One of my new favorite online fitness guys, Elliot Hulse, makes this point about training for strength, leanness, and cardiovascular fitness:

...fat loss, muscle building and all fitness results are the expression of a SYSTEMIC change in their bodies… not just the manipulation of a single muscle or energy system...

We evolve as a whole.  All systems… muscular, nervous, cardiovascular and hormonal systems work synergistically to move us in the direction that’s most consistent with our behaviors.  Even when we aim to isolate systems, we unexpectedly receive the benefits of advancement in others...

If we agree that the human body / mind is a single unit, then why do we still approach our exercise and training programs in a segmented fashion?  Wouldn’t it make more sense to work WITH our bodies and prepare for the advancement of ALL strength and fitness qualities at the same time?

This passage sums up why I like Hulse so much: he gets it. 

Part of the reason for Hulse's broader perspective is that he's a strongman competitor, which may look to the untrained eye like a circus-sideshow act, but is in fact a hybrid sport requiring a high degree of "strength endurance," or the ability to express strength over an extended period. It's fun, and, okay, a little funny to watch, but man, oh, man is it taxing: tire flipping, car dragging, farmer's walks with ridiculous poundages, all on the clock. Unlike Olympic lifting or powerlifting, a high degree of cardio conditioning, in addition to the obvious demands on strength and power, is a prerequisite for even the most basic events.

Strongman competition is a truer test of all-around fitness than these other sports, rather than just a measure of explosive or absolute strength.

So Hulse sees the advantage--and the fun--of treating all systems as part of a single unit.

Now I'm just a lowly sub-200 pound fitness nerd, but this strongman is speaking my language. Add Hulse's perspective with Robert Dos Remedios' thoughts on Cardio Strength Training and Alwyn Cosgrove on metabolic strength training, not to mention the ever-kooky but highly influential CrossFit crowd, and I'm sensing something of a miniature groundswell in our strength-training and general-fitness protocols: that for maximum leanness, athleticism, and all around fitness, the goal is improving work capacity, or the ability to do lots of work in a short period of time. That just ain't possible with 4-6 minute between-set rest periods. Heck, it's not possible with ONE minute rest periods.

Instead of thinking of cardio vs. strength training, working your arms vs. working your back, training for strength vs. training for leanness, it may be better to just go gorilla: assuming you're warmed up, not injured, and know good form form a hole in the ground, think work hard and fast at all times and rest assured knowing you've pretty much taken care of everything.

Simple concept. Tough to execute.