Energy Systems uncovered. Part 1

Here’s a story to set the scene. During my first few years as a strength coach I had a guy come up to me and ask if I could train him for a judo fight that he had coming up in a couple of months. Having only trained elite rugby players, my knowledge of judo or MMA was small. Especially when it came to the conditioning aspect. 

So, in one long afternoon I decided to watch videos, read articles and listen to interviews, to get a better idea of what had to be done. After 4 long hours I thought I had it down to a T. The next morning when the fighter came in… I tested him. Tested him squat. Tested his bench press. Tested his Pull Ups. He was weak as piss! Could barely bench the bar, and only performed 2 pull ups. Being the wannbe meat head that I was, I thought I’d found the answer… “this guy is weak, so make him strong”. 

For the next few sessions I made him bench, squat and press! A week or so in to our training he invited me to come and have a go at a grappling session. I happily went along. Being 25kg heavier than him I was looking forward to teaching him a few things about rugby players. That was all well and good for about 30 seconds. After the initial 30 seconds I was lying in position that could only be described as awkward, wanting the whole experience to end. It didn’t. He beat me up for about 30 minutes. It clicked…… just because you’re strong in the gym, doesn’t mean you’re going to be strong athletically!

That experience opened my eyes to the energy systems. As athletes we need to embrace our bodies! Realise that we need to be all rounded. Not all rounded in a CrossFit sense, but all rounded in an energy system sense. All the energy systems over lap. If you improve an athletes strength, speed strength or strength speed in the gym, but didnt train them so that they can utilise it in a sporting environment then you’ve done nothing for them! You need to be able to increase the bodies ability to support the extra force they have gained.

In a fairly brief-ish overview (which will spread out over 3 parts), I will try to explain to you how each system works, so hopefully you can see for yourself how they relate to each other, and more importantly, how they relate to performance.

Right, you can only really produce energy in one of two ways; aerobically (with oxygen) and anaerobically (without oxygen). But in order to utilise the expenditure/rejuvenation of ATP efficiently the body  has three energy systems that it uses; Alactic (10-12 sec), Lactic (30-60 sec), Aerobic (hours). All sports lie somewhere within the three energy systems. Over the 2 parts to this article, I will explain how each of the three systems work, and how they relate to your performance.

So…… until next time

Stay Strong (for once I will allow you to JUST be strong)