Powerlifting & Cardio

[PoweredUp]

I was hoping to get some feedback on what kind of a role you experts feel that cardio plays in powerlifting. I lift for strength first and foremost, but I also like to keep my body in good physical condition overall. Is high intensity/short duration (15-20 min) style cardio best for powerlifters, or is a lower intensity over a longer duration (45-60 min) more optimal? I am around 19% body fat (240 lbs), so I do have plenty of fat to burn before my bhody starts to tap into the muscle.

I lift 3 times per week, so I would only be doing cardio 2-3 days per week since I do not do cardio and lift on the same days. Aesthetics is not my primary focus, but I would like to avoid becoming one of these fat-ass powerlifters.

Thanks in advance...

 

[Scotsman]

If you talk to a bunch of the top lifters you'll get a lot of different answers. It breaks down into three groups:

1. No Cardio- this is more of an old school view where all you need to worry about is strength and being able to not die during your 9 attempts.

2. Low intensity- Fat burning to keep weight down for percentage increase on lifts. Trying to lean up without causing any catabolysm from over exersion.

3. High intensity- A lot of pl'ers do sprints and other burst training. Thought process here is to help the body learn to do short burst high intensity activity like the lifts themselves.

I like a mix of 2 and 3. I do low intensity stuff three days a week right now. Soon I'll start adding in the fourth day of high intensity short duration work. For that I'll probably do sprints, sled pulls, and maybe some carrying like with sandbags.

Hope this helps out.

Cheers,
Scotsman

 

[LocoLeprechaun]

Im with Scotsman on this I like to do 30-40 min of carido 3x weekly keeping my heart rate around 130-140. But also like to anerobic sprints, boxing, wrestling things like that. Plus to be honest I find cardio boring so I prefer the sports as my source of cardio.

 

[Powerbuilder333]

6 weeks before a meet I drop all cardio, and gradually reduce any activity that fatigues my hips - except low rep deadlifts, squats, and leg presses.
Off season/retirement cardio consists of 30 minutes medium intensity twice a week, and 5 minutes high intensity once a week.
I've been using the elliptical, but it seems to have little carry over to real life applications. This week I'll try the treadmill at it's highest incline setting to see if that helps.
Sled pulls are awesome. I'll have to work them into my routine again.

 

[chaos13]

i like the idea of 15 minutes of medium intensity 3X a week