Cardio when powerlifting

Cardio is a distraction from great powerlifting results. Only incorporate it if you want to go down a weight class to increase your chances of winning.

What is your why

Before we go into the details of doing cardio when you are powerlifting let me ask you a couple of questions:

Why do you want to lift
Why do you want to change your body
What happens when you do
What happens if you don’t

These questions are essential for your personal success and failure. Research shows that people who write down their goals and reflect on them are more likely to make them a reality. When was the last time you did this? Can you even remember? If you can not it is time to get a pen and paper and start. Many people go about their lives like this:

What do I want
How do I get it
Why do I want it

This is a great way to burn yourself out. What you want changes constantly based on who you are with, where you are and what you do. Making this the compass of your life will leave your resources to spread thin and time scattered between too many activities. The results will be frustration and loneliness. Something interesting happens when you flip the running order of these questions on their head.

Why do you want something
How do you get it
What needs to be done

This way your long term goals take center stage. Your thoughts and actions will become more connected and success will follow. If you want to know how this works on a psychological basis read Daniel Kahneman's thinking fast and slow. Simon Sinek's TED talk on the golden circle will change your life.

It all starts with better habits and rituals to get you close to your dreams. The best way I found for this is to keep a self journal. I have been using it for two years and my marriage and salary have dramatically improved. You can check it out via this link.

What is your goal

When you combine cardio and powerlifting you should be clear about your goals. Incorporating cardio in your strength routine only makes sense if you need to lose weight. So if you want to cut to get to a lower weight class with the same total, do it by all means and get on the assault bike. Generally, cardio and powerlifting are not really complementary. Push a sled around instead.

Powerlifting

Powerlifting is the sport of the total. Your total consists of three lifts. These three lifts are the bench press, squat, and deadlift. For each lift, you get three attempts to lift the highest amount of weight. The best attempt of for each lift will be counted towards your total. Based on your total you will be ranked against your competitors.

A big difference to lifting in the gym is that you will be judged. Three referees will observe your actions from three different angles. They decide whether you performed according to the standards of the federation you are competing in. Two out of three have to agree for your attempt to qualify. You need at least one qualifying attempt for each lift to make it on the board. Otherwise, you will be disqualified.

Cardio usually detracts from your powerlifting goals and should be used wisely to maintain fitness or lose weight. Powerlifters have no business in running a marathon or doing the 100m sprint in under 10 seconds.

Cardio

Cardio training is basically anything that involves consistently exercising for more than five minutes without interruption. Yes, I know that is very broad, but I don’t care. Your options are:

Running outdoors
Running on a treadmill
Assault bike
Cycling
Stepper
Rowing machine
Skiing machine

Just to name a few. What I find to be most effective and efficient for weight loss is twenty minutes with intervals on a 4/1 minute split. Go at a moderate pace for four minutes. Follow this by one minute all out effort. Repeat four times and conclude your cardio workout. You will hate it every single time, but it will get results. Add a hoodie as a bonus to sweat even more.