How a training specific energy system improves your Health and Performance

By Coach Ernest Allen Founder of Atlas Pro Training LLC

There has been a revolution happening in the health and fitness/performance training industry over the last decade. The old way of improving the cardiovascular performance of an athlete is gone. Enter the phrase Energy System development; the new form of cardiovascular training. EDS training should be the foundation of any training plan to improve your performance; it could be the difference between competing at a high level or coming up short in a game. In order for muscles to contract and produce movement, ATP must be present. The body’s energy system is responsible for converting ATP to a usable form of energy called ADP. ADP can be produced using three energy systems:

·         ATP-CP Phosphagen energy System- used during short-term, high-intensity activities Ex. Throwing a Shot Put, Sprinting, Olympic lifts of 2-4 reps: Last 1-30 sec   

·         Anaerobic Glycolytic energy System- used during medium/high-intensity activities, Ex. Strength/endurance: lasts 30sec-3mins

·         Aerobic energy System- used during long durations of exercise lasting longer than 30 min to 1 hour.

So let’s look and the energy system that is used to produce energy for high intensity quick powerful bursts of energy, the ATP-CP Phosphagen energy System, and does not require oxygen to produce ATP.  This energy system uses Creatine phosphate (which is stored in the skeletal muscles) to produce ATP. This process is instant and the energy created is used and depleted almost just as fast, causing the individual to fatigue faster. The goal when training this energy system is to use short bouts of exercise at a minimum volume (number of repetitions) to ensure a full recovery. As the athlete progresses through the training program the training load is increased not the volume (number of repetitions). Plyometric and or ballistic training are also forms of training that stress this energy system, for example, Box jumps, Medicine ball throws, and Olympic lifting.

The second energy system we are going to look at is the Anaerobic Glycolytic energy system, which uses glycogen stores from the muscle and blood glucose to produce energy. This is considered the predominant energy system, which is used to produce energy to sustain movements that last 30 sec to 3 minutes. It does not require oxygen and produces lactate acid which causes muscles to fatigue and shut down. The goal when training this energy system is to improve the lactate threshold (which is the time that it take for the muscle to experience limitations due to the accumulation of lactic acid) of the individual. This is an important aspect of improving the muscular endurance of the individual, which is the goal to decrease the chance of injury and increase their work capacity during competition. Strength training with a focus on limiting the recovery times 30sec to 1min between sets and exercises; also tempo runs (running at 70-80% effort for short distances less than a mile for repetition).

The third energy system we are going to look at is the Aerobic energy system, which uses oxygen to produce APD from body stored fat and skeletal muscle, making it the most complex of the three and the most labor-intensive energy system. The Aerobic energy system is used during activities that last for relatively long durations, like 30 min to 1-2+hours. The goal of training this energy system is to improve the cardiovascular efficiency of the individual, especially if the individual is out of shape. This is considered to be the foundation of improving the health and performance of the individual. Steady-state cardiovascular work is used to train this energy system, and some forms of HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training).  

The goal of any training program should be to develop these energy systems and “train” them to produce the energy in an efficient manner during practice and competition so that energy is readily available to the muscles during physical activity.  All three energy systems are interdependent of each other, but in most situations, one energy system or a combination of two of the three is required to make things happen. This goes into the concept of performance-specific training and how to create training programs that are designed specifically to produce improvements in muscular endurance, cardiovascular fitness, and improvements in speed and power of the individual. As you start your health and performance training program training make sure that training the specific energy system - EDS training is the foundation of your training program to get the maximum benefit out of the training program.