Hey everyone. I've recently picked up a new found addiction in which I regularly engage in resistance exercise (calisthenics and weight) and other physical activities such as sprint interval training (SIT) and muay thai over the past 5 months. I've been doing all this purely as a means of recovering from a near fatal joust with covid-19 and the use of seriously detrimental drugs which have caused me to rapidly decay from the inside out. I was suffering from chest pains, palpitations, panic attacks and was making multiple trips to the A&E before I started this training program.

Although I no longer suffer from these problems I feel that I MIGHT be neglecting cardiovascular exercises like long distance running and just wanted to discuss whether the SIT and martial arts compensate for this POTENTIAL defecit? I do them both twice a week and since they're both high-impact training I'm seriously trying to avoid running long distances and ruining my bones and joints unnecessarily for heart health that the other two exercise may already have covered. I don't want to over train.

Good for you on developing great habits for your physical wellbeing.

Don't worry about overtraining, it's really hard to do and doesn't happen "by accident." Here's an example of over training from personal experience: At one point, when weight about 145lbs, I spent a month squatting everyday (225lbs at least, working sets), deaifiting 3 times per week (working sets at 315lbs at least), followed by my regular workout. On about day 23, I started getting muscle spasms often, even while lifting and they were intense. My eyes would twitch sometimes. That's a sign, in this context, of overtraining. So as long as you're not reckless, you should be good. Get a run in if you like.

To state whether your present cardio is sufficient one would need to know your SIT intervals and duration and length of time for your Thai boxing, but generally I think it would suffice and no deficit of cardio need be acknowledged .

Note: I am terrible about doing cardio haha.

Keep it up.

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@Voidmatrix

The sprint interval training consists of 3 sets of 100m dashes. After each set I walk back and fourth the track at a moderate pace for 4 minutes until my heart rate has steadied off and most of the physical and psychological fatigue has been overcome enough for another high-performance set. I do this after performing 6 sets of 10-12 reps of:

- Hip thrusts
- Squats
- Hamstring curls
- Deadlifts
- Calf press

This is all performed twice a week. As for the Muay Thai (also 2X a week) I normally last 2 minutes with training on the heavy bag and the session is complete in 20 minutes. All this has taken a pretty heavy toll on my knees and shins so this is why I'm really trying to avoid long-distance running, only provided this training suffices enough as cardio. I don't want to neglect my cardiovascular health so if this isn't enough cardio I'd have to change up the routine to fit in the long-distance runs I guess.

For your sprints, I'd say try to increase your sets to 5-10. Another thing that may benefit you is sprint/jog intervals: sprint for 15sec to 30sec and jog for 30 to 45 sec for 20 minutes. Really strengthens the heart as well as helps increase lung capacity. Also, good call doing your cardio after resistance training. In my experience, while harder, is of greater benefit.

Do you have any knee issues that are impacting your pain, or is it just from kneeing the heavy bag? As for your shins, the more you torture them, the more they endure said torture. It sucks at first, but will pay off in the long run. I scrape my shins everytime I deadlift and it doesn't bother me anymore. I can hit my shins on random stuff throughout the day and shrug it off pretty quick because my shins can endure more based off past "abuse" lol.

If you want long distance cardio but don't want to run, try hopping on a bike. In ways it's easier on the body while still providing great cardiovascular benefits.

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Get Mizuno shoes.

There's always swimming - if you can find somewhere to do that at the moment. Great for cardio, very easy on the joints. Wild swimming in the UK typically carries the additional benefit of cold shock therapy

Well, shoot. I'm slightly ashamed for neglecting to mention that seeing as I was a state swimmer! Bahaha

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