Sport-Conditioning

I talk and write a ton about training the proper energy systems when performing specific sport-conditioning. In fact, I published an article last year that was a bit of a rant on sport-conditioning. Each sport has a specific Bio-Energetic structure that is comprised of one or more energy systems. Unfortunately, the use of general conditioning still exists, and is far too prevalent in the high school and college realm of sport ‘training’/practice. I want to try and explain what these energy systems are, and how they are used/misused in the current sport-training/conditioning spectrum.

I am going to introduce and discuss the 3 primary energy systems used in training/sports. They can all be coupled and exist together in several different activities; however, I am going to just look at the basis of how they are utilized with respect to 3 main sports (the sports I deal the most with). I am excluding the other sports for the purpose of not dragging this out into a novel!

Most exercise enthusiasts and sport-coaches recognize and understand the difference between Anaerobic and Aerobic activity, with the majority of this understanding being ‘Anaerobic=short and Aerobic=long activity’. This fact is somehow completely ignored when I see the conditioning requirements for nearly EVERY athlete I encounter. So what are these Energy Systems and what do they have to do with conditioning?

The Anaerobic System has two sub-systems that make up the first 2 Energy Systems for this post:
The Anaerobic-Alactic (ATP-CP) System occurs within the first 10 seconds of activity. It gets the name because it does NOT produce Lactic Acid as a by-product of training. This system is primary in short-duration events such as sprints, baseball, football, volleyball, soccer goalies, Olympic lifters, etc.

The Anaerobic-Lactic System occurs in events that last between 10 seconds and 1 minute, roughly. It gets the name because it DOES produce Lactic Acid as a by-product of training. This system is primary in track events such as the 200 and 400-meter races, soccer forwards/mid-fielders (certain times), 50-meter swimmers, etc.

The Aerobic System utilizes Oxygen (the other systems do NOT) during events of 1-2 minutes, up to several hours. This system is primary in long-duration events such as the 5,000-meters in track, cross-country/marathon runners, cycling, triathlons, etc.

So, again, what does this have to do with how athletes train and condition? The 3 sports I am going to look at utilize the incorrect Energy System a large-amount of the time during practice and off-season/pre-season training.

Volleyball: I recently posted an article about Volleyball conditioning, but it continues to come up through conversation of what young girls across multiple levels are being required to participate in through practice conditioning.

Volleyball is an Anaerobic-ALACTIC sport. Even though some volleys may last more than 10 seconds, the players themselves NEVER engage in more than 10 seconds worth of continuous activity. Most engage in activity that doesn’t surpass 5 seconds! Yet, the majority of the conditioning/training done for volleyball players is in the LACTIC range of 10-60 seconds (lines, suicides, countless vertical jumps) or even in the AEROBIC range of more than 1 minute (mile, long suicide/agilities, timed jump intervals).

Training these athletes outside of the Specific Energy System utilized in the sport will decrease their playing ability, and inhibit their ability to improve in the areas stressed most, such as Vertical Jump height.

Baseball: Baseball is one of the most confusing sports to me in terms of the way the players are conditioned/tested. It is the MOST Alactic sport outside of short sprints/throws in Track & Field and Olympic Lifting. The only time baseball players go outside of the Alactic system is during a triple or in-the-park home-run. Pitching is the most Alactic part of the game, and pitchers engage in the most Aerobic activity of any position!

Baseball players will engage in maximal-effort activity for roughly 2-7 seconds, then not do anything for up to 10 minutes sometimes. This is pure ALACTIC energy system use. Training/testing in 300-yard shuttle and countless foul-pole to foul-pole jogs are incorrect means to develop the proper Alactic system.

Football: Football is another Alactic sport. Each play lasts between 5-10 seconds, with rest periods of 25-45 seconds between plays. Very rarely will a play drag out for longer than 10 seconds (long punt/kick/interception return), and these are usually no longer than 15 seconds anyway.

Football players are tested on 300-yard shuttles, 100-yard sprint repeats (down-back), gassers across the field, etc. These tests can take up to 1 minute to complete and are completely insufficient and incorrect in developing the appropriate Alactic Energy System primarily utilized in the sport, yet they are found in nearly EVERY football program around any area!

I can go on-and-on about this topic for several more pages by breaking down each sport into specific energy system training for various positions within that sport (soccer goalies are different from mid-fielders, for example).

You’ll notice I elected to use 3 sports that are all primarily Anaerobic-Alactic in the Bio-Motor/Bio-Energetic structure of the sport. I feel this is extremely important, because the majority of training/conditioning places athletes in an Anaerobic-Lactic or Aerobic environment that isn’t conducive to the athletes’ growth and development within their sport.

Think about these concepts when you are designing your conditioning or your athletes’ conditioning programs.

Train with a purpose. Train Smart!

-Bryan-