Physical Education viewed through the Lens of Healthspan, Part Five - Anaerobic Training

This blog is the fifth in a series discussing how to gain perspective on the value of physical education by viewing it through the lens of "Healthspan".

In Part One – General Concepts, we quickly covered current shortfalls in physical education, the concepts of lifespan and healthspan, and basic pillars of exercise that are part of the applied science of longevity. In Part Two – Stability, we discussed key elements of and resources on stability: an important component of health that safeguards against falls and injuries and enhances our ability to complete movements safely and confidently. In Part Three – Strength, we discussed key elements of and resources on strength: the ability of the muscles, bones and joints to effect a force on physical objects. Without requisite physical strength we cannot perform daily tasks (or at best be limited in the types of tasks which we can accomplish). In Part Four – Aerobic Training, we discussed key elements of and resources on aerobic training: rhythmic, repetitive activities that use your body’s large muscle groups while only slightly increasing your heart rate and how much oxygen your body uses. Adequate aerobic training greatly reduces the risk of dying.

In this final part, we'll be covering improving Healthspan through Anaerobic Training.

Anaerobic Training

Anaerobic training is any activity that breaks down glucose for energy without using oxygen. Anaerobic activities are of short duration with high intensity. To perform anaerobic training your body needs to release a lot of energy quickly with oxygen supply falling short of demand. Anaerobic training focuses on a "Zone 5" heart rate: Anaerobic training dramatically increases your heart rate and how much oxygen your body attempts to use. Far less anaerobic activity is needed compared to aerobic training to maximize health outcomes. Anaerobic training boosts cardiovascular health, improves the quick development of physical power, increases oxygen capacity, improves muscle growth and bone density, and boosts metabolism.

It is important to note that physical training using anaerobic activities should be limited in younger children owing to reduced cardiovascular capacity of their still developing heart, lungs, muscular and skeletal systems.

Anaerobic Training provides the following benefits:

• Stimulates Muscular Growth - Anaerobic training stimulates muscular growth significantly more as compared with aerobic training.
• Increases Bone Density - Regardless if age, studies have shown that resistance based anaerobic activity increases bone density.
• Increases Oxygen Capacity (VO2 Max) - While aerobic training will improve VO2 Max, anaerobic training can greatly improve VO2 MAX.
• Power Development - Anaerobic training increases explosive power for sports involving jumping, sprinting and rapid general force development. As we age, anaerobic training helps maintain adequate power for safe general movement.
• Time Efficiency - Anaerobic training can be relatively limited in time needed and frequency to maximize health benefits.

Few (basically none) of older adults or the elderly complain that they have too much muscle, speed or stamina. While recent research has shown remarkable improvement from age appropriate anaerobic training even in the last decades of life, long term health issues (and the underlying foundation for disease) often start in the first decades of life. To reduce the risk of underlying disease and to build healthy life long exercise habits, anaerobic training should be introduced in primary education and worked up to being a key component of secondary school physical education.

As educators viewing physical education through the lens of healthspan, it becomes obvious that we must inform students about the importance of and methods for anaerobic training, especially once they reach secondary school age level. For a long and healthy life, students need to develop a good grasp of what types of activity produce Zone 5 results, as well as work on building habits for a healthy frequency of anaerobic training throughout adulthood.

Key Elements of Anaerobic Training

Key elements of Anaerobic Training:

• High Intensity Effort - Maximum or near maximum effort for a sport period of time. Muscles should be worked intensely and skeletal system stressed at a high level, resulting in fatigue.
• Short Duration - Adequate warm up, followed by a limited number of cycles of brief all-out effort spread out by longer periods of recovery between each cycle of all-out effort, followed by a short cool down period.
• Anaerobic (Without Oxygen) - Inadequate oxygen is being inhaled and reaching your muscles to produce energy, resulting in a buildup of lactic acid with symptoms of muscular pain and tiredness.
• Focus on Strength and Power - Anaerobic training targets fast-twitch muscle fibers which generate power and strength. This conditions the building of muscle mass and improves athletic performance.
• Highly Elevated Heart Rate - Your heart is beating substantially faster than your resting heart rate - near its limit and being heavily stressed.
• Zone 5 - Zone 5 is 90-100% of your maximum heart rate, a very high intensity pace that you can endure only for a limited period of time. Gasping for air, feeling like you're going to throw up, dizziness are all warning signs that you've reached your Zone 5 limit and need to reduce your level of exertion and begin to rest.
• Examples - Weightlifting (body weight exercises only for younger children), Sprinting, Plyometrics, High Intensity Interval Training "HIIT" (appropriate for highly fit, older adolescents only).
• Adults: 1-2 Short Sessions Per Week - One to two short sessions per week as tolerated, and with ample recovery time in between.
• Children: Highly limited based on development and overall fitness level. Children should be focusing on adequate aerobic activity.
• Teenagers: Teenagers should be slowly introduced to regular but limited anaerobic activities based on their age and overall fitness level. The primary focus should still be on achieving adequate aerobic activity.

Resources on Anaerobic Training

Dr. Peter Attia has a number of video clips discussing "Zone 5" Anaerobic Training and its impact on Longevity.

American Heart Association Recommendations for Physical Activity in Adults and Kids

Cleveland Clinic - Heart Rate and Kids: How High Is Too High?

Health Has No Age: Anaerobic Exercise for Teens, Adults, and Seniors

Physical activity guidelines for children and young people

Wrapping Up This Blog Series

In this blog series we have looked at the concepts of lifespan and healthspan, and then the four pillars of exercise that can positively affect longevity: stability, strength, aerobic training and anaerobic training.

We've encouraged you to take a critical look at how you currently view physical education. Hopefully you've retired the notion of “gym class” and now reevaluate every moment you spend on teaching physical education through the lens of healthspan. Each day's class of physical education is a critical component to optimizing lifespan and healthspan. Focus not on attaining the greater good, but the greatest possible good from your efforts.

Guest Blogger:

Bill Franklin, the CEO of Internet4Classrooms, is our guest blogger this month. He has been on the faculty at The George Washington University, has years of platform instructional experience, was a career Army Special Operations officer and also has decades of experience as a youth sports coach.