How TP utilizes Aerobic Conditioning to Improve Strength and Power

Thinking back to the summer, and our discussion with energy systems, I want to discuss aerobic conditioning’s role at Total Performance to improve strength and power. 

If we remember, the aerobic (oxidative) energy system is involved with lower relative intensity work levels, we are working for a longer period of time, and it plays a huge role in restoring energy substrates to the muscle to allow for work to be accomplished. There are different levels of intensities we can work at in this energy system (long slow distance, pace, interval, and high intensity intervals (HIIT)) and for most people outside of professional athletes and clinical settings we track this intensity with our heart rate (BPM). Higher BPM equals more intense work levels, lower BPM is less intense. A person’s heart rate is correlated with other physiological responses to work such as volume of oxygen consumed (VO2) that help determine intensity. The intensity of training is a crucial variable that must be tracked to ensure we are getting done what we need to get done. 

At Total Performance, the vast majority of our athletes participate in “power” dominated sports such as baseball, and football. Being an elite endurance athlete is not a requirement of these sports. When we condition these athletes, we want to make sure that we do not take away from strength and power development in the weight-room. By tracking an athletes BPM, and asking “how hard is this?” we are able to determine if our conditioning prescription is appropriate. 

What is appropriate? Why is there a negative connotation with intense conditioning bouts for these athletes?  Well, what are trying to avoid is burning the candle from both ends. The high school athlete does not have the training age, or biological maturity to withstand an intense strength training session and an intense conditioning session. Our goal with these athletes is to: improve movement capabilities, develop strength, improve sprint velocity, and develop overall athleticism. Anaerobic and aerobic conditioning is important, however these athletes will get sport conditioning from playing their sport! Too much conditioning well take away from these adaptations, resulting in blunted sprint velocity,  strength gains, and potentially over-training syndrome. 

Taking novice athletes from “0” and exposing them to strength training will automatically improve work capacity without the need for strict conditioning regimens, this is easy to train, and track. Once we have a foundation of work capacity, we can now spend more time sprinting, and lifting to achieve our goals of movement, strength and speed. Increasing the volume of training will continue to develop these qualities with minimal need for conditioning! However, as we continue to develop our athletes, there comes a point where we need to improve the athletes recovery ability. We can do this via training the oxidative energy system. When we improve the oxidative system, we improve the cardiovascular system. The biggest enhancement with improved cardiovascular function in regards to strength training is increased oxygen delivery to the working muscles. When oxygen delivery is enhanced, the athlete’s ability to recover improves not only within the training session, but after training as well. This allows for a greater volume of training to take place. What use to fatigue the athlete, is now barely affects the athlete and the training stimulus can increase. 

Up to this point, the best way I’ve seen to improve recovery while strength training is low intensity aerobic conditioning. Elevating the heart rate to 50-65% of their estimated max, 10-20 minutes. High intensity interval training elevating the heart rate to 90-100% of their estimated max for 5-15 seconds and resting for 90-120 seconds will also improve an athlete's work capacity and recovery ability. While we may not be working in the oxidative zone, we are improving the athlete’s ability to recover from intense bouts of movement. Working at these two ends of the spectrum improves cardiovascular function without negatively affecting strength and power gains. How often we use these forms of conditioning is dependent on what phase of training we are in. Further away from the season means more time in the low intensity zone, and as we move closer to season we ramp up intensity to match sport requirements. In season conditioning will shift back to low intensity work to ensure preparedness for competition. 

If your goal is to be powerful; long duration, highly intense conditioning prescriptions will burn out the athlete and take away from power development. Low intensity aerobic conditioning mixed with HIIT will attenuate recovery and improve overall work capacity without negatively affecting weight-room goals. 

Thanks for your time!

Coach Nate Garcia 

nate@tpstrength.com

tim@tpstrength.com

scott@tpstrength.com 

914-486-7678

Instagram: tp_strength

Concurrent Training: Aerobic and Strength

The active stereotype for the weightlifting community is that cardio is the devil that must be avoided at all costs to ensure the best gains, and to an extent, they would be correct. However, just like any training plan, if the variables of the training are manipulated appropriately then you can see benefits on both sides of the spectrum. 

