The Importance of Resting in between high intensity workouts or interval training.
Oxygen deficit and oxygen debt
Does anyone know why its important to actually rest in between sets? (high intensity loads)
Does anyone know what Lactate Acid is?
Does anyone know how Lactate Acid can affect your system?
Does it make you sore?
Does anyone know how we can take Lactate Acid and turn it into more energy?
When we start exercising (or moving), energy is produced and delivered free of oxygen (anaerobically), called Oxygen Deficit. However, there is no such thing as a free lunch, right? Just like a credit card, we must pay our debt at some point, typically after consumption (after or in between exercise bursts) called oxygen debt (repaying for energy we used). Our body even has a portion repayment system in place. We have a fast (rapid) track of repayment and the slow track of repayment. But the cool part is…we get benefits with each Track, like cash-back.
Fast (Rapid) Track –
1. Resynthesis of stored PC
2. Replenishing muscle and blood O2 stores
Slow Track –
1. Elevated heart rate and breathing = ↑ the need for energy
(this is when we can’t break and huffing and puffing and 25 burpees.)
2. Elevated body temperature = ↑ metabolic rate
3. Elevated epinephrine and norepinephrine = ↑ metabolic rate
4. Conversion of lactic acid to glucose (gluconeogenesis)
So during program design: if you are a duration athlete (aerobically training), you want to emphasis on anaerobically training your system as well (such as interval training). And if you are interval training, you’ll need to understand the importance of resting (2-5mins) in between intervals. Resting while breathing heavy = turning lactate into energy!!
Then is it safe to say that, When exercising with high intensity and in a humid environment with less to no rest…the body’s temperature, epineph. and norepineph. will exponentially greater = a greater upwards shift in VO2 ml/min = greater need for O2 to muscle with less O2 actually being delivered = rapid increase in lactate production with lower expenditure or slower conversion to glucose which = faster fatigue, less energy and less optimal muscle contraction potential. Especially when you don’t rest enough in between intervals.
HOWEVER, if you incrementally increase the intensity, the volume of oxygen uptake will steady off at a point (VO2 max), delivering energy and oxygen systematically and levels off.
