Aerobic Bodybuilder

Lungs burning, sweat dripping, you look up at the clock to save you...

…and it says you’re three minutes into a workout that’s going to take at least fifteen to get close. Buckle up, because it’s going to be an ugly ride to flopping defeated on the floor, and rounds four and five are guaranteed to make you rethink your choices in life.

It’s not necessarily about coming out too hot. Even conservative pacers can hit the end of the line too soon. Give them Fran or a fast, all-out metcon and they eat it up for breakfast. Heavy squat day? Bring it on. But anything with running past where the car is parked, or sustaining effort over time, will suck the life right out.

In today’s fast-paced world, with 60 minute class times that try to coach 20 people to get stronger, faster, and more mobilized with 5 rowers to share, the art of aerobic development is often overlooked. Try as you might, you simply cannot build a great engine with 7-12 minute AMRAPS at all-out effort a couple times a week. This is like standing in your garden dumping water on your plants and poking them to grow faster.

Developing true fitness means taking the intended applications of your sport, and teasing out the parts, giving them each appropriate amounts of time and attention. For functional fitness, you don’t need the endurance of an ultramarathon runner, or the focused strength of a powerlifter. But you do need enough of each element to move well, breathe hard, and lift heavy, combining different movements and efforts, in a variety of time domains.

I would also argue that you need one more thing: FUN. Even if you see the value of taking a long, progressive approach to developing an aerobic engine, a long running program is a one-way ticket to Yawnsville if it doesn’t mix things up from time to time. Moreover, engine building for functional fitness means not only becoming a great runner, or rower, or biker, but being able to combine these things with other movements too.

The best training program is one that is not only effective, but that you’ll enjoy and want to keep doing.

The Aerobic Bodybuilder

If you plan to train for the long haul, how about program that keeps longevity in mind? We’re not in the fitness game to expire in our forties and limp off to the sidelines to watch the young guns take over. As much as we are able, let’s stay strong and fit forever by staying out of the injury, burnout, and overtraining zone. That means reserving intensity for peak times only, and spending the rest of our time in the sub-maximal zone that will keep you out of lactic burn and crispy fried adrenals. You know, the happy place where you can get a great pump, take care of your body, have energy for your job, family, and friends, and still keep getting fitter. (Trust me, you are still going to sweat a ton.) And if you are past the beginning stages of fitness, when full body training gives a lot of return for your time, you may find that these adaptations have slowed down as your training age has increased. Segmenting your training into separate aerobic and strength work allows you to increase volume in each area, without draining your energy overall.

It’s All About the Balance

Aerobic Bodybuilder is an 8 week program, with 4 workouts per week that have an Aerobic and Functional Bodybuilding focus. This is how I trained when I was coming off my 2016 CrossFit Games and Grid League season feeling burnt out, broken, and in need of healing my body. And it still represents a profound evolution in my approach to fitness, that is seen throughout the way I train myself, my clients, and the participants of our other online programs.

However, Aerobic Bodybuilder is the first program I am making available that splits aerobic and strength work into two separate sessions, giving each one a progressive focus that allows your engine to develop while being balanced with appropriate dosing on the strength side. It is very much a return to the roots of Functional Bodybuilding.

You will get:

Aerobic Bodybuilder Ebook with 4 training days per week
Two workouts per training day (aerobic and strength) – spread them out or combine as needed
Aerobic progressions that alternate between monostructural (one single movement such as running or biking) and mixed modal (combining aerobic work with other movements), building your gears and applied capacity while keeping workouts fresh
Strength sessions that are split into upper and lower focus, allowing each area to get stronger and have time to adapt and recover. This keeps training stress low while keeping pump and satisfaction HIGH!
Demo videos for every movement
A balanced, progressive program that hits the sweet spot of aerobic training and strength!

Add to cart

$69 USD

I started my journey today with the Aerobic Bodybuilder Program and what I can say so far, it’s a lot of fun and well quite hard to the end!”

-Stefan

“Yess! Bring it baby! We have this baseline aerobic workout…after one month into the program, I was really happy when I saw my mile run going from 8:05 to 7:45 and the max distance on the bike from 2092mts to 2368mts, and the most astonishing part for me it’s that I could maintain a constant pace on the bike after that mile run! I was really impressed.”

-Elbys

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What if I can’t train twice a day?

Aerobic Bodybuilder is a flexible program where you can choose a structure that works for you:

Double Days – Pair the Aerobic and Functional Bodybuilding workouts into morning and afternoon sessions four times a week – suggested rest days are Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. The aerobic work should take about 30-45 minutes and the strength work 60-90 minutes. We suggest aerobic work in the morning and strength in the afternoon, but you can switch them if you prefer, or combine both pieces into a single training session.

Go Halfsies – Spread the training into six days per week, with two double days and two days each of focusing on strength or aerobic work.

Spread It Thin – No time for double days? No problem. Take your time and mix in strength or aerobic workouts on your own schedule. I would encourage you to at least follow a couple of the progressions week after week so you really get a chance to experience yourself building in both the aerobic progressions and the bodybuilding progressions. For those in Awaken Training Series who are past the baseline building of the first 3-4 weeks and longing for more aerobic volume, these aerobic progressions will fit in nicely.

Can I see a sample session?

Absolutely – check out this email to our list containing a sample day from Aerobic Bodybuilder. This particular example is for monostructural aerobic work, but the aerobic sessions alternate between developing a single movement and mixing in aerobic work with other movements.

What equipment will I need?

Aerobic Bodybuilder uses standard functional fitness equipment, such as barbell and plates, pull up bar, bench or box, dumbbells, kettlebells, and aerobic equipment such as rower, assault bike, etc. You can choose a monostructural movement (running, biking, etc.) to focus on and develop, or substitute any equipment as needed. You do not need to use every piece of equipment exactly as specified to get a ton out of this program! Substitutions are encouraged if you don’t have what you need.

What if I’m not satisfied?

Try Aerobic Bodybuilder with no risk – all our programs come with a 30 day guarantee.

What if I have questions?

Frequently asked questions on tempo, reading the workouts, and approaching the training can be found in our Knowledge Base. You can also post in our community Facebook group or email us at [email protected].