Jan 29, 2015Rapid Recovery
Rapid recovery after maximum power output is arguably one of the most important factors in sport performance. It should be regarded as a cornerstone of performance ranking with strength, speed, and agility.
In the heat of a game, athletes need to be fresh, alert and ready as soon as the moment calls. Fatigue is a performance killer; still trying to catch your breath when going into the next play means you cannot be ready to repeat your best possible effort.
As a cornerstone of performance, conditioning anaerobic and aerobic recovery should be practiced as such–by being developed and improved with dedicated training time and performance measurements.
With such a high focus on developing strength and speed, too many conditioning professionals have moved their attention away from proper conditioning, believing that it occurs as a result of the other trainings and practices they have their athletes do. But this approach creates a huge risk of weakness. Despite their athletes being faster and stronger, if they can only sustain that performance for a short period then it is only a matter of time before the other team will be able to wear down these “better” athletes and take over the game.
Games are won at the end, not the beginning. Athletes need to have the power to be 100-percent ready throughout the game in order to win; victory goes to the last man standing.
The 49ers went to the 2013 Super Bowl recognized as the most conditioned team in the NFL. They demonstrated superior performance later in the game (just not enough to win). Likewise, the 2013 Cotton Bowl was a showcase of no-huddle offense. The Texas A&M Aggies were 41-13 winners, keeping the defense anaerobically exhausted.
In an isolated environment, being able to run a 4.40 second 40-yard sprint is great, benching 225 pounds 20 times is outstanding, but how long does it take your athlete to recover from this maximum effort and how fast can he do it again?
Mark Verstegen, Founder and President of the prestigious Athletes’ Performance elite training facilities, better describes conditioning as energy system development, with three energy systems to be trained:
- – The lactate threshold — high-intensity work for usually up to three minutes to push lactate threshold boundaries
- – Lactate power — the ability to do very high intensity anaerobic work, which lasts up to about twelve seconds
- – The aerobic system — necessary for rapid recovery.
As described by Strength and Conditioning Professional Darren Beattie, “The nice thing about this system though, is that with a little bit of rest, you can tax it pretty heavily and actually train your aerobic system at the same time […] these energy systems actually have a bit of a cascade effect in that ATP-CP can contribute to Glycolytic System development, which can lead to Aerobic system development, but the opposite is not true, you can’t train your aerobic system and significantly develop your ATP-CP system.”
In brief, improving muscle energy cell (mitochondria) performance and cardiovascular fitness are what helps an athlete improve anaerobic recovery and endurance. Improved mitochondria performance is a product of greater oxygen demand over longer periods. More intense workouts, sustained for as long as possible are what help athletes improve their fitness.
So how can conditioning professionals improve their athlete’s fitness efficiently, without taxing their bodies further? If we had an energy system development scale, where a light jog or long walk was on the far end from cardio, what would be at the other?
Enter the HiTrainer Pro
The HiTrainer Pro is designed for unbeatable conditioning in a minimal amount of time. By positioning the user in a constant drive phase position (the forward lean acceleration position) during high intensity sprint intervals on a self-propelled running surface, the HiTrainer engages very large amounts of muscle tissue at once. When worked at very high intensity, this muscle mass creates a high demand for oxygen forcing the cardiovascular system to peak very quickly.
The muscle’s high demand for oxygen is still beyond what can be delivered, creating a sort of oxygen vacuum and forcing the muscle energy cells to work harder and improve performance. Due to the rapid increase in blood flow, the body also gets a jump start on flushing out toxins from the muscles.
The result: the anaerobic system is pushed to its limit, near maximum heart rate is achieved faster and longer than any other conditioning method, and the energy system’s performance is improved within as little as a 3-minute protocol–meaning fast, efficient conditioning with less impact on an athlete’s already beaten body.
The HiTrainer Pro has already demonstrated significant athlete performance improvement in professional sports teams and Division I Universities. Long gone are the days of the treadmill; it is just a matter of time before this equipment becomes a standard feature in the gym.
For more information, visit www.HiTrainer.com or call (450) 726-3300.
