Getting in Shape

What does "Getting in Shape" Mean?

By Mike Caza,
CSCS Director of Performance

Many athletes use distance running as a means of "getting in shape" or "staying in shape." A number of athletes think that running long distances will get them in shape. This is true if you are a cross country runner, but if you play other sports such as basketball, soccer, football, baseball, softball, track or tennis you never run at slow speeds for a long period of time in those sports. Athletes are constantly changing speeds ranging from walking, to jogging, to striding to cutting to sprinting For this reason, distance running can have a 2-fold detrimental effect to the athlete's performance because 1)the Oxidative Energy system is being trained and 2) the slow-twitch muscles are being used which can make the athlete slower.

The body has 3 primary energy systems: The ATP-PC system is primarily used for high intense bouts of exercise such as sprinting for 3-15 seconds. This energy system can operate with or without oxygen but because it doesn't rely on the presence of oxygen, it is said to be anaerobic. A good example of a sport that primarily uses the ATP-PC system is football where the average play is approximately 5-15 seconds. Bouts of exercise that last 15-45 seconds rely on the second energy system which is the Glycolytic System. Bouts of exercise that last longer than 45 seconds primarily use the Oxidative System which is the third energy system.

An athlete that plays a sport other than cross country will use all 3 energy systems. For example, in the sport of soccer, the athlete is required to sprint repeatedly thus utilizing the ATP-PC system. The athlete will also be involved in plays that are challenging and last longer than 15 seconds which require the Glycolytic system to kick in. The game also requires a lot of jogging and walking and the repetitive use of both the ATP-PC and Glycolytic Systems require a supply of oxygen from the Oxidative System. For this reason, conditioning needs to span beyond just using the Oxidative system which is the primary energy system used in distance running. Furthermore, distance running uses the slow-twitch muscle fibers which means athlete's can actually get slower from doing too much distance running.

"Getting in Shape" really means training specific to the energy demands of the sport.
Running long distances for certain athletes can have detrimental effects on their
performance due to the non-specific design of the program. Designing an athlete's
training program is a well thought out process that factors in a number of sport-specific
variables. It is important to understand that in most sports, all 3 energy systems are
utilized so having a balanced training program that is not 1 sided and slow twitch
dominant will enable the athlete to be prepared for the demands of their sport.

Mike Caza spent 3 years as a member of the Canadian National track team where his experiences allowed him to compete worldwide on 4 different continents and be mentored by some of the top coaches internationally. Mike's athletic experiences combined with the in depth knowledge gained over the years has enabled him and the PSC Staff to devise the most comprehensive athlete conditioning program in the area. For more information on PSC training, contact the training office at (330) 487-0810 or online at www.pscfit.com.

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