Aerobics and Anaerobics

Three main energy systems fuel all human activity. Almost all changes that occur in the body due to exercise are related to the demands placed on these energy systems. They are known as the Creatine-Phosphate Energy System, the Glycolytic Energy System, and the Oxidative Energy System. Furthermore, the efficacy of any given fitness program may largely be tied to its ability to elicit an adequate stimulus for change within these three energy systems.

Let's begin with the aerobic energy system. Aerobic -> oxygen is present and primarily relied upon.

In aerobic activity, energy is derived aerobically when oxygen is used to break down energy from food and use it for exercise or activity. Any exercise or activity is termed “aerobic” when the majority of energy needed is derived aerobically. These activities are usually greater than 90 seconds in duration and involve low to moderate power output or intensity. Examples of aerobic activity include running on the treadmill for 20 minutes at a light to moderate pace, swimming a mile and watching TV. There are obviously different amounts of energy being used for these activities.

The anaerobic energy system operates without the presence and use of oxygen.

Energy is derived anaerobically when energy is liberated from substrates (fat stores or muscle/liver stores) in the absence of oxygen. Activities are considered anaerobic when the majority of the energy needed is derived without oxygen. These activities are of less than two minutes in duration and involve moderate to high power output or intensity. There are two such anaerobic systems: the phosphagen system and the lactic-acid system. Examples of anaerobic activity include running a 100-m sprint, squatting with heavy to moderate weights and doing pull-ups.

The main goal here is to discuss how anaerobic and aerobic training support performance variables such as strength, power, speed and endurance. We also support the contention that total conditioning and optimal health necessitate training each of the physiological systems in a systematic fashion. It is not enough to train only long, slow state cardio nor is it sufficient to only lift weights. We must be proficient in both exercise modalities if we are to truly consider ourselves "fit" and well-rounded.

It warrants mention that in any activity, all three energy systems are utilized, though one will typically dominate. The interplay of these systems can be complex, yet a simple examination of the characteristics of aerobic vs. anaerobic training can prove useful.

Aerobic training benefits cardiovascular function and decreases body fat. This is certainly of significant benefit. Aerobic conditioning allows us to engage in moderate/low power output for extended periods of time. This is valuable for many sports. However, athletes engaging in excessive aerobic training witness decreases in muscle mass, strength, speed and power. It is not uncommon to find marathoners with a vertical leap of several inches and a bench press well below average for most athletes. Aerobic activity has a pronounced tendency to decrease anaerobic capacity. This does not bode well for athletes or the individual interested in total conditioning or optimal health.

Anaerobic activity also benefits cardiovascular function and decreases body fat. Anaerobic activity is unique in its capacity to dramatically improve power, speed, strength and muscle mass. Anaerobic conditioning allows us to exert tremendous forces over a very brief time. Perhaps the aspect of anaerobic conditioning that bears greatest consideration is that anaerobic conditioning will not adversely affect aerobic capacity. In fact, properly structured anaerobic activity can be used to develop a very high level of aerobic fitness without the muscle wasting consistent with high-volume aerobic exercise!

Basketball, football, gymnastics, boxing, track-and-field events under 1 mile, soccer, swimming events under 400 yards, volleyball, wrestling, and weightlifting are all sports that require the majority of training time to be spent in anaerobic activity. Long-distance and ultra-endurance running, cross-country skiing, and 1,500-plus-yard swimming are all sports that require aerobic training at levels that produce results unacceptable to other athletes or individuals concerned with total conditioning or optimal health.

The CrossFit approach is to judiciously balance anaerobic and aerobic exercise in a manner that is consistent with the athlete’s goals. Our exercise prescriptions adhere to proper specificity, progression, variation and recovery to optimize adaptations and improvements to total fitness.

The Olympic Lifts, Also Known as Weightlifting

There are two Olympic lifts: the clean and jerk and the snatch. Mastery of these lifts develops the squat, deadlift, power clean and split jerk while integrating them into movements of unequaled value in all of strength and conditioning. Olympic lifters are without a doubt the world’s strongest athletes.

These lifts train athletes to effectively activate more muscle fibers more rapidly than through any other modality of training. The explosiveness that results from this training is of vital necessity to every sport.

Practicing the Olympic lifts teaches one to apply force to muscle groups in proper sequence; i.e., from the center of the body to its extremities (core to extremity). Learning this vital technical lesson benefits all athletes who need to impart force to another person or object, as is commonly required in nearly all sports.

