Day 1.15 (B)

12. Long distance cardio makes you good at long distance cardio. Conditioning work - short, fast, and brutally intense - makes you good at everything.

From the 100 laws of muscle by T Nation.

Shall we break this down some?

First off, I totally agree with the statement (as myth buster), what I have an issue with is how the author(s) attempt to get these two in the same ring and declare a winner. And the fact that their recipe (good at everything) precludes long distance cardio. So it won't get you good at everything.

In my line of work, long course triathlon, what we train for is exactly what the author(s) use as a negative to prove the positive of its opposite. I believe this is called a straw-man in debate. What we want, train for and wish to achieve come race day is being good, if not great, at cardio. Like 140.6 miles of good, if not great. THAT is the definition of good cardio and it will NOT come as a result of a regimen of exclusively short, fast and brutally intense efforts. True they help but the element of LSD cardio is a must if you hope to swim, bike or run anything over the sprint distance.

Fixing this for the author(s) requires a 12. B which would look something like this:
Unless long distance cardio is your goal, then a combination of the two is optimal.

That is why we vary our sessions to include intervals, steady state sub-thresholds, and Super 8s.

By their very definition it is the best of both worlds, combining both (all) to create the best possible end result: You getting faster, stronger, healthier and capable of handling the rigors commonly associated with long distance endurance events.

So please T Nation, gimme a (B) under the 12th rule of muscle.