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	By Peter Twist MPE, BPE, CSCS © 2000 Peter Twist Peter Twist is President & CEO of Twist Conditioning Inc and the former Coach of Conditioning & Player Development for the Vancouver Canucks. He has authored dozens of articles on athlete development in scientific journals, written two books on conditioning and is currently finishing a third on core stability. Peter Twist runs weekly sport-specific conditioning camps for professional athletes, high school students, and adult recreational athletes, as well as one-on-one training and team clinics. He can be contacted through www.sportconditioning.ca or 604-904-6556. For student athletes preparing for a running race or for their favourite sport, the common element in their program is aerobic energy. This also holds true even for fitness enthusiasts and those working out mainly for appearance. The aerobic oxygen system fuels long duration, submaximal continuous exercise, such as forty-five minute jogs. However, you have other important energy systems that must be developed to really improve your fitness and to prepare for running races and other sports. The ATP-PC anaerobic energy system is called upon for short, explosive bursts (up to about ten seconds). The lactic acid system (lactate), also referred to as anaerobic glycolysis, fuels full out, intense efforts. Theoretically, this system's peak output is at the thirty to forty-five second mark, after which energy production slows and waste product (lactic acid) accumulation accelerates. Lactic acid is a by-product of the anaerobic glycolysis energy system, indirectly inhibiting your muscles' ability to move leading to slower movement and the stiffness and burning you feel in your legs after a long sprint. Many elite runners incorporate intervals in their training programs, as do well educated athletes, such as hockey players. Top conditioned athletes can perform anaerobically for longer periods and they can utilize their aerobic system at higher intensities. By not having to rely on the anaerobic glycolysis system, the well-conditioned athlete prevents fatigue and lactate build up. This is a result of raising the lactate threshold - the point where lactic acid build up exceeds its removal and utilization. The longer you can delay the onset of fatigue and muscle tightness, the longer you can execute technique uninhibited. It is important to include training that develops the anaerobic systems. Race courses with steep hills and the final sprints to the line require anaerobic conditioning. Basketball, rugby, football, figure skating, hockey, soccer and many other sports require anaerobic conditioning. Pure "lactate training" itself is also important. Lactate training infers an effort to completely overload the anaerobic system, and fight on in the face of fatigue and diminishing fuel availability. Lactate training will help you exert full out efforts with good technique even once lactic acid accumulates. I use intense intervals to build the anaerobic energy systems. Lactate training can be achieved by extending the duration of each sprint interval. Track sprinting and treadmill sprinting for sixty seconds (full out) followed by active rest (walk for two minutes) can be repeated eight to twelve times. For cross-training, a stationary bike is great for sixty second all out sprints under heavy resistance, while strength training can be modified to include high rep resistance training (fifty rep speed endurance squats). "Overload running" is a great way to achieve anaerobic conditioning, as well as stride length, stride power and dynamic balance. The key to all anaerobic training is intensity - running under a resisted condition can help maximize this. At my summer conditioning camps, I use parachutes, partner tandem tows and resisted harnesses to overload runners while using the exact biomechanics they will use for running. Parachutes force the runner to drop their hips a bit lower with greater knee flexion, versus elevating the centre of gravity as one fatigues. I also implement parachute sprints for back pedalling and lateral movement, pertinent to so many sports. Uphill running quickly overloads the anaerobic system and keys in on stride power. A full out sprint uphill for thirty to forty-five seconds will challenge the best conditioned runner. Walking downhill provides an active relief phase, but still challenges the muscles eccentrically. The runner's 'wind' will be recovered but their leg muscles will not enjoy the same complete recovery. Elevating the intensity of the rest phase (jogging downhill) is a good way to increase the intensity of the overall workout, plus recovery ability often determines which runner moves ahead after a long steep climb. Recovery ability is important between hockey shifts. After intense efforts, quick and full recovery is vital to all anaerobic sports. Downhill sprinting is a great way to work on stride frequency, eccentric muscle loading and over speed development. However, most athletes make a mistake in selecting too steep a hill or road. As they sprint downhill, they are not doing true over speed work. They are running fast, but using a braking action to control their speed down the hill. You need an angle that is barely noticeable, anything over an decline of three-degrees is too steep to avoid this braking action. Our Mountain Conditioning Program™ is a favourite with athletes from all sports. Trail running offers a lower impact run, unloading your body from the repetitive pounding produced from training on paved roads and concrete sidewalks. Due to the rocks, elevation changes and tree roots, you receive a good mobility, reaction and balance workout. The uphill portions produce tremendous single leg power and stride length results. Aerobic interval training allows you to train at an intensity just below your lactate threshold, the point at which anaerobic glycolysis accelerates to meet energy demands. These intervals are intense, lasting about two to two and a half minutes, followed by an equal length active rest. They are not a full out sprints, but are a lot more intense than your normal long distance running pace. These serve to drive up your V02 max and elevate your lactate threshold. It is important to note that no one energy system acts in isolation. Each energy system contributes (simultaneously) to sport activities and workout programs. For example, during an 800-meter race, the aerobic energy system may provide 50% of the energy supply and the anaerobic systems the other 50%. The relative contributions usually depend on the length and intensity of activity, as well as one's fitness level and mechanical efficiency. Specificity of training is also important. Biking your way to high fitness will not allow you to run at an equally high level; running in a straight line on a level surface will not help a basketball player backpedal and stop-and-start through a game; and jogging at a continuous pace will not prepare you for the repeated sprints many sports demand. The key to taking your running to another level, whether it is for sport-specific conditioning, for race preparation or running for fitness, is to incorporate anaerobic intervals. For racers, exclusively using long slow jogs or a steady state running pace, trains you to be slow. Anaerobic intervals recruit your fast twitch muscle fibres and work on speed. The key to sport preparation is also anaerobic conditioning. And for fitness enthusiasts, while some research still recommends submaximal aerobic activity to lose weight (the goal of many), fat loss is most reliant on producing a caloric imbalance, in which you expend more calories than you take in. Intense anaerobic intervals burn far more calories than steady state jogging! So even fitness enthusiasts should incorporate anaerobic intervals into their program. They are also safer than jogging. Watch most joggers. They are moving at a slow continuous pace which leads to landing flat-footed. A sprint automatically produces a nice heel strike and foot roll to the toe, absorbing much of the impact. Joggers use a very short stride, producing tighter and tighter muscles over time. Sprinting opens up the hips through a full long stride. Forget aerobics. Benefit your health, your metabolic rate, your body composition, your race performance and your sport preparation through anaerobic conditioning.
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