One of the most challenging parts of creating content around conditioning is that it’s not nearly as straightforward as other biomotor abilities.
Speed, strength, and range of motion are all easily quantifiable - even if the understanding of their transfer sport is not as clear as many would think.
Conditioning involves a ton of biochemical reactions and processes that most - if not all - of us learned early in high school. Cue the snarky voice in your head “when am I ever going to need to use this info about the Krebs cycle?!”
Spoiler alert: the Krebs cycle is literally foundational to energy production in sport…so now would be the time.
But this newsletter isn’t about the Krebs cycle - at least not directly.
It’s about a fundamental disconnect between how energy is produced and how energy sources are replenished.
And for that purpose, we’re going to lean on the terms: POWER and CAPACITY.
For the time being, we’re going to ignore any distinctions of what the terms mean technically and focus on what they mean practically.
FERRARIS vs SEMI-TRUCKS
Visualize with me for a minute. Picture a gas tank for a Ferrari.
Assuming you’re not a hermit and know what a Ferrari is, you’re probably seeing a very sleek, but very small tank - something that can support a handful of extremely fast outputs for a very short period of time. Functional for its purpose, but impractical for anything meaningful.
Now contrast that picture with considering the gas tank for an 18-wheeler - massive in comparison to the Ferrari and supportive of much longer duration outputs but extremely inefficient in short bursts.
This comparison encapsulates many coaches’ perspectives on conditioning - that fast, powerful athletes need to stay fast and powerful and should avoid any form of energy system training.
And any sort of conditioning will immediately render these athletes incapable of producing speed or power ever again.
CAPACITY
The above example is a great metaphor for the concept of capacity from an energy system standpoint.
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Capacity is essentially the size of the tank and the larger the capacity - to a point - the more total work the athlete can perform before fatigue starts to affect performance.
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Capacity underpins all endurance, regardless of what energy pathway is predominately active. Capacity determines if / how an athlete is able or unable to sustain consistent high outputs across plays, phases, sets or extended competition time.
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As such, capacity is the foundation for repeatability. Without adequate capacity, high intensity efforts deteriorate quickly - especially in repeat speed sports.
POWER
Power, on the other hand, is more about how energy is produced during each high intensity output.
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Power is what we think of when we think of intensity - hard accels, max velocity sprinting, contact and collisions, max effort outputs.
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Power can be a game-changer in singular, key moments - it can determine who wins a 50/50 ball, breaks the line, or makes a game-saving defensive play.
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But power has a very short lifespan…
CAPACITY supports POWER
In developments shocking no one if you’ve read to this point: you can’t express high power repeatedly without a strong foundation of capacity. This is where conditioning becomes performance-specific.
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Capacity supports recovery between power outputs. For example, the aerobic pathway helps muscle cells regenerate ATP at HUGE volumes and can facilitate the conversion of lactate from high outputs into glucose both of which support repeated high outputs.
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Capacity prevents significant drop-offs in power and speed. Better capacity means high intensity efforts STAY HIGH consistently high throughout a session or competition. It also supports longer duration high outputs.
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Sport demands both. True gamespeed isn’t just about how fast or hard you can go ONE TIME - it’s about how frequently you can repeat those efforts AND STILL EXECUTE technical skills under fatigue.
Want a 3 week sample program to improve capacity? Hit reply and I'll shoot it straight to your inbox!
Best,
Tim
PS: Remember the original Cohort? It’s coming back…keep an eye on your inbox for details and subscriber-only special pricing!
PPS: Want to learn more about how to design better conditioning sessions? Check out my Coaches’ Conditioning Course.
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