legs - more cardio?

[leonidas33]

ok, so i can go in the gym and work upper body for an hour to hour and a half and be fine afterwards... leg day i can go in do warmup and hit 3 sets of 20 rep squats on smith machine and be ready to die... breathing hard, heart racing, ready to snooze... is this a sign i need more cardio... i run about 2-3 miles 1-2 times a week... so i don't get a lot of cardio... also may be important to note that i am behind a desk all day every day... i am 33, 205lbs, 6'3", about 9-10% body fat.

 

[Scotsman]

It doesn't have anything to do with your cardio conditioning. Think of squats as an anaerobic exercise. Now go do three sets of 20 sprints and see how you feel afterwards it will be about the same. Also just due to the mechanics of the lift you can't breathe properly. And you are using way more muscle squatting than it is possible to do on any upper body exercise so you are using way more energy.

Now you just need to ditch the smith.

Cheers,
Scotsman

 

[leonidas33]

It doesn't have anything to do with your cardio conditioning. Think of squats as an anaerobic exercise. Now go do three sets of 20 sprints and see how you feel afterwards it will be about the same. Also just due to the mechanics of the lift you can't breathe properly. And you are using way more muscle squatting than it is possible to do on any upper body exercise so you are using way more energy.

Now you just need to ditch the smith.

Cheers,
Scotsman

not so sure... reading arnolds bodybuilding encyclopedia and he touches on the fact that if you can't keep up cardiovascularly in your leg workouts you should increase your cardio... anyone else???

 

[Tatyana]

Arnie is a god in so many ways, but some things have moved on with knowledge of physiology.

I have worn a heart rate monitor both when doing my cardio and when training.

My cardio is a fast paced walk at about 7.5% incline or cycling.

My heart rate is ALWAYS higher after doing squats, and that is only for sets of 8-12.

When I do a 10 x 10 on squats, I am sweating and out of breath.

If you take short breaks between sets, you are getting an awesome cardiovascular workout doing squats.

 

[leonidas33]

Arnie is a god in so many ways, but some things have moved on with knowledge of physiology.

I have worn a heart rate monitor both when doing my cardio and when training.

My cardio is a fast paced walk at about 7.5% incline or cycling.

My heart rate is ALWAYS higher after doing squats, and that is only for sets of 8-12.

When I do a 10 x 10 on squats, I am sweating and out of breath.

If you take short breaks between sets, you are getting an awesome cardiovascular workout doing squats.

i need muscle mass on my legs... so you would recommend heavy weights low reps? how many sets? how long of a break in between?

 

[Tatyana]

i need muscle mass on my legs... so you would recommend heavy weights low reps? how many sets? how long of a break in between?

The shorter rest period is also thought to increase growth hormone release.

How long have you been training?

How long have you been doing the higher volume training (sets of 20 reps)?

Have you ever changed this?

BBers don't ususally run for cardio for two reasons:

-some think it is catabolic with regard to muscle, although this is always debated

-running is more slow twitch muscle dominant, and it is thought you can switch the fiber type with the exercise you do (not all of them but some of them) . Fast twitch is more weight training oriented, and usually lower reps, and fast twitch muscles have more capacity for hypertrophy or getting bigger.