<h2>The interference effect is real and smaller than the rumour</h2><p>Training endurance and strength at the same time does blunt strength gains somewhat, and the effect is most pronounced for lower body power. But the studies showing large interference almost all used high volumes of running, performed immediately before or after lifting, in people with no training history.</p><p>Change those variables and the effect shrinks to something most lifters would not notice. Cardio is not the enemy. Badly placed cardio is.</p><h3>Three rules that cover most of it</h3><p>Separate the sessions by at least six hours where you can, or put the cardio on a different day entirely. Favour cycling and rowing over running, since the eccentric load of running is what generates most of the residual fatigue. And keep the bulk of it genuinely easy.</p><blockquote>Easy means you could hold a full conversation. If you are answering in single words, you have drifted up a zone.</blockquote><h2>What zone two buys you</h2><p>A bigger aerobic base makes you recover faster between hard sets, which means the last two sets of your squats look more like the first two. It improves how well you tolerate training volume week to week. It also happens to be the single best thing you can do for your long-term health, which matters more than any of the above.</p><p>Ninety minutes to two hours a week, split into two or three sessions, is plenty for somebody whose main goal is strength. That is a lot less than most lifters fear and a lot more than most of them do.</p><h3>Starting from nothing</h3><p>Begin with twenty minutes twice a week at a pace that feels almost insultingly slow. Add five minutes a week. Within two months you will be doing forty minute sessions comfortably and your fourth set of everything will feel different.</p>

Zone Two Cardio Without Losing Muscle

Lifters avoid cardio because they are afraid of the interference effect. The research says the fear is mostly about how you schedule it.

Nadia Brandt

Written by Nadia Brandt

Zone Two Cardio Without Losing Muscle

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