Your car requires energy to run, and that energy is the fuel in the gas tank. For the human body to move, it needs fuel, and this fuel is called adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
ATP is the basic unit of energy used to move the body, but unlike your car’s single tank, the human body has more than one “tank” from which to deliver ATP. It has three tanks, called “energy systems.” Your body taps into specific energy systems depending on how you move. Although no one energy system is used at the exclusion of the other two, one system often contributes primarily while the other two “chip in”. The energy systems are as follows:
- Phosphagen System
- Anaerobic System
- Aerobic System
Phosphagen System
The phosphagen system supplies ATP primarily for short-term, high-intensity activities like jumping, throwing, sprinting, or lifting a very heavy weight. The phosphagen system is the main energy source of ATP for high-intensity activities that last approximately five to ten seconds.
Anaerobic System
The anaerobic system provides ATP primarily for intense muscular work that lasts about ten seconds to three minutes. Some activities that use the anaerobic system include resistance training (using weight equipment or your own bodyweight) and sprinting distances longer than 100 yards.
Aerobic System
The aerobic system is the primary source of ATP during low-intensity activities that last longer than three minutes such as running, biking, casual swimming, walking or simply resting.
Energy Systems and Real-World Fitness
At HyperStrike, we see far too many people training only one energy system and neglecting the other two. Real-world fitness means that all three energy systems are equally trained and maximized. In real life, no one system is favored. You never know when you will need to use a specific energy system. You may need to jump out of the way of danger; You may need to sprint out of a hail storm. You may need to carry a heavy weight for a hundred feet. You may need to hike to the next town after your car puttered to a stop in the middle of nowhere. By training for real-world fitness, you will be ready for any of these challenges.
Maximizing Fitness
By minimizing a traditional bodybuilding program, you focus more on an exercise program that prepares you physically for the real world.
Remember that fitness comes before ripped abs, huge arms, and a chiseled chest. When you achieve fitness, you’re able to do much more physically, and as a result, you’re able to trigger changes much quicker. If you focus on only body image, you will lack the means to change.
The exercise program that focuses on increasing your fitness not only brings excellent muscular development and fat loss but prepares you for real life. You will be an all-around athlete competing in the game of life—and you’ll look good doing it.)