Conditioning, a cornerstone of athletic preparation, extends far beyond mere cardiovascular endurance.
It encompasses the holistic development of an athlete’s physiological systems to meet the specific demands of their sport or activity.
So many PT’s will be claim to be Strength and Conditioning Experts, or tell you their specialism is S&C but don’t be fooled. While most might be good at the “S” part – Strength training, the “C” is a far more complex.
This multifaceted approach to fitness enhances not only stamina, but also an athlete’s ability to perform at high intensities, recover rapidly, and maintain technical proficiency under fatigue.
By systematically stressing and adapting various energy systems, conditioning sculpts the body into a more efficient and resilient machine, capable of withstanding the rigors of competition and training. Whether it’s a marathon runner pushing through the final miles or a soccer player making a crucial play in extra time, effective conditioning can often be the difference between victory and defeat.
Conditioning refers to the cardiovascular and muscular endurance component of fitness training in the context of Strength & Conditioning (S&C).
While strength focuses on developing muscular power and force production, conditioning aims to improve an athlete’s ability to perform repeated efforts over time without fatigue.
Key aspects of conditioning:
Cardiovascular endurance: Improving the heart and lungs’ capacity to supply oxygen to working muscles during prolonged activity.
Muscular endurance: Enhancing the muscles’ ability to perform repeated contractions over extended periods.
Sport-specific energy systems: Targeting the predominant energy pathways used in a particular sport (e.g., aerobic, anaerobic lactic, or anaerobic alactic).
Recovery: Improving an athlete’s ability to recover between bouts of intense activity.
Work capacity: Increasing the overall volume of work an athlete can handle in training and competition.
Conditioning methods:
High-intensity interval training (HIIT)
Circuit training
Sport-specific drills
Tempo runs
Repeated sprint training
Cycling and swimming for low-impact conditioning
The goal of conditioning in S&C is to prepare athletes for the physical demands of their sport, enhance performance, and reduce the risk of fatigue-related injuries.
The art and science of conditioning in Strength & Conditioning programs is a dynamic and ever-evolving field.
As our understanding of human physiology and sports performance deepens, so too does the sophistication of conditioning methodologies.
The key to successful conditioning lies not just in pushing physical limits, but in intelligent program design that balances intensity, specificity, and recovery. When implemented thoughtfully, conditioning transforms athletes into more robust, adaptable, and efficient performers.
It builds not only the body, but also the mind, fostering mental toughness and confidence that transcends the training ground.
Ultimately, effective conditioning empowers athletes to push beyond their perceived limitations, setting new standards of excellence in their chosen disciplines and unlocking their full athletic potential.
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is everywhere. Gyms run HIIT classes, people can download a HIIT timer on to their phone… it’s a really popular way of training due to its efficiency and effectiveness but unfortunately the more popular it’s gotten, the less it actually looks like an actual HIIT workout. Most HIIT classes advertised by gyms are actually just moderate intensity circuit classes!
There seems to be a common thought process which is ” wow, 5 minutes of that was great… so 10 must be even better… and if I can do 10 then lets go for 20!” This is usually followed with “I don’t need 30 secs rest, I can cut that to 20, actually who needs rest, I’ll cut it to 10 seconds, or get rid of it all together”
To get a true and effective HIIT session, this is the opposite of what you want to do.
Constantly adding more work doesn’t make the workout better… in truth it is probably destroying your chance of achieving the desired outcome and effect of the session.
The rest time must be AT LEAST equal to the work time, and ideally more. If it isn’t you end up with a session that becomes moderate intensity and this isn’t the goal.
Moderate intensity can still leave you feeling smashed, but it hasn’t done what it was supposed to. *This is especially true for Peri Menopausal and Menopausal women. Moderate intensity sessions drive cortisol levels up but not to the level needed to get the right hormonal responses needed to dampen that cortisol. Elevated cortisol levels are one of the reasons women in this age group often struggle with weight and body fat gain.
What I want to do in this blog is give you a little more detail and understanding so that if and when you do a HIIT session, it really counts.
Lets start with the fundamental, the Why;
Why is HIIT so effective?
As I said up top, the name of the game is efficiency. You can see great results in less time using High Intensity… if it’s done right.
Good HIIT programming does everything it can to maintain the intensity. If you lose the intensity then all you have is a shorter workout and that just wont get you where you want to be. The point of HIIT is to gain all the fat burning, muscle building, cardiovascular benefits that come from longer workouts in a shorter space of time. Essentially you need to go hard, rest and repeat.
