Aerobic means 'with oxygen'. During aerobic work the body is working at a level that the demands for oxygen and fuel can be meet by the body's intake. The only waste products formed are carbon dioxide and water. These are removed as sweat and by breathing out.
Aerobic endurance can sub-divided as follows:
Aerobic endurance is developed through the use of continuous and interval running.
Please remember that any algorithm used to determine your maximum heart rate (MHR) is only a best guess (based on research) and not a guarantee of your MHR value.
The easiest and best known method to calculate your maximum heart rate (MHR) is to use the formula 220-age. A paper by Londeree and Moeschberger from the University of Missouri-Columbia indicates that the MHR varies mostly with age, but the relationship is not a linear one. They suggest an alternative formula of 206.3 - (0.711 × age). Similarly, Miller et al from Indiana University propose the formula 217 - (0.85 × age) as a suitable formula to calculate MHR.
Londeree and Moeschberger also looked at other variables to see if they had any effect on the MHR. They found that neither sex or race make any difference but they did find that the MHR was effected by the activity and levels of fitness.
Studies have shown that MHR on a treadmill is consistently 5 to 6 beats higher than on a bicycle ergometer and 2 to 3 beats higher on a rowing ergometer. Heart rates while swimming are significantly lower, around 14 bpm, than for treadmill running. Elite endurance athletes and moderately trained individuals will have a MHR 3 or 4 beats slower than a sedentary individual. It was also found that well trained over 50s are likely to have a higher MHR than that which is average for their age.
To determine your maximum heart rate you could use the following which combines the Miller formula with the research from Londeree and Moeschberger.
Energy production is both time and intensity related. Running at a very high intensity, as in sprinting, means that an athlete can operate effectively for only a very short period of time. Running at a low intensity, as in gentle jogging, means that an athlete can sustain activity for a long period of time. Training introduces another variable, and the sprinter who uses sound training principles is able to run at a high intensity for longer periods of time. Similarly, the endurance athlete who uses sound training methods can sustain higher intensities during a set period of time. There is a relationship between the exercise intensity and the energy source.
Energy is primarily supplied from two sources:
During exercise we use a combination of these energy sources. At a high intensity the main source of energy is carbohydrate and at a low intensity, fat is the predominate source. As there is a limit to the amount of carbohydrate that can be stored in the muscles, high intensity work can only be sustained for short periods. We have large stores of fat so low intensity work can be maintained for long periods of time.
Speed is the quickness of movement of a limb, whether this is the legs of a runner or the arm of the shot putter. Speed is an integral part of every sport and can be expressed as any one of, or combination of, the following:
The technique of sprinting must be rehearsed at slow speeds and then transferred to runs at maximum speed. The stimulation, excitation and correct firing order of the motor units, composed of a motor nerve (Neuron) and the group of muscles that it supplies, makes it possible for high frequency movements to occur. The whole process is not totally clear but the complex coordination and timing of the motor units and muscles most certainly must be rehearsed at high speeds to implant the correct patterns.
Flexibility and a correct warm up will affect stride length and frequency (strike rate). Stride length can be improved by developing muscular strength, power, strength endurance and running technique. The development of speed is highly specific and to achieve it we should ensure that :
It is important to remember that the improvement of running speed is a complex process which is controlled by the brain and nervous system. In order for a runner to move more quickly, the leg muscles of course have to contract more quickly, but the brain and nervous systems also have to learn to control these faster movements efficiently. If you maintain some form of speed training throughout the year, your muscles and nervous system do not loose the feel of moving fast and the brain will not have to re-learn the proper control patterns at a later date.
In the training week, speed work should be carried out after a period of rest or light training. In a training session, speed work should be conducted after the warm up and any other training should be of a low intensity.
