The full package, Shaken not stirred.

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.