It wasn't that long ago that I was a rock-solid 92kg. Because of a strongman contest that happened one year I dropped below 90kg's just because that was the cutoff point. There was one category for 90kg and below and another for above. The people above 90kgs were absolute beasts so I lost 2kg just to have an easier go at it.
As it turns out strongman contests are a lot more about technique than actual strength and I still got my ass handed to me by guys who always train at that weight and while a lot smaller than me, they did much better at the events. I'll write more about that at a later date but that was the time when I was shredded muscle with virtually no cardio capabilities to speak of.
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The above image was taken from a YouTube channel of two guys whose content I appreciate and if you want some good insight into fitness by people that take it a lot further than you or I likely do, I suggest you check them out. But for now, let's talk about an experience that I have a lot more knowledge about and that is my own experiences.
It was about a year ago that I ended up finding out some less than awesome information from a doctor about my fitness levels, one of the main ones being that I have terrible cardio. I don't think that this was a huge surprise to me because although I looked ripped, I knew that I couldn't do even the shortest of runs without gassing out.
Since I am in my 40's I decided that maybe it would be a better idea to transition to overall health rather than looking like a monster. It has been a somewhat disappointing journey because in the end, the simple reality is that you are going to lose muscle mass, there just really isn't much way around that. Such as been the case with me but I just needed to change my perspective I guess.
I went from not being able to do a 5k at all, to being able to run a km then walk 500m and rinse and repeat, and now I don't really consider 5k to be tough at all, it just kind of depends on how hard I want to push myself.
These days I can do 10k or more at 8km per minute, which isn't fast, but if I feel the pressure I can do that distance at a minute faster per km if I stay focused and have good tunes on. If I am REALLY pushing myself, I can do a 5k in under 30 minutes.
Now none of this is impressive to someone that runs regularly and has done so for a long time but we need to make allowances because up until less than a year ago, I rarely did any cardio at all. The only heart rate increase I ever got was if I was doing supersets at the gym and this was only for 5 minutes at a time or so.
So getting my heart rate up to 140 or so and keeping it there for an hour, this is still something that my body hasn't gotten used to.
The side-effect that I am less-than-thrilled about is that a great deal of my upper body mass has done away. This obviously doesn't make me happy because it took me 20 years to build that, but I know based on my BPM when I am running and the fact that it isn't really even that tough for me to run for two hours at a certain pace, that my overall cardio has changed dramatically in the past 8 months.
So there is a tradeoff there and while I am not as thrilled when I look in the mirror I know that I am overall in considerably better health. Also, there is substantially less chance for injury when just running and cycling. Sure you could twist your ankle on a trail run or something like that, but seeing as how I have twice severely injured myself by deadlifting too much one day chasing a PB that there are much greater dangers in the gym.
I am not trying to tell anyone how to live their life but I think it is just common sense to realize that bodybuilding, especially the sort that we are seeing these days where almost everyone is juicing, is definitely a young man's game.
Sure, there are some jacked 50 and 60 year olds out there, but the ones that people truly admire, such as "The Rock" are definitely cheating and have access to gyms, nutrition, doctors, and a whole lotta drugs to help them along that path. It is not an obtainable physique and if you try, there is a good chance that you could end up like so many ex-bodybuilders do - with chronic pain and even disabilities due to drug abuse and chasing a shape that it simply isn't possible to maintain.
With running or cardio in general, there just isn't any bad side-effect aside from something awful and unlikely happening to you such as getting hit by a truck while you are running down the street. In the weight section though, a lot of people get hurt regularly by chasing the dragon or just by doing something stupid like Calum Von Moger did when curling over 400 lbs with a friend.
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This sort of stuff simply doesn't happen in running. What are you gonna do honestly? Run too fast and now your legs are sore? Well, that happens to everyone but it doesn't result in hospitalization.
For me, being fit has been a part of my life for most of my life and while there is some sadness about losing a lot of my muscle mass it is a tradeoff that I am willing to do. When I look in the mirror sometimes I am disappointed and miss my shredded shoulders... but then I just have to remind myself that the guy that used to be in my reflection could barely run to the end of the street and back whereas the person I am now can run to the other side of town and back.
So ask yourself: Which of these things is more important in the long run?
I don't have all the answers, but I do know from over 30 years of experience what has worked for me, and most of this knowledge comes from having done things incorrectly
I have gone through a few phases in my fitness life, from skinny runner, to bulky rugby player. Now I just try to focus on mobility and a good balance of cardio and strength. I still think I could outrun most people, but don't have any illusions about keeping up with the serious runners, same with the powerlifters. I don't even try to go too heavy on anything anymore, as the joints aren't as reliable as they used to be. I think everyone has a weight and physique that is best suited to them, and if you eat right and stay active, your body will end up as it is supposed to be.
The show Fear Factor honestly had a huge impact on me in this regard. The skinny farmboy would pretty much always beat the really muscley guy when they had to climb up a rope ladder onto a helicopter or whatever bizarre thing - and I kind of realized that massive biceps don't matter if you can't actually do anything with them. I'd much rather be able to pull myself up over a wall than be able to bench press some huge number.
Great pun!
That is why they say in sport you can be gym fit or match fit because they are virtually the opposite. I am not into the fake body builder stuff as I used to see and play with the guys who juiced up, but always broke down with torn muscles because they were not naturally grown. You have made the right call to concentrate on cardio.