What’s the difference between Aerobic and Anaerobic Conditioning?

Aerobic conditioning is essential for any sport, including CrossFit. A majority of the work we do in the gym falls into the categories of strength training and metcons (metabolic conditioning) and it can be easy to neglect our aerobic conditioning. We are typically working to increase our power output and work for shorter durations at a high intensity, which has proven to be very effective. However, it does not cover everything we need in our training and our ability to reach our true intensity and power output in a workout can be limited by our overall level of conditioning. 

Anaerobic vs Aerobic Conditioning

Adding longer duration aerobic training into your workout routine in moderation will increase both your aerobic and anaerobic base and improve your workouts all around. Anaerobic conditioning will help with your short, high-intensity workouts that last from a few seconds up to 2 minutes (think sprinting or Fran). In anaerobic training, we are working at close to our absolute max effort and our heart and lungs are no longer able to provide enough oxygen to our muscles. In contrast, aerobic conditioning is training the cardiovascular system to increase the amount of oxygen available to your muscles by pumping blood more efficiently. This can be achieved by performing continuous, steady-state training, such as rowing, biking, swimming, or running.

Training your cardiovascular system to pump blood more efficiently and deliver more oxygen to your organs and muscles will ultimately increase your anaerobic threshold. You will be able to maintain a high level of energy output for longer than if your training is purely focused on the anaerobic. 

The Arsenal Strength Aerobic Capacity course will run for 6 weeks beginning February 13, 2020.  Cost is two payments of $75 for members, two payments of $100 for non-members.

If you are interested in signing up please email [email protected] or let one of the coaches know to reserve the FINAL spot in our Tuesday’s @7:30pm, Sunday’s @ 10am.

We also have had some interest in a 6:30am session.  If we get 3 more participants we will add another session on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

Email [email protected] to reserve your spot!