The full package, Shaken not
stirred.
Deciding to take on this 80
day experiment has lead me to look further into why I felt the need to improve
myself athletically and on a health platform. I will always play football until
my limbs will no longer carry me. So, one overwhelming reason is to improve
myself for the coming seasons (as at 25 I am now supposedly coming into my peak).
However, the more I think about it the overwhelming motive behind this (apart
from looking as good shirtless as possible, because I can't deny it's what I
want) is to improve my health. To be able to enjoy all the activities of
running, jumping, swimming, climbing trees and more, without feeling like I
need to warm up or prepare for it by spending 3 days getting limber to avoid
inevitable injury.
The goal really, is to be as
athletically adept whilst having the best possible health. Health to me is
being both physically and mentally happy and capable without being injured or
unnecessarily stressed. My athletic and fitness ability directly affects my
health.
Because of this realisation
provoking a commencement of sorts I wanted to look into the best possible way
of bettering my athletic ability that would lead to bettering my health. I
didn't want one without the other and to an extent, you can't really have one
without the other.
Looking into the two fundamental
systems of training (the aerobic and the
anaerobic systems) has given me clarity and advice of how to best tackle my
goal of fitness and its direct correlation with improving my health.
Aerobic vs. Anaerobic - Which one's which?
Aerobic 101
The Aerobic system is in use when our muscles
metabolise sugars in the presence of oxygen. This is exercise at low-moderate
intensity and for a longer duration than anaerobic exercise. It is important
not to exceed this low-moderate intensity as this will exhaust the muscles and
then the exercise no longer takes place with oxygen and so becomes anaerobic
exercise. Examples of this type of exercise are running, cycling and jumprope.
Anaerobic 101
Therefor the opposite of aerobic exercise is
anaerobic exercise. This occurs when the muscles attempt to metabolise sugars
in the absence of oxygen. Anaerobic exercise is shorter in duration than
aerobic exercise and at a higher intensity. The short duration and high
intensity exhausts the muscles’ stores of oxygen. Without oxygen present, the
muscles release enzymes to break down the sugars and release energy. You are
most likely acquainted with the effect of the reaction of lactic acid when exercising
anaerobically. In large quantities, lactic acid causes the “burning” sensation
you feel when you do things like sprinting, weight training and HIIT (all great
examples of this type of exercise).
Aerobic V.S. Anaerobic - pros and cons
Anaerobic activity uses carbohydrates as the main fuel source, while the
longer-lasting aerobic activities use more fat. An important property of fat is
that it contains more than twice the amount of energy than in carbohydrates. On
average each gram of fat contains 9 calories, while carbohydrates contain 4 calories
per gram.
Aerobic activity generally burns more calories than anaerobic activity.
However, the increased lean muscle mass created from anaerobic activities such
as lifting weights has been proven to burn more calories in the long run due to
an increase in metabolism and the bodies need to repair muscle fibers using up
more energy. Creating this "after burn" effect is one of the great
benefits of HIIT and metabolic training as it can keep our bodies burning fat
long after we have finished exercising, hence its popularity in todays hectic
society.
The chief benefits of regular aerobic exercise are the improved function
and capacity of your heart and lungs, as well as weight loss and improved
weight control. Anaerobic training, on the other hand, produces increased lean
body mass, improved balance, muscular strength and muscular endurance. Both
exercise types can improve blood cholesterol levels, blood pressure and glucose
tolerance.
So
what is better or me?
My subsequent post titled "Metabolic
training > worn out shoes" highlighted many of the benefits of
anaerobic training types such as HIIT and metabolic training. I was inspired to
write that post because of the countless number of people currently using gyms around
the world without making the most of their time and money everyday; the obvious
example being how many people with enough time to lumber aimlessly on the
treadmills could be doing something more productive with their time and
improving their fitness and health 10 fold. Unfortunately I neglected to state
in my learning curve how it is important to be prepared (from a fitness and
health standpoint) to move your training onwards and upwards towards a goal. In
answer to the question "which is better for you?" Both are greatly
effective and integral parts of becoming a balanced complete athlete. Having a
platform for building your fitness is the most important.
