Fat strongman: real cardio or a heart attack waiting to happen

Fat strongman: real cardio or pure testosterone?

The scene repeats itself in every gym in the country: a burly man with a full beard, dragging or carrying objects that would make a crane sweat. In the background, someone asks sarcastically: "is that cardio?" The question is not rhetorical: the debate over whether strongman counts as cardiovascular training is alive as ever.

HIIT or heart attack?

The truth is the activity has little aerobic about it. Moving weights over short intervals, with incomplete rests, fits the definition of HIIT better than classic treadmill cardio. Defenders argue that maximal effort raises the heart rate into the anaerobic zone and improves aerobic capacity in the long run, something supported by the evidence on high-intensity interval training.

Critics, however, are not so sure. They claim the lack of aerobic pogre and the risk of blood pressure spikes make this practice a ticking time bomb. "One day a vein is going to burst," they warn, while recalling that our mothers who carried the shopping bags had more hair and less beard, and were never considered athletes for it.

Running, a crime under Wild West law

The cultural backdrop also gives food for thought. As a distance runner recalled, quoting Back to the Future III, the idea of running "for fun" is a modern invention. In the 19th century, running without reason was a sign of madness. Now, on the other hand, we pay to do it. With such a contrast, maybe the fat strongman has a point: better to carry than to run. That said, with a vein about to burst.