You’re a lifter. A proud meathead.
You love the clang of iron, the pump, the glorious post-leg-day hobble.

But deep down, you know your aerobic capacity is trash.
Walking up stairs shouldn’t feel like a conditioning workout.

So you hit the internet and the almighty algorithm declares:
“You must start with Zone 2. Two to three hours per week.”

Cool. Except… who’s got that kind of time?

Most people read that, sigh dramatically, and do what I call “the meathead shrug.”
Translation: screw it — and do nothing.

Here’s the thing:

I don’t actually recommend starting with Zone 2.

Yeah, I said it.
At some point, sure, you might layer in Zone 2 work. But for most lifters? Not yet.

What I’ve seen work way better — especially early on — is spending more time in Zone 3 and even occasionally brushing up against Zone 4.

This approach still builds your aerobic base, but it does it in way less time.
You get better results, feel like less of a hamster on a wheel, and—bonus—you actually do it because it fits your life.

Enter: The 6-Minute Meathead Cardio Protocol

After testing this for years with clients (and on myself), I put together a simple, progressive six-minute protocol you can do on an air bike or a rower.

Yep, that’s six total minutes, including warm-up.
No hour-long treadmill purgatory. No podcast-length bike ride.

It’s short, nasty, and effective.

The catch:

You’ve gotta do it often — 5–7 days a week.
But I’ve seen people do only this and still make killer progress in conditioning and recovery.

You’ll build aerobic capacity, recover faster between sets, and stop sucking wind during warm-ups — all without sacrificing your lifting soul.

If you want to dive deeper into how to blend cardio and strength without tanking your gains, check out the Meathead Cardio Course. It’s everything I’ve learned about conditioning for lifters who still want to lift heavy and not look like distance runners.

Meathead Cardio Course << details here

Much love, metabolic chaos, and strong hearts,
Dr. Mike

Note: The accompanying image was generated using AI to visually represent the concepts discussed in this article. It is not a real photograph or depiction of actual events.