Creating a solid foundation
Your aerobic system provides a concrete
foundation for good health. It is the system that moves you through the day
efficiently as these muscles support your overall posture. Training your
aerobic system will increase mitochondria in your muscle cells to generate
energy (ATP) and increase capillary growth for increased oxygen use. These
mitochondria burn fat and glucose, but are actually 12 times more efficient at
using fat as energy over glucose. In general, Type I, red, slow twitch muscle
fibers are aerobic and burn primarily fat for energy. Plainly putting it, the
more mitochondria, the more fat you lose. Aerobic conditioning is also a
necessary foundation of practically all training as most activities or
sports will be best performed with a well-developed aerobic system (the
exception being 100m/200m sprinting). The longer an event, the more your body
will rely on the aerobic system. A strong aerobic base will even benefit one’s
recovery in-between sets of strength training as well as anaerobic interval
training, too. It allows the body to take on more oxygen and therefore
replenish depleted energy in tired muscles.
So ensuring that you are aerobically
capable before moving on to more stressful anaerobic activity is essential for
a corresponding improvement in both fitness and health.
Are you capable?
Type II, white, fast
twitch muscle fibers are primarily anaerobic, (some are a mix of both fast and slow
twitch) burn sugar and creatine phosphate (a naturally occurring substance
within the body) and are more for power and speed. They’ll increase your
mitochondria too, but the anaerobic system will fatigue much quicker than the
aerobic system. High intensity workouts tend to be predominately anaerobic as
is much of strength training due to various Type II muscle fibers being used
and developed rather than Type I aerobic fibers. Anaerobic activity incurs
oxygen debt and a build-up of lactic acid (the burning sensation we get when
participating in HIIT, sprints, weight training). Pain, poor performance, and
injury often result from chronic muscle imbalances.
Anaerobic endurance
and strength is essential in many circumstances and sports, but it is the
aerobic system that will provide you with the endurance to work, play, think,
sleep, and go several hours without food.
HIIT- The good and the bad
Remembering that at low intensity aerobic
workouts you’ll burn more fat than glucose but at higher intensity you end up
burning more calories over the long run (no pun intended), which can lead to
more fat loss. "All good things" I hear you say, but appreciate that
HIIT workouts, being promoted by sensational TV ads and YouTube videos as “the
only cardio you need” is very risky to your health and your fitness if done too
often or for some, too soon in a training program. With the huge focus today on
Paleo living and the health and lifestyle of our ancestors millions of years
ago, it's important not to forget we didn’t just sprint, lift, sprint, lift,
all day. Hunters would travel across vast areas over time. They didn’t run as
hard as they could, but they kept a steady aerobic pace. One had to be in
superb physical condition, especially aerobically, to track an animal for so
long, and then utilise the anaerobic system for the sprint (and possibly a
wrestle) in the final kill.
HIIT workouts can cause a spike in
stress hormones, such as cortisol and epinephrine, which can over time lead to
injuries (and more stress).
Once you are ready to implement HIIT
workouts into your training, you should follow common sense anaerobic
guidelines. Adequate recovery (48 hours in between workouts), and adequate
breaks (cycle weeks on/off for most people using a mixture of activity and exercise).
HIIT workouts are
“time efficient strategies.” That doesn’t mean they should replace all aerobic
training because they use the time better. (Do you think Shaun-T of the famed Insanity
program only does Insanity workouts
to look like he does? I don't think so.) These studies are short-term. Coaches
and trainers are not following participants in their programs for weeks after
the study to see how their health and fitness are progressing. Nor are they
advocating that participants continue to exercise in such an intense fashion
either. Evidence of this are the health warnings attached to the daytime
shopping channel "GET RIPPED FAST" DVD sets advising that those
embarking on such fitness journeys seek the approval of a health professional
to make sure it won't kill them. Obviously the majority don’t. That kind of
likely negative information is not the spanner in the works you need when in
the positive mindset required to begin such a program. After all, people are
taking on such a challenging program because they are in poor health to begin
with.
