best conditioning exercise

[Muad'dib]

I just wanted to throw this in, since there seems to be a lot of "conditioning" threads up these days. So, what is your conditioning routine, and why do you like it?

I used to row crew, and just recently got back into in for stress relief, just on the ergometer/rowing machine. I must have forgotten, but really I can't think of a better exercise for developing unified body power. Though it slipped my mind, I remember my coach telling us when we started to take it slow, because it takes a minimum of 10,000 strokes before your body remembers the correct form. (I always cringe when I see most people trying to use the machine in gym, knowing they are either not going to get a good work out, or are headed to injury.) Unlike most aerobic exercises, speed is not the most important thing for burning calories here. Most long term rows are focused on keeping your strokes per minute to around 18-24. If you do that over the long haul, you build the form that will allow you to hit the 35-45 strokes a minute that will keep you in the race. If you don't practice slow, you won't ever have the form down, and you will completely begin to fall apart around 30 strokes a minute. (Slow builds fast with proper form? I think some people would consider this heresy if applied to MA. Mr. Wang?)

Further, within doing those 18-24 strokes per minute, if you are doing all the movements correctly, you should easily be able to generate enough force where you are burning 800-900 calories an hour. Most people you see though don't have the proper integration of movement, and the result is that they languish somewhere's around 500-600 calories an hour, never even realizing what they are doing wrong. Not having had proper instruction they can't even begin to get what the difference between right and wrong

Taking it yet another step, unlike most other cardio, rowing works just amout every muscle in your body, requiring full integration of your back, core, forearm and arm muscles for proper power generation, not just as secondary considerations. The exercise itself burns fat faster, and builds lean body mass like no other. It's also low impact but still helps develop bone strength because of the force being applied to the body as a whole. I recommend it strongly.

The only real drawback in my mind is that you need to go to a gym, or have a place big enough for the erg and about $3K to buy a good one.

Anyone else have a favorite?

[Jeice]

All I can say is I agree absolutely that rowing is incredible. I attribute rowing to my being a lanky and awkward 158lbs, but being able to kick and grapple like a mutant mule-ape. The other thing about rowing is that unlike other cardio sports where you're in constant action, rowing requires explosive power at the catch and through the release, and then sung relaxation on the recovery.
As for cost, I bought myself a used vespoli racer for 750 (mid 90's hull, still very fast), and you can find used ergs on the internet for just a few hundred too (even the competition quality concept2's). You just need to know what you want and where to look.

I can also tell you're american because you said you used to "Row crew" "Way nuff"

[Muad'dib]

good to know Jeice.

[Chris Fleming]

Kettlebell swings and hitting a tire with a heavy sledgehammer.

Destroying my internal power and fluidness for years now.

[middleway]

HIIT running and Hill running ... Hard to beat these two for both explosive power and endurance IMO

Cheers
chris

[TaoBoxer]

The Current KettleBell Internal Power Destroying Workout

Highpulls, Clean N Press, Snatches, Renegade Rows, Floor Press

7 reps each x2 35 lb
6 reps each x2 35lb
5 reps each x2 45lb
4 reps each x2 45lb
3 reps each x2 53lb
2 reps each x2 53lb
1 rep each x2 70lb

Then 2-3 hours of Fu, then 100 reps of high weight swings, snatches, high pulls or Turkish Get Ups.

Lewitt

[ashe]

there is no best. intensity makes or breaks any metabolic conditioning.

[Muad'dib]

metabolic? As in how well your body ingests food?

Seriously though, everyone has their preferences, and intensity aside (since one person's "intense" is another person's "wussy"), there are reasons for having your own preference. This is easily observable by the answers given. I was personally thinking "conditioning" primarily in terms of aerobic endurance, whereas some of the answers are definitely more focused on anaerobic muscle interaction.

So, again, rephrased perhaps to avoid the wise dodge of generality, what is your personal preference for conditioning?

added this

hitting a tire with a heavy sledgehammer.

I find this one amusing. When I was in high school I used to do this to work of frustration, but I hit trees, not tires. (There more more trees than tires where I lived, and they didn't really die of it.) I eventually had to stop after I broke 2 sledgehammer handles in a row, and my father flipped out on me. I guess tires are more forgiving.

[Mike Strong]

IMO it is The Tibetan Bowing Board. This traditional Tibetan spiritual practice was dove-tailed into our branch of Yi Quan, and creates Whole Body Power, as well as opening The Jung Mai ...

... in a couple of months I will be allowed to show this practice publicly; so I guess I'm going t have to get a stupid video camera.

[Royal Dragon]

Swim.

[Muad'dib]

Yeah, I'd definitely put swimming at number 2.

[ashe]

metabolic? As in how well your body ingests food?

metabolic conditiong is the term most pro's are using for the type of conditioning you use to improve lipolysis...

So, again, rephrased perhaps to avoid the wise dodge of generality, what is your personal preference for conditioning?

that's still general since conditioning is highly activity specific.

lance armstrong is considered by many to be the greatest endurance athlete EVER. he's got the highest recorded VO2 max, etc. yet finished 496th in the boston marathon.

what type of conditioning is required for your activity? fighting is anaerobic.

[Muad'dib]

metabolic conditiong is the term most pro's are using for the type of conditioning you use to improve lipolysis...

which is the fancy way of saying "breakdown of body fat..."

that's still general since conditioning is highly activity specific.

This is absolutely true. You are welcome to self define what your goals are as well.

what type of conditioning is required for your activity? fighting is anaerobic.

While fighting is indeed anaerobic, your ability to handle extended anaerobic activity is highly derived from your base in aerobic fitness.

I found this article a few years ago, and thought it was great.

http://www.rossboxing.com/thegym/thegym21.htm

We can extend your line of thinking farther out though. The article itself is written for boxing. The concept that fighting is anaerobic comes from "professional fighting" with 3-5 minute rounds. But if a cross section of street fights on Youtube is any basis (I used 20 vidoes), your average street fight lasts about, generously, about a minute. So, maybe you are correct, and there is no need for any form of conditioning.

[Royal Dragon]

How is fighting Anaerobic? You breath deeply and directly with every move. you are moving to the point of exertion, but rarely too the point where you cannot talk during your movement. Even during life and death struggles, you can yell, swear and curse your opponent. Most do infact.

Isn't Anaerobic exercise where you push to the level that you cannot speak clearly anymore? Like when lifting very heavy weights and only grunts can be audibised?

[gryphonz]

He's right, it's anaerobic. Examples would be sprinting-anaerobic, jogging-aerobic. I'm pretty sure an intense activity like fighting for your life, even for 5 seconds, is gonna make you pretty winded.