AEROBIC VS. ANAEROBIC:

BY RACE DISTANCE 🏃🏽

Podcast Episode #146🎙

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If you're training for the 1 mile all the way up to the marathon and beyond (which is most of us amateur runners!), you should (in most cases) be training your AEROBIC system more than your ANAEROBIC system 👊

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✅ AEROBIC SYSTEM: This is the predominant system used for races longer than 3 minutes. This system produces energy via OXYGEN. The aerobic system doesn’t create nearly as much power as other systems, but its capacity is virtually endless

👉 WORKOUTS FOR THIS SYSTEM = progression runs, tempo runs, long runs, cross training

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✅ ANAEROBIC SYSTEM: This is the predominant system used for races less than 3 minutes. This system does NOT need oxygen to produce energy. It uses energy stored in the cells. There are limited amounts of stored energy in the cells, which is why you can only use this system for very short periods of time

👉 WORKOUTS FOR THIS SYSTEM = interval/rep workouts, short fartleks, hill workouts

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➖ 1 Mile: 80% aerobic, 20% anaerobic

➖ 5k: 84% aerobic , 16% anaerobic

➖ 10k: 90% aerobic, 10% anaerobic

➖ Half Marathon: 97.5% aerobic, 2.5% anaerobic

➖ Marathon: 97.5% aerobic, 2.5% anaerobic

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You can see why it is more helpful to train your AEROBIC system for the 1 mile to the marathon and up 💪 while also doing SOME anaerobic workouts to improve power and speed!

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(**This research was done by Paul Gastin in 2001 → “Energy System Interaction and Relative Contribution During Maximal Exercise”**)

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