Energy Systems: A Bird’s Eye View

Tailoring your training to fit your specific energy system needs

Have you ever been in a gym or performing a workout and ask yourself if what you are doing is right for you? That’s a valid question and to be honest what you are doing may be having the opposite effect on what your training goals are.

Truthfully, not many of us know much about energy systems and the impact they have in our training. It can take us from good to great or from good to injured or “running in place.” Let’s take a brief, 30,000-foot view at energy systems and see if you can apply them to what you’re doing now!

The Different Types of Energy Systems

There are 3 primary energy systems that our body uses. These 3 get broken down further… but for today, let’s start with just the three: The phosphagen, glycolytic and oxidative systems.

All of these systems can be manipulated to match the sport you’re in or to get you the training effect you desire. Your training goal can be anything (generating power, gaining strength, leaning out, or adding muscle mass) and as long as you understand which energy system umbrella that goal falls under, you can effectively select exercises, durations and intensities to get the result you want!

Phosphagen System

The phosphagen system is the home of the explosive, short & intense activity or movement. These movements typically last from 0–10 seconds. Reps performed in a set tend to fall between 1–5 and is the nearest of all three systems to a “max” load when strength training. Think 80% and higher.

When performing training bouts in this energy system it is smart to monitor your work-rest ratio… you may be going too fast. Training here requires longer rest times. Short distance sprinting, jumping and short duration agility drills fall under this umbrella as well. Most sport training can take elements from this energy system and effectively implement them into their programming. Strength is gained in this energy system as well as nurturing the development of the coveted fast twitch muscle fiber.

If you play a sport that has primarily explosive bursts (~10 seconds) followed by an increment of rest, this is where you spend your time training. Football, gymnastics, baseball, basketball, and a golf swing are all primarily played here.

Glycolytic System

The glycolytic system is the main system used when performing “all-out” exercise ranging from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. The duration of the movement is important to consider in this energy system. Reps performed in a set tend to be from 5–10 at submaximal loads. Somewhere between 60–80%.

Think about the movements you already do that turn this system on. Running 200m around a track. Performing sets in the weight room that require longer isometric or eccentric loading. Almost every population can benefit from having elements of the glycolytic system in their training. For groups that have a relatively low training age, this is a great place to do most of your training. It allows you to create a training base while you emphasize technique. This is the golden area for muscle hypertrophy (muscle growth). Soccer, hockey, rowing and mid-distance swimmers all play major parts of their game while using this system.

Oxidative System

The oxidative system is the most complex when looking at it from a scientific standpoint. This energy system is revved up once you push your training past 2 minutes. Think about people going for long jogs, swimmers, bike riders, and distance athletes. Sprinkling in this type of training for athletes who don’t perform their sport in higher than 2-minute increments is wise only for the fact that it increases the athletes aerobic capacity or conditioning level.

You find this most in conditioning exercises. If used sparingly, it can be beneficial to your programming. If overused, it can make an explosive athlete less twitchy and make it tougher to generate power for their sport. Walking, swimming, and cross-country are all under this umbrella.

Now it’s time to evaluate yourself. Where does most of your training fall? Take into account the duration, reps and intensity or the activity. If your training has no definitive energy system then it may be rendered ineffective. A well-rounded training program highlights a specific system that most of their population falls under and implements small doses of other systems to create the whole athlete.