Aerobic Work for Non Endurance Sports

It is a given that we need to develop the aerobic component. The fundamental dichotomy is how to develop the aerobic power necessary to recover from the short intense bursts of activity that occur in a game without compromising the explosive power necessary for optimal performance during the bursts. It is during the bursts that actual game performance is measured and decided. To do this necessitates thinking and acting outside the box. Volumes of research literature and thousands of doctoral dissertations have been written on all the various factors of aerobic exercise. This is because it is a very measurable quality. Max VO2 is easy to measure; it is still considered the gold standard lab test to measure aerobic fitness. Remember, what is convenient is not always right. I maintain that taken out of context it is an overrated measure, especially for team sport athletes. I have seen basketball teams that have put an inordinate emphasis on aerobic fitness test well on aerobic fitness tests and be able to run forever, but not have the quick bursts necessary to compete in the game. Research has shown that sustained aerobic work will significantly compromise explosive power. For the intermittent sprint and transition sport athlete time whose games demand repetitive sprint ability and the ability to quickly recover from those bouts of high intensity work the effort could be better spent in other areas. Those athletes do not need max VO2 tests to test the aerobic component. Experience and research has shown that VO2 max an unreliable predictor of performance, especially for these athletes.