We have discussed the energy systems with some detail in previous posts. If you haven’t had the chance to review them, now we be a good time to scroll down and take a look. We have three primary energy systems (phosphagen, anaerobic glycolysis, aerobic glycolysis) and all three of those systems play into each other and we use all three systems everyday. In my opinion, to neglect one system in totality is a poor decision and it can lead to a plateau in training effects or even detraining. If you have a goal in mind that you are training for, then your training focus should aim to accomplish that goal. A first baseman does not have to be able to run 1600m as fast as possible, but they do require the ability to play 162 games in roughly 170 days. 

Aerobic training is not just running miles on end and puking from exhaustion. It serves a greater purpose than bettering the ability to run long distance, it is a pillar in the ability to recover. When planned appropriately, cardiovascular training can facilitate strength and power advancements for the strength and power athletes. If that is the case, what does appropriate planning look like? It depends! If you are participating in a power dominant event (baseball, long jump, 100m sprint) training in the aerobic zone should be accomplished at different points in your annual plan. The further away from the  competitive season, the more aerobic based training you can include. Also, including aerobic conditioning in the middle of a competitive season can be appropriate in order to facilitate active recovery between events. These particular athletes require low level aerobic conditioning (50-70% BPM of HRmax) that does not interfere with strength improvements. Not only does this modality not interfere with strength training, but the athlete was able to simultaneously improve cardiovascular and strength abilities. The time between these two sessions was a key variable, and the overall consensus was a minimum of 6 hours between training bouts of strength and aerobic conditioning. 

Keeping the goal of training in mind, a stimulus that promotes a person’s recovery ability is something that cannot be ignored. The metabolic adaptation that occurs with aerobic training is an adaptation that lasts much longer than the adaptations of power and speed training, so once a foundation is established, it does not take much to maintain this adaptation. The improved cardiovascular ability facilitates blood flow to working musculature, the more blood that is pumped through your skeletal muscles, the greater the ability to resynthesis necessary energy substrates needed for explosive movements, improvements in fat utilization as an energy source so that carbohydrate utilization can be reserved for highly intense work, and increased clearance of biochemical stressors associated with strength training. I can write a book on the benefits of aerobic training, but to see advancements in your training goal, variables such as: frequency, duration, intensity, and modality must be planned carefully. 

Looking at this topic from the other side of the training spectrum, the long distance athletes that also strength train. Essentially, the training considerations of the strength/power athlete flip. The endurance athlete can benefit from strength training as long as it is planned appropriately. These athletes often see immediate improvements in performance because they are often not exposed to strength training. These improvements are due to the body's improved ability to absorb and redistribute force when running, and prevent injuries. Strength training the endurance athletes is not something I have spent a lot of time doing, but avoiding hypertrophy to keep the necessary body composition for the sport, and not spending too much time in the weight room to prevent unwarranted soreness, are two general rules I would use when training these athletes. 

I touched on the idea of plateauing and detraining in the introduction. This is because the body requires a different stimulus every at certain points to allow for recovery. Even the elite powerlifters do not lift heavy weight (90% 1RM <) all year round. Their body would never be allowed to recover and would never have to adapt to a new stimulus. I will discuss this topic in greater detail in the future. 

In conclusion, aerobic conditioning can do wonders for athletes and non-athletes alike. Rather than avoiding aerobic conditioning, it should be planned for accordingly in order to enhance your body's ability to accomplish the goals you have set for yourself. Recovery is just as important as training, and the better your body is at recovering, the greater the demand you can place on your training. 

-Thank you for your time! If you have any questions please let us know!

Coach Nate Garcia 

nate@tpstrength.com

tim@tpstrength.com

scott@tpstrength.com 

914-486-7678

Instagram: tp_strength