We don't want to be strong without having good cardio. In real life tasks and sports, only having one of these attributes will result in poor performance. By training both in combination, our real life ability to accomplish work and athletic acheivments will be greatly bolstered. For example, a firefighter who is strong enough pick up a person, but does not have the cardio and stamina to carry them to safety, is only a fraction of the hero they could be. Similarly, a motocross racer who has enough cardio and stamina to handle an intense 30+ minute race, but is not strong enough to lift their downed motorcycle off of themselves, has not prepared themselves for challenges that are bound to arise.
We see fitness as not just being good at one thing. If you show me someone who is elite at either running or weightlifting, I can tell you with near certainty where their fitness is lacking. The goal with the type of training we employ is to improve many different aspects of phisical prowess, all at the same time. We aim to improve cardio, strength, power, endurance, stamina, flexibility, longevity, balance, agility, and accuracy. He or she who is most well rounded at these skills, is the fittest and likely the healthiest.
While it would be preffered that easy, low effort training delivered desirable results, that is just not the case. Results and adaptations to training are purely driven by effort and intensity. This does not mean we need to smash ourselves with high volume or maximum intensity daily, but it does mean we need to appropriatley stress our systems to gain favorable adaptations...aka results. How do we produce the most power from our bodies? By riding or rowing faster, lifting more weight for more reps, completing more bodyweight movements...ect. ect. Put another way, increasing our power output means asking our body and mind to bring more intesity. Mathematically, moving more weight, longer distance, in shorter time periods= increased power via intensity.
We all have our own threshold, or limit, to our physical capacity. Said another way, we all have a limit(threshold) to how fast we can run around the track, how much we can deadlift, and how many pull-ups we can do. The method of threshold training has us find ways to push ever slightly past those limits to elicit physical adaptations. When we push past these limits, a form of progressive overload, our body responds hormonally seeking adaptation predicting that it will be asked to perform these tasks again. This method requires careful attention to not reach beyond what we can recover from, so a minimal effective dose is intensely sought after. In other words, we want to do just enough to get the results we want, and not any more. While soreness and fatigue will occur, we do not believe more is better, truly committing to quality over quantity.
Once again, whether you are an athlete looking to maximize your performance, or a regular person wanting to live an adventurous, long life, these for attributes are key to success. Races and competitions are decided by inches and tenths of seconds. Similarly, avoiding slips trips and falls in any active life comes down to the closest of margins. Sadly we cannot eliminate risk of sport and life, but we can develop the above components that can greatly reduce the risk. For example, in life we will have mistakes that lead towards falling and injury, but with the agility and balance we develop through taining, these falls can be stopped mid flight! It was stated by the GOAT of motocross, "You are only as good as the crashes you can save." Basically stating that mistakes will happen, but being coordinated and accurate enough can assist us on reigning it in and making it just a close call, not a fall.
The only reason we do what we do is for the results. And while the training can be tailored to the clients specific goals, the results are universal:
Increased physical capacity(ability to accomolish tasks)
Increased bone density
Improved cardiovascular, metabolic, and respitory health
Lowered body fat percentage
Higher strength and muscle mass
Increase in sport, work, and life performance
Gains in flexibility and range of motion
Better cognitive acuity and mood