By doing HIIT, sure, you’ll develop
some aerobic and anaerobic conditioning faster than if you just jogged a few
miles, but when you’re already producing a lot of stress hormones from being in
a “time crunch” (because that's why 99% of people take up 30 minute high
intensity workouts such as Insanity)
more anaerobic activity in your already anaerobic life is not a good thing.
It’s a great way to soon be injured. That’s fitness achieved by compromising
health. It’s not just about looking
buff. It might be a tall order to ask you to run a 10K in 40min but you should
be able to run one in around an hour, and not all out anaerobically (which if
unfit, is impossible anyway). An achievement that won't be realised with just
speed and HIIT work.
Fitness -> Performance
Both of the core
principles of fitness and health are closely related. They are also often
misconstrued, mixed up, or simply lumped together as one. When you consult
yourself on it as a person looking to better themselves athletically, they run
side by side, but are NOT the same thing.
Health is not just the
absence of some known disease, but your entire body functioning without any
problems – that means your body is free of aches and pains, has ample energy,
and your mind is sharp and clear. A healthy individual isn’t injured,
constantly sick, or sleeping poorly. Your impression of this may be that nobody
is healthy. The fact is that a lot of people aren’t very healthy, but they may
be very fit.
As you become more and
more fit your health should also improve, and vice-versa. If you change your
diet and lifestyle for the better you will see some positive changes in
fitness. You will move more efficiently when you’re healthy and you’ll
naturally be more fit. Unfortunately as many become fitter their health
suffers, because they are stressing their bodies out too much (anaerobically)
or not recovering properly. This excess anaerobic cycle is the same one that
many link with chronic, damaging “cardio” workouts because they associate time
spent with pain caused.
Most train too much,
too hard, and since the majority of us aren’t professional athletes, we don’t
get to rest and recover as much as we’d like. Overtraining is easy.
Those who only do hard
HITT workouts and the chronic anaerobic endurance athletes are not very
healthy. When the vast majority of workouts are cortisol (stress hormone)
producing activities the body will break down because there is not enough time
before the next session to recuperate. The reason that the professional
athlete seems healthier is because he/she may last longer due to have someone
training, feeding, and managing his or her schedule. Nonetheless it eventually
catches up with them.
So whatever training
program you want to support, remember it all comes down to two things – what
you’re trying to accomplish and how it affects your health. Too often these two
factors do not complement one another. It sounds naive to say that injuries
occur most often when training, yet an injured athlete is more often than not
in a rush to reverse the month off the wagon. In their off season of eating
poorly and exercising less, the advanced athletes are now rushing to be in peak
physical fitness in too-short-a-time frame and overtraining. A similar
situation of being fit but not healthy occurs with those who only do some hard
weights and sprints a few times a week as their only workouts, then they tell
themselves they are now fit because of a regular amount of narrow-scope
training.
The balance
In short, the more we develop
our aerobic systems the more we improve our mitochondrial capacity. The more
mitochondria we have, the less lactate our bodies make at any given intensity.
This raises our lactate threshold, (in the same way that training a muscle
makes it stronger) so what was previously predominantly anaerobic exercise becomes
more aerobic. The total result: you’re fitter, more efficient and healthier.
Developing the aerobic
system is vital. There is no shortcut to it. It takes consistency and self-control
in training. Consistency means you have to stick with it and give it time. If
you’ve never developed your aerobic base then it can take months. Sensibly ramp
up your training over the months as you improve aerobically (through measuring
you heart rate as you train). The discipline is not just to stick with it, but
also to keep yourself from going too hard (this is my issue, which always
results in either injury or fatigue). A heart rate monitor has become a greatly
useful investment in my aerobic training, and focus and concentration are pivotal.
A poor balance of either component can make us unfit and unhealthy in the same way
a sedentary lifestyle and poor diet can. Slow down, and take the time to
develop superior fitness and health.
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