Before I get started, I have to share a picture of my little guy who turned 3 months today. Every day I get home from work it seems like he has a little bit more personality. He’s even progressed from smiling to laughing, which is so fun to hear.
For my last post I compared aerobic and anaerobic training relative to fitness, in which the goals are to look and feel better. I made an effort to exploit the infamous “fat burning zone” of aerobic exercise with the revolutionary concept of EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) that is achieved by performing interval, or anaerobic, training.
Today, I will apply the comparison of aerobic and anaerobic training to athletic performance and conditioning.
What is the most conventional form of conditioning for athletes? “Go run a mile,” is what usually comes to mind. But, think about the activity of each sport . . .
FOOTBALL – Go hard for 5-10 seconds. Rest for 30-45 seconds.
BASEBALL - Go hard for 5-10 seconds. Rest for 45-60 seconds.
BASKETBALL – More constant and inconsistent movement, but the work and rest intervals can still be seen.
And, we could look at other sports like volleyball, lacrosse, tennis, etc. It’s the same story . . . intervals and anaerobic work!!
“But, I need to build an aerobic base before I can perform anaerobic training“, is what many will say. This isn’t true for the vast majority of athletes. Aerobic training is only necessary for those who simply cannot tolerate the intensity of anaerobic training. So, if the athlete can perform anaerobic work, he or she should be doing it.
In this argument of aerobic versus anaerobic training, I’ve held my ace card until the end.
Research shows that aerobic training for teen-agers can actually make them less athletic. We are all born with a defined number of muscle fibers. Most of them can be labeled as fast-twitch or slow-twitch, while the others are intermediate and convert either way based on the mode of training they are exposed to. Fast-twitch fibers are active in explosive movements of short duration while slow-twitch fibers are activated during prolonged, steady activities.
The athlete shown below is performing the Pro Shuttle. Notice how explosive he is in his starts and stops. He is really tapping into his fast-twitch fibers. This drill takes the athlete less than 5 seconds to perform but is far more productive for him than running a mile. When using the shuttle to condition athletes it is common to progress from 20 yards (shown here) to 40 yards. Shuttle training requires a significant amount of muscle activity to execute the stops and starts, while also tapping into the athlete’s anaerobic capacity.
- Maintain genetically determined levels of power related muscle fibers
- Promote the shift of intermediate muscle fiber to power related muscle fibers
Francis went on to state that, “endurance work must be carefully limited to light or medium volumes to prevent the conversion of intermediate muscle fiber to endurance fibers.”
In other words, be careful not to genetically shift young athletes.
Mike Boyle is arguably the best and most recognized athletic performance trainer in the country. His base is Boston University where he trains their dynastic hockey program. Boyle has long been a champion of interval training after making a revolutionary discovery several years ago. He realized that his best athletes were in the worst aerobic shape. Yet, these same individuals had the highest vertical jumps and were the strongest and fastest on the team. This is because those athletes had always utilized anaerobic training which converted their intermediate fibers to power fibers, making them the best players on the ice. Who cares if their aerobic conditioning was poor?
Boyle also has also said, “If you want your kid to stink at sports, put him in cross country.” Of course, there’s a little tongue in cheek involved in that statement but the message is clear – Too much aerobic work at a young age will rob an individual of the power, strength and speed development that make for a great athlete.
Final score: Anaerobic 2 – Aerobic 0
Your Coach,
Brian Utley
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2 Responses to “Anaerobic Training vs. Aerobic Training: Round 2”
I loved your blog. Really Cool.
i can relate to some of the stuff in this article. Also can you check the images because they seem to be not working!