Why should you train the aerobic pathway? From the physical to the mental, there are more reasons than I could list and you would read, so I’ll keep it to the top items.
Endurance
The aerobic system is how we test endurance. And endurance is life. That’s not a statement showing my passion towards endurance, it’s a literal one. Our body has 3 systems to burn fuel, these are called metabolic pathways. They go by a few different names but we will use Phosphocreatine, Glycolytic, and Aerobic pathways. The next few blogs will cover the first two, now back too aerobic.
Aerobic Pathway
Anytime we are at rest or moving at a sub-glycolytic pace we are using the aerobic pathway. This mainly means that we have time to use oxygen to help create fuel and we are using mainly fat to fuel our activity. This is where it gets interesting. For some getting off of the couch takes them out of aerobic and into the other pathways while for others they can run a sub 3 hour marathon all while being aerobic. In the gym if we look at physiology, anything lasting over 2 minutes puts you into an aerobic state.
Training
We want the overwhelming majority of our training to be aerobic. First because it more closely resembles most competitions (and life itself) but also important is the role it plays in recovery. To be a well-rounded functional athlete we have to train all three pathways, how we structure training them is important. Having a strong aerobic system enhances your body’s ability to recover by flushing lactic acid and increasing your ability to burn fat. Because of this we can use aerobic pieces to recover from hard bouts, all while training the aerobic system also. Running in the upcoming HYROX Dallas race on April 9th? You NEED to train this pathway.
Endurance is life
So back to endurance being life. If we spend the majority of our time in an aerobic state and an aerobic state is how we get to endurance, we can deduce that endurance is life. Endurance is pushing forward when you no longer want to. It is the fight between seeking comfort and growth. No one here is new to this dichotomy but it might be the first time you viewed exercise in the same light. If so, good. We’re going to have fun.
Murph Endurance Challenge
On May 1st we will start an endurance based challenge to get ready for the Memorial Day Workout. Murph. If you know anything about Murph you know that it takes a great amount of endurance to complete and will your body to continue to move. Check out our challenge at the link to get signed up
https://dissent-athletics.triib.com/events/challenges/3017
