The Importance of Conditioning
At BMF Training we are a Strength and Conditioning gym. I tell everyone we train that we strength train to improve our quality of life and we train our conditioning to improve our longevity of life! We train the aerobic system 2-3x per week for many reasons. But what is the aerobic system and why should you train it?
The aerobic system provides the majority of the energy production for any activity lasting longer than 60 seconds, regardless of the intensity level. This system is also responsible for recovery between explosive bursts as well as producing the energy necessary to sustain everyday life (Jamieson, 2018). If you have better aerobic fitness your ability to bring more oxygen and nutrients to muscle will be higher. Muscles need the oxygen and nutrients to fuel the function of recovery and muscle repair.
What if I just lift weights faster? Or do just HIIT Workouts?
Lifting weights faster cannot replace aerobic conditioning due to the adaptations to the heart are not the same. Lifting weights thickens the hearts cavity walls whereas cyclical work such as walking, running, rowing, bike etc in the 60-70% of max heart rate actually stretches the cavity walls. Lifting weights also raises blood pressure to maintain muscular contractions. This reduces stroke volume therefore restricts blood back to the heart. This results in increase in heart rate which inhibits the stretching of the heart we are looking for. This takes away from the goal of improving the heart health. Why wouldn’t you want to live longer?
Knowing what we know about the different Energy Systems (Phosphagen, Glycolytic, Aerobic check out our other blog posts to learn more), we can utilize Aerobic work to facilitate recovery, improves one’s ability to generate ATP(Energy) for explosive sports, and most importantly increase the length of your life.
Research has shown that life expectancy is directly related to aerobic fitness and may help protect against premature death due to cardiovascular disease
The aerobic system is the most “metabolically adaptable” energy system in that it can produce ATP from multiple energy sources.(Carbs, Fats, and Protein)
The aerobic system produces more molecules of ATP per molecule of substrate.
The aerobic system is the most adaptable system when it comes to room for improvement
Improves body composition and helps maintaining a lean body mass
Training the Aerobic System involves two kinds of adaptations: cardiovascular and skeletal muscle. Among these adaptations include increasing the functional capacity of the heart, increasing the size of the vascular network, and increasing the number of mitochondria and the function of mitochondria.
The hardest part for most is being able to maintain the recommended heart rate (60-70%) for the entire duration. (30-90minutes)
In summary, eccentric hypertrophy (stretching) of cardiac tissue is a result of low-intensity conditioning done for longer durations, and the heart-rate needs to be in a specific range for this to occur. On the other hand, weight-training results in more of ‘concentric hypertrophy’ of cardiac tissue, which is a thickening of the walls—two very different things. So, improving cardiac output is done in very specific settings with very specific measures.
When done correctly, this type of work will NOT take away from your strength gains!
Now if you want to live longer make sure you don’t skip your conditioning training!
-Coach Mike