Aerobic Capacity – Féroce Fitness

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90% of people that come in the gym don’t need a specialized program. They need fitness. There is no magic formula or complex algorithm that is the key is success, in fact it is quite simple: practice full body high powered functional movements, push yourself to your mental and physical limits, and change up the duration, loading, and tasks your perform. This will give you big results in many different areas, setting a strong base of general physical preparedness. And it is likely that for most these results will continue to improve for a very long time, before they plateau as long as the consistency and intensity are there. But lets say that you reach that plateau and find that while many areas of your fitness are strong, you have identified some weak spots that are not congruent to your other capacities. It is possible to work on those weaknesses while maintaining your overall fitness within your program. Here are some ways to fix that chink in your armor.

Method #1

Add extra work in this area in the warm-up or cool down of your workout. For example if you struggle with pull-ups you could warm up with some kipping pull-up skill, or you could cash out of your workout with a finisher of 2 sets of max strict pull-ups 3 times a week. If you struggle with the Olympic lift you could work on positions and skill with a barbell in the warm up or add some short extra lifting work after the workouts 3 times a week.

Method #2

You could program the capacity you lack more frequently in your workouts. 3 days a week could be a workout focusing on this area. For instance if you need your strength, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays could be just dedicated strength days with your other two training days focusing on overall fitness, not just strength.

Whatever it is you choose to specialize in remember, the goal isn’t to be a specialist. Specialists are not fit. It is easy to fall in love with one area and loose site of the overall picture. After a period of time evaluate whether what your have chosen to focus on is better, and when it is time to become a generalist again…because generalists are freaking FIT!

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How do Energy Systems Work?

The body has multiple metabolic pathways or energy systems that it uses to create a molecule called ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate). This is a molecule that allows muscles to contract and do work. Depending on the level of power output and duration of work, your body will be deriving the majority of energy from one primary metabolic engine.

Although there may be many more, generally speaking exercise physiologists refer to three major energy systems: The phosphogen system (short durations of maximal power), the glycolytic or lactate system (moderate duration at medium power), and the oxidative (long duration at low power).

Systems can be divide into two categories: 1) Aerobic (requiring oxygen) and 2) Anaerobic (not requiring oxygen). Aerobic work is great for enhancing cardio respiratory endurance, reducing body fat, and becoming more efficient at utilizing oxygen. Anaerobic work is great for increased strength, stamina, power, and muscle mass. A rounded athlete has good capacity in all of these pathways.

Why The Rower?

The rower is the ultimate piece of fitness equipment for metabolic conditioning. It is a gross full body movement pattern that is most often seen in sport and life. The rowing stoke uses the biggest most powerful muscles of the legs, backside and hips to hand off to the upper body in a pull. The same sequence is seen in many other high power movements like the Olympic lifts and kettlebell swings, reinforcing a transferable skill. The large range of motion of this pull jacks up the power making it a potent and taxing movement. In addition to that, athletes are able to maximize training volume on the rower because there is an unloaded eccentric (negative) portion of the movement. The muscles encounter resistance as they contract, not as they lengthen, limiting muscular breakdown and soreness.

A controlled environment like a rowing machine is a great apparatus to target specific energy systems with accuracy. Using data like a 500 meter split time, calories, watts or strokes per minute, one can calculate power with precision. Marking these factors against time, you can also control duration of effort. It is not surprising to hear that CrossFit Games Champions like Rich Froning, Miko Salo, Sam Briggs and Camille Leblanc Bazinet are rumored to do dedicated rowing workouts daily. Here are some workouts on the rower to target specific capacities:

1) Anaerobic Power

5 pulls on the rower for max wattage x 20 rounds rest 90 seconds between efforts
10 x 20 seconds for lowest 500-meter split time

2) Anaerobic Endurance

45 seconds on 45 seconds rest for max distance x 10 rounds
10 x 250 meter row, rest 1 minute for fastest total time
4x 500-meter row rest 3 minutes holding fastest sustainable split

3) Lactate Threshold Training

3×1000 meter row rest 3 minutes for fastest sustainable time
2000 meter trial

4) Aerobic Endurance

7x 1000 meter at 90% of 2k PR, rest 1 minute between sets
5k row trial
10k row trial

Alternate these workouts 2-3 times per week as a compliment to your training to enhance your body’s metabolic capacity and efficiency. All it takes is a rower and a target time and pace.

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Programming For Your Weaknesses