In addition to learning to impart explosive forces, the clean and jerk and snatch condition the body to receive such forces from another moving body both safely and effectively.

Numerous studies have demonstrated the Olympic lifts’ unique capacity to develop strength, muscle, power, speed, coordination, vertical leap, muscular endurance, bone strength and the physical capacity to withstand stress. It is also worth mentioning that the Olympic lifts are the only lifts shown to increase maximum oxygen uptake, the most important marker for cardiovascular fitness.

Sadly, the Olympic lifts are seldom seen in the commercial fitness community because of their inherently complex and technical nature. CrossFit and our trainers makes them available to anyone with the patience and persistence to learn.

Gymnastics

The extraordinary value of gymnastics as a training modality lies in its reliance on the body’s weight as the sole source of resistance. This places a unique premium on the improvement of strength-to-weight ratio. Unlike other strength-training modalities, gymnastics and calisthenics allow for increases in strength only while increasing strength-to-weight ratio!

Gymnastics training develops pull-ups, squats, lunges, jumping, push-ups, and numerous presses-to-handstands, scales, and holds. These skills are unrivaled in their benefit to the physique, as evident in any competitive gymnast.

As important as the capacity of this modality is for strength development, it is without a doubt the ultimate approach to improving coordination, balance, agility, accuracy and flexibility. Through the use of numerous presses, handstands, scales and other floor work, the gymnast’s training greatly enhances kinesthetic sense.

The variety of movements available for inclusion in this modality probably exceeds the number of exercises known to all non-gymnastics sport. The rich variety here contributes substantially to the CrossFit program’s ability to inspire great athletic confidence and prowess.

For a combination of strength, flexibility, well-developed physique, coordination, balance, accuracy and agility, the gymnast has no equal in the sports world. The inclusion of this training modality is absurdly absent from nearly all training programs.

Routines

There is no ideal routine! In fact, the chief value of any routine lies in abandoning it for another. The CrossFit ideal is to train for any contingency. The obvious implication is that this is possible only if there is a tremendously varied, if not randomized, quality to the breadth of stimulus. It is in this sense that the CrossFit program is a core strength-and-conditioning program. Anything else lacking in variance is sport-specific training, not core strength and conditioning.

Any routine, no matter how complete, contains within its omissions the parameters for which there will be no adaptation. The breadth of adaptation will exactly match the breadth of the stimulus. For this reason, the CrossFit program embraces short-, middle- and long-distance metabolic conditioning and low, moderate and heavy load assignment. We encourage creative and continuously varied compositions that tax physiological functions against every realistically conceivable combination of stressors. This is the stuff of surviving fights and fires, and managing the curve-balls life inevitably throws our way.

Developing a fitness that is varied yet complete defines the very art of strength-and-conditioning coaching. This is not a comforting message in an age where scientific certainty and specialization confer authority and expertise. Yet, the reality of performance enhancement cares not one wit for trend or authority. The CrossFit program’s success in elevating the performance of world-class athletes lies clearly in demanding of our athletes total and complete physical competence. No routine takes us there.

Neuroendocrine Adaptation

Neuroendocrine adaptation is a change in the body that affects you either neurologically or hormonally. Most important adaptations to exercise are in part or completely a result of a hormonal or neurological shift. Current research, much of it done by Dr. William Kraemer, Penn State University, has shown which exercise protocols maximize neuroendocrine responses. Earlier we faulted isolation movements as being ineffectual. Now we can tell you that one of the critical elements missing from these movements is that they invoke essentially no neuroendocrine response. Your body. perceives very little stress, which leads to very little hormonal demand for physiological change.

Among the hormonal responses vital to athletic development are substantial increases in testosterone, insulin-like growth factor and human growth hormone. Exercising with protocols known to elevate these hormones eerily mimics the hormonal changes sought in exogenous hormonal therapy (steroid use) with none of the deleterious effect. Exercise regimens that induce a high neuroendocrine response produce champions! Increased muscle mass and bone density are just two of many adaptive responses to exercises capable of producing a significant neuroendocrine response.

It is impossible to overstate the importance of the neuroendocrine response to exercise protocols. This is why it is one of the four defining themes of the CrossFit program. Heavy-load weight training, short rest between sets, high heart rates, high-intensity training and short rest intervals, though not entirely distinct components, are all associated with a high neuroendocrine response, which means results.