Anaerobic means 'without oxygen'. During anaerobic work, involving maximum effort, the body is working so hard that the demands for oxygen and fuel exceed the rate of supply and the muscles have to rely on the stored reserves of fuel. In this case waste products accumulate, the chief one being lactic acid. The muscles, being starved of oxygen, take the body into a state known as oxygen debt. The body's stored fuel soon runs out and activity ceases - painfully. This point is often measured as the lactic threshold or anaerobic threshold or onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA). Activity will not be resumed until the lactic acid is removed and the oxygen debt repaid. Fortunately the body can resume limited activity after even only a small proportion of the oxygen debt has been repaid. Since lactic acid is produced the correct term for this pathway is lactic anaerobic energy pathway. The alactic anaerobic pathway is the one in which the body is working anaerobically but without the production of lactic acid. This pathway can exist only so long as the fuel actually stored in the muscle lasts, approximately 4 seconds at maximum effort.
Anaerobic endurance can be sub-divided as follows:
Anaerobic endurance can be developed by using repetition methods of relatively high intensity work with limited recovery.
The common definition is the ability to exert a force against a resistance . The strength needed for a sprinter to explode from the blocks is different to the strength needed by a weight lifter to lift a 200kg barbell. This therefore implies that there are different types of strength.
A muscle will only strengthen when it is worked beyond its normal operation, it is overloaded. Overload can be progressed by increasing the :
Agility is the ability to change the direction of the body in an efficient and effective manner. To achieve this you require a combination of:
We can improve our agility by improving the component parts of agility (listed above) and practicing the movements in training.
Flexibility is the ability to perform a joint action through a range of movement. In any movement there are two groups of muscles at work :
The objective of flexibility training is to improve the range of stretch of the antagonistic muscles.
Flexibility plays an important part in the preparation of athletes by developing a range of movement to allow technical development and assisting in the prevention of injury.
When you perform a stretch correctly you will feel mild discomfort in the antagonistic muscles. If you feel pain or a stabbing sensation you must STOP.
The body responds best to a stretching program when it is warm and the muscles and joints have been exercised through their current range of movement.
Like most athletes, you undoubtedly want to lower your chances of incurring an injury while participating in your favorite sport. Injuries decrease the amount of time you can spend in leisure activities, lower your fitness, downgrade competitive performance, and can lead to long term health problems such as arthritis.
There are some general rules for injury avoidance which apply to all sports. Sports scientists suggest that injury rates could be reduced by 25% if athletes took appropriate preventative action.
Coaches and athletes believe that males have higher injury rates than females. Male and female athletes have about the same injury rate per hour of training. Among runners it is considered that training speed is the cause of injuries (Speed Kills) but research indicates that there is no link between speed and injury risk.
The amount of training you carry out plays a key role in determining your real injury risk. Studies have shown that your best direct injury predictor may be the amount of training you completed last month. Fatigued muscles do a poor job of protecting their associated connective tissues, increasing the risk of damage to bone, cartilage, tendons and ligaments. If you are a runner, the link between training quantity and injury means that the total mileage is an excellent indicator of your injury risk. The more miles you accrue per week, the higher the chances of injury. One recent investigation found a marked upswing in injury risk above 40 miles of running per week.
If you have been injured before you are much more likely to get hurt than an athlete who has been injury free. Regular exercises has a way of uncovering the weak areas of the body. If you have knees that are put under heavy stress, because of your unique biomechanics during exercises, your knees are likely to hurt when you engage in your sport for a prolonged time. After recovery you re-establish your desired training load without modification to your biomechanics then your knees are likely to be injured again.
The second predictor of injury is probably the number of consecutive days of training you carry out each week. Scientific studies strongly suggest that reducing the number of consecutive days of training can lower the risk of injury. Recovery time reduces injury rates by giving muscles and connective tissues an opportunity to restore and repair themselves between work-outs.
Many injuries are caused by weak muscles which simply are not ready to handle the specific demands of your sport. This is why people who start a running program for the first time often do well for a few weeks but then, as they add the mileage on, suddenly develop foot or ankle problems, hamstring soreness or perhaps lower back pain. Their bodies simply are not strong enough to cope with the demands of the increased training load. For this reason, it is always wise to couple resistance training with regular training.