When most Powerlifters hear the word ‘cardio’ they shudder. Powerlifting is at the opposite end of the spectrum to cardiovascular exercise because it involves maximal strength. However, cardio can be very beneficial for Powerlifters.

In recent times elite Powerlifters have been opting to include cardio into their training, not just to improve their performance, but also for its health benefits.

But let’s get one thing straight; cardio won’t kill your gains. Maybe if you started training for a marathon, then you’d sacrifice some muscle mass, but a bit of cardio here and there won’t do you any harm.

In fact, as long as you’re utilising the principles of progressive overload in your training and you’re fuelling enough with an adequate amount of protein and calories, there is no reason why you should be losing muscle mass when adding cardio to your training. You can read more about balancing strength and cardio here.

Benefits of Cardio For Powerlifters

Increased Work Capacity

This is simply the amount of exercise you can tolerate. If you want to become fitter/faster/stronger, then you need to put more work in.

Improved Recovery Time Between Sets

Improving your anaerobic and aerobic fitness with cardio will greatly improve your heart’s ability to recover between Powerlifting sets. How quickly your heart rate returns to resting after exercise is also a good indicator of overall health.

Greater Muscle Hypertrophy

By including cardio workouts that still involve loading your muscles (e.g. circuits) not only are you improving your cardiovascular fitness, you'll simultaneously be building muscle.

Full Body Cardio Workout For Powerlifters

Powerlifting training can take up a lot of time, therefore it’s essential that any other training is quick and can easily fit in around the important lifting sessions. That’s why we’ve come up with a quick 10-minute, high intensity cardio session that you can easily fit into a packed training regime. Perform 20 seconds of rest after the circuit, and repeat for five rounds.

• 5 burpees

• 5 kettlebell swings

• 10 weighted deficit push ups

This cardio workout requires minimal equipment, so it can easily be performed in either a commercial gym or your home gym. If you want to upgrade your home workout space, check out our Gym Floor Mats for Home.

The workout can also be regressed and progressed easily. To make the workout easier, reduce the number of rounds, or reduce the weight for the swings and push ups. It’s even possible to do a modified burpee if you’re not able to perform a full burpee. To make the workout harder, increase the number of repetitions for each movement or increase the load, such as wearing a 20kg weighted vest. 

If you’re a Powerlifter, there’s no denying that you’ll choose heavy weights over a cardio session. But including short, sharp bursts of cardio throughout your training can seriously improve your performance on the lifting platform.

For more content, follow us on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and on our official Mirafit Facebook page.

Tags: Exercise Type > Cardio