something eventually has to give.
Many bodybuilders -- particularly women -- enjoy taking aerobic dance classes. How good these classes are depends on several factors, including the ability of the instructor. In addition, during an average 50-minute class, only 20-30 minutes involve target heart-rate-level exercise, and the average person takes such classes only one to three times per week.
Past studies have shown that such classes have produced a 76% injury rate in instructors and 43% in students. These injuries usually occurred in the shins, calves, lower back, feet, ankles and knees. Later analysis showed that the actual injury rate was 20% for instructors and 10% for students. But even this rate is unacceptably high. Such figures led to low-impact aerobics, where one foot is always kept in contact with the floor. The problem with low-impact aerobics is that it may not be intense enough to reach target heart-rate levels.
Most bodybuilders, however avoid aerobic classes, preferring low-impact exercise such as stationary cycling. A 170-pound man riding a stationary bike at 20mph burns a hefty 700 calories per hour. The more you weigh, the more calories you'll burn. With stationary cycling, it's important to adjust the seat properly to avoid knee trauma. While seated, your extended leg should stop just short of lockout. Use toe clips to maintain an equal up-and-down force on the pedals.
Don't go overboard in intensity while doing aerobics. Your goal is simply to burn fat and work the cardiovascular system. Use a level of intensity that prevents you from huffing and puffing; you should be able to talk without difficulty. If you feel a burn in your legs, it indicates a buildup of lactic acid. This means you've approached your anaerobic threshold and your body then shifts into burning sugar, not fat.
Other forms of aerobics popular with bodybuilders include:
■ Treadmill walking: Raising the incline increases intensity and focuses on tightening upper thighs and buttocks. Holding weights in hands increases energy use by only 5-10%
■ Rowing machine: Advantageous because it works both the upper and lower body. A great calorie burner, but use legs to prevent excess stress on the lower back.
■ Stair machine: May not be suitable for those with previous knee injuries. Maintain upright position and don't lean forward, which reduces workload by 30% or more.
■ Cross-country ski machine: Usually avoided because it's no fun, but it's the best conditioner and calorie burner of all. Proper coordination between upper and lower body takes practice, however.
Aerobic training should be a part of every bodybuilder's training regimen. It's simply the best way to burn fat, increase endurance and condition the cardiovascular system.
©,2018 Jerry Brainum. Any reprinting in any type of media, including electronic and foreign is expressly prohibited
