Conditioning is not just about working on your cardiovascular system but also teaching your body to use fuel, fat and carbohydrate, more efficiently and also teaching your body to recover. Many of you may know that cardiovascular diseases, such as hypertension, heart attack, stroke, COPD, are at all within top 10 of causes of death in the U.S.
Conditioning is Important for Everybody
There are at least two common reasons. One is cardiovascular system is not trained properly that the body does not know how to breath, which also means that the body is not able to send the oxygen throughout the body and send carbon dioxide (toxic) out of the body. After all it is not just about working out in extreme or focusing on burning calories. Second is most people do not know how to recover properly. This is not just for the muscles but also for the heart and brain, which needs to switch from active to recover. There is a high chance that even at rest the sympathetic nervous system, fight-or-flight, is still active, which can lead to issues such as sleep disorder, digestive issues, fatigue and so on.
After conditioning in various energy systems for 2-3 months, the body will learn to breath and recover properly. One of the benefit is the body will learn to switch from sympathetic nervous system to parasympathetic nervous system, rest-and-digest, in shorter duration. Of course, it is not only exercising that counts. Nutrition, exercise, and sleep are all need to be working in sync for better cardiovascular condition.
For today’s conversation, I would like to share how to condition your second energy system or lactic system. If you are interested in learning about training your aerobic system you can read the past article.
Intro to Lactic System
Lactic system is energy system that the exercise intensity level is at which you can sustain for 30-90 seconds. As you can see from the name of the energy system, you are conditioning your body to convert lactic into energy. Initially this is challenging, however, to me it is most enjoyable training intensity level since you can be as creative as you can make it.
The primary energy source used in lactic system is carbohydrate. Carbohydrate or glucose can convert into lactate. If you are trained in lactic system, you may feel challenged but not feel sick. However, those who never trained in lactic system may experience lightheadedness and nausea. This condition happens because the body is not aware of how to utilize lactate where trained individual is capable of utilize it. This phenomenon can also be experienced by those who have high stress and have sedentary lifestyle.
Nutrition for Conditioning Lactic System
Nutrition wise, you will want to have some carbohydrate in your system 2-3 hours before performing lactic system conditioning. Choice of carbohydrate can vary depending on your goal. If the primary goal is fat loss then you want carbohydrate such as vegetables, beans, berry types of fruits. Those who are relatively fit or have high insulin sensitivity may see more benefit with carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, fruits, vegetables including potatoes and so on. Also, increasing salt intake may also help your overall exercise and recovery performance.
Train Your Lactic System
For lactic system conditioning, as mentioned earlier, you can be creative. However, to give a basic idea I will keep this simple.
Before entering lactic system conditioning work, you will need to make sure that you are properly warmed up. You can use zone 2 work for 5-10 minutes prior to your lactic system conditioning to gradually elevate your heartrate.
Once your body is warmed up you want to choose the exercise and intensity level that you can sustain for 30 - 90 seconds. Initially, work with 30 seconds and then work your way up. Exercise modalities can be, farmer's carry, run, jump rope, row, bike, weightlifting, calisthenics, and can be mix of them. More options you have more challenging the work will be.
Once you choose your duration and exercise modality (will use running for example), now we need to set your recovery time. Start off with double or triple your work time then one to one ratio between work and recovery time. For example, if you have set your work time to 30 seconds then resting period will be 60-90 seconds per set. Be strict with duration of work and recovery time for recovery is a vital portion of this training.
So, if you are running, work on running at the pace that you can sustain for 30 seconds. After 30 seconds you can either stop or walk at slow pace for 90 seconds then repeat. You can repeat from 6-10 sets depending on your capability and condition for that day, which is equal to 12-20 minutes of conditioning work.
Lactic system conditioning may require longer recovery time compared to aerobic energy system conditioning. Therefore, it is recommended to plan lactic system conditioning for 1-2 times per week to avoid over stressing your body and prefer non-consecutive days.
Lactic System Conditioning Review
Work duration: 30-90 seconds
Recovery duration: equal or double the work duration, initially up to triple.
Total duration: 20 -30 minutes (start with 12 minutes)
Modalities: Walk, Run, Bike, Swim, Jump Rope, Weightlifting, etc.
Frequency:1-2 times per week
Kota Shimada
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