Can Someone PLEASE explain the theory of a Continuous Energy System with regard to physiology.

The different energy systems work at the same time in all races, but at different rates.

What you are suggesting, may be the continuous recruitment of different muscle fibers as a race gets faster and faster. This is what Bekele is doing when he conrols the pace in races such as the 5000m in Berlin. As he winds the pace up, he uses more and more fast oxidative fibers. These fibers have a high aerobic capacity, but can produce more power. By training his legs to do this he can gradually get rid of all his rivals in races.

This is what all middle and long distance track and cross country runners should be doing in addition to even pace training. It takes a lot of confidence to do this in races, and a lot of practise in training and racing to perfect the art of winding up the pace and then delivering the killer blow, like Bekele did to Lagat, Like Lagat did at his best and like El Gerrouj did to almost everyone.

My take (not knowing the reference) is to debunk the idea that energy systems are that distinct especially when one is talking about the transitions between them. Yes, the creatine phosphate system is distinct from the oxidative, but the distinctions get blurred.

The best example I can think of is light switches (this one is often used). Rather than energy systems being on-off switches, they are more like dimmer switches where the contribution of each can be "controlled" depending on the intensity of the activity.

Lactate measures have issues as well.

I sometimes think we overthing training...

To me, Bekele winding up the races has less to do with a new style of training than the fact that he is significantly faster for the relative blood lactate level he is running at (a 12:37 5000m PR is evidence of that). Hence a 2:30/km is closer to his 5000m race pace than would be for a 13:00 5000m runner. But regardless I enjoyed your post and would like to hear more of what you have to say about the subject.

bump

The majority of this board, when talking about the continuous energy spectrum (system), is talking about the aerobic/anaerobic systems. Tinman is a big component of this, as a few others.

One thing that bring this up is the use of the word Lactate Threshold. Some say that there is an exact turn point at which lactic acid build up skyrockets exponentially. Tinman fights this theory, and I back him also, arguing that if we took blood samples closer together we would see a gradual curve when graphing lactate levels vs intensity, not the old school thought of slight rise then shooting up.

Even simpler talk about the continuum is some people mistake the energy systems for being exclusive. Meaning either your aerobic system or your anaerobic system is working, not both. This is not true, just the % of the system being uses changes as intensity changes.

Meaning right now, sitting here reading this post you are using mostly aerobic metabolism to produce the energy you need, but even at this extreme state of rest, your body is still carrying on anaerobic metabolism, proof of this is by taking a blood sample when the subject is at rest, and still detecting around 1–2 mmol/L of lactic acid.

Layman's terms: You use all your energy systems at all times, just the % of each system changes with the intensity.

Sorry, i didn't read your entire post, let me put some food for thought on the workout question.

When working out, every workout uses all systems. But the % is defiantly different. When thinking of the different energy systems, we can still tailor our workout to stress a certain system.

A good way of thinking about this is if you went to the gym and did 150 push-ups. You clearly stressed your chest muscles, but at the same time you worked your abs and hamstrings for stabilization purposes. Now even though you did work out your abs and hamstrings, do you think doing 150 push ups a day is the best way to build these muscles up? Of course not, you would do some crunches and hamstring curls for this right? Same thing can be said for running.

If you want to stress your anaerobic system and cause a response, you would not go out and jog 10 miles a day. This would stress your aerobic system way more than your anaerobic system. You would probably hit the track and do some repeats. Even though you are technically working both systems in either workout, you still need to ensure your workout stresses the right system.

This works in reverse also. If you did track repeats every day (and survived) you would stress your anaerobic mostly, but your aerobic system would also be getting some stress during these workouts.

Now how does this relate to running and the lets run community? All this sounds like common sense right? Well it gets brought up a lot when talking about pacing and running. A lot of people now worry about hitting EXACT splits or EXACT heart rates during workouts, or running EXACT mileage. This is where malmo, wejo, shorter, etc all step in. Malmo says it best, "I'm trying to get you to "feel" Kung Fu, not "think" it."

Meaning there is no magic number you have to run to stress that system. Some people think that if you don't run right at your 5k pace you won't stress your anaerobic system, but if you run hard, your going to work it, don't worry about the watch.

Well thanks. Yes, Bekele is running more more economically than a less well trained runner. His 5000 pace is remarkably close to his 3000m pace. And the way he finishes his races is awesome.

He believes that his real strength compared to his rivals is in his race tactics, at least that is what I read on a thread yesterday, relating to a recent interview. It may not be a new style of training, but the way the best runners train is different to most runners, and really it has more to do with maintaining power than using glycogen/lactate more efficiently. We can all run with optimum aerobic efficiency with a decent amount of training, but the real challenge to keep improving is to learn how to use the contractile force more efficiently.

This can be seen in the way that the African runners use their feet compared to other nations. Look at the footwork of the best Kenyan and Ethiopian men and women in Berlin and you can see how they maintain that forefoot landing with great effect for lap after lap to get more power per stride and gradually get faster while the less well trained runners get slower. The longer your feet are on the ground, the slower you run, and the less time they are on the ground, the faster you run. This is technique and should be given a lot of consideration by serious runners and coaches.