The amount of work versus rest depends on your goal. If your goal is purely cardio/aerobic then longer bursts of effort with shorter amounts of rest are fine. True Sprint efforts must be 30 seconds or less though. However, if you want to throw some strength gains in their too then you will have to change it up as when you work out for too long, with not enough rest the intensity drops quickly.
So, now you get why it works, lets look at the How;
How should you design a HIIT session?
As you can see long HIIT sessions with short rest periods will likely lead to a drop in intensity. The other issue is burnout. Trying to work at that pace and level consistently will just leave you feeling drained.
So, a good starting point for designing a HIIT is to look at the rest time. If you insist on having shorter rest times, you need to also have shorter workouts. Remember, the goal is to maximise intensity (so that you can maximise your results).
A common and effective HIIT timing is 20 secs work, 40 secs rest. Now to a lot of people reading this, this is going to seem backwards as they would have been expecting 40 secs work, 20 secs rest but I wrote it the right way round, trust me.
If you stick to a static work/rest timing for your workout then understand that in the latter rounds you will likely experience some drop off in intensity as you become fatigued.
A great way to program HIIT is to increase the rest as the rounds progress so that you can maintain the same level of output for the whole workout i.e. 20 secs work, 40 secs rest. 30 secs work, 60 secs rest. 40 secs work, 120 secs rest. The idea is that you rest just enough to recover, while being able to maintain maximum output each set and/or round.
As for how long the total session should be, well, that will vary from person to person. You should stop your HIIT session at the point where you notice your intensity dropping. Ideally you should start with a shorter session, to try and avoid the drop off, and as you improve you can increase the length of your session.
Ok, so now we have a how, we need the What:
What exercises should be used in a HIIT session?
As has been said many times, the output is High Intensity so the exercises you chose must be ones that can be performed in that way.
The cardio choices are quite straightforward. You could use a stationary bike or elliptical for example and just go hard during the work periods.
Other good cardio choices are Sprinting, Rowing, Skipping, Ski Erg and the dreaded Assault Bike (other bikes are also good but I do love to hate the Assault Bike).
Strength is a little more complex as the weight needs to either be that you can lift it quickly and be explosive or that you can only do maybe 6 to 8 reps (depending on the movement and your timeframe). People often don’t think of strength work as intense but anyone that has done heavy barbell cycling will understand.
Some of my favourite HIIT choices are Kettlebell Swing, Power Clean, Deadlift, Dumbbell Snatch, Slamball, Box Jumps, Battleropes and Power Bag Burpees.
And now as we have got our What, we need the final piece of the puzzle, the When;
When should I do a HIIT session.
Given the demands on the body you shouldn’t do a HIIT session more than 3 times a week and just as you should build up the length of the session you should also build up the amount of sessions you do.
Start with one session. Do it well and do it right. After a couple of weeks, add in a second session if you feel like you want to. After another couple of weeks add in a third and stop there!
Just as intensity can drop during a long session, trying to do too much too often will have the same negative effect on your sessions, and therefore your results.
Creatine has been a popular supplement in the UK for a few years now but just recently it seems to have blown up and I get a lot of my athletes asking me “ Should I be taking it?
In short, my answer is usually YES! Male or Female… just YES!
Here are the things you should know about Creatine:
1) It is one of the most researched supplements within the fitness market. Many have tried to (falsely) claim that it causes damage to the kidneys but through all of the highly detailed research and testing done no adverse effects to health have been found.
2) Its main benefit is an improvement in maximal strength and power. It is NOT a steroid. Creatine is an energy which saturates the ATP stores hence greater performance comes from greater amounts of creatine stored in the body.
3) When taken over time, Creatine can help increase strength, muscle mass and athletic performance.
4) Creatine is naturally found in foods such as fish, beef, pork and lamb but the quantities are small so you will never see a real benefit from food.
5) Despite what some brands say you do not need to complete a loading phase. A daily dose of 3-5g a day will suffice.
6) Beyond the physical benefits latest research also shows there are some amazing cognitive benefits, with improvements in concentration and memory.
7) Some people will be non responders – which means they see no real benefit after 3 months of supplementation. This is usually because their body’s already have a high level of muscle creatine storage.
My Personal Experience.
I started taking Creatine in mid January this year and can honestly say I have seen massive improvements in my overall strength and power – which has a carry over to my endurance sports. Without specifically training strength in additional way and just following my normal weekly routine of CrossFit, Indoor Cycle, Running and Swimming I have PR’d pretty much every Power and Olympic Lift – in the 5RM, 3RM and 1RM range. My FTP (cycling power measurement) has increased more in tis time frame than it usually would in a 3 and 6 month period and running just feels easier.
In my opinion, Creatine is the one supplement where I would say it is definitely worth a try. You have nothing to lose but everything to gain.
