Cardio. Friend or foe?

[ZenMMA]

Can someone answer me this...

Why is road running and low level cardio considered effective training for combat sports, I know in Muay Thai and boxing it is considered a staple of a workout session.

Baring in mind most combat sports consist of rounds lasting 3-5 minutes, does it not make sense to focus on interval style training, pushing your body to its max for 3-5 minutes then taking a 1 minute break and repeating?

[NeilG]

Can someone answer me this...

Why is road running and low level cardio considered effective training for combat sports, I know in Muay Thai and boxing it is considered a staple of a workout session.

Baring in mind most combat sports consist of rounds lasting 3-5 minutes, does it not make sense to focus on interval style training, pushing your body to its max for 3-5 minutes then taking a 1 minute break and repeating?

For one thing, I don't believe that a lot of road running is good for combat sports. You need to work on cardio for sure but if you do a lot of road work, you are going to lean out and lose a lot of the muscle you need for explosive power. I know this from experience as I have made a conscious choice to do a lot of running.

Having said that, just saying "cardio" is too simple. There are a number of systems that need to be trained, at least for running. You can read about it in brief here. Interval training tends to focus only on increasing VOMax, which is important for sure but not the only thing. Certainly high intensity interval training (HIIT) has some proponents. Lots to be found though google. But there is also something to be said for the ability to maintain a sustained level of cardio output, which I don't believe you can attain only through HIIT.

So for combat sports you need to find some middle ground. No doubt there are coaches around that can give you details. The general consensus is that HIIT needs a solid base of fitness first so you have to at least do some steady state road work before getting on with that.

[Bruiser]

I just finished 30 minutes of skipping/jumping rope and am currently floating down a river of endorphins. It led me to wonder how the fine folks on this forum felt about cardio. How do you get your cardio in? Is it something you dread or relish? Do you think you get enough of it?

I run and skip rope. I usually just run a mile before a workout and jump rope at the end.

[PatrickLB]

I found myself to dread cardio when I first started, but that's because I was usually gasping for air by the time I hit the 15 seconds mark, now I can last much much longer and it's much more enjoyable since I don't feel like I'm having a heart attack and missing a lung.

I mostly train Cardio on the punching bag and the jump rope, they're my favorite because I feel like I'm doing something, I'm not a fan of running because I just feel like I'm running for the sake of running I guess while the punching bag makes me feel like I'm doing something and I find it much less boring though I do run occasionally.

[blue-dragon]

I found myself to dread cardio when I first started, but that's because I was usually gasping for air by the time I hit the 15 seconds mark, now I can last much much longer and it's much more enjoyable since I don't feel like I'm having a heart attack and missing a lung.

I mostly train Cardio on the punching bag and the jump rope, they're my favorite because I feel like I'm doing something, I'm not a fan of running because I just feel like I'm running for the sake of running I guess while the punching bag makes me feel like I'm doing something and I find it much less boring though I do run occasionally.

I am the same way. My cardio consists of speed rope and speed bag with a round timer. I do cardio alot more this way.