In rugby we condition just about every day and some of the workouts are very strenuous and push us into heavy lactate buildup. We\u2019ll run repeated full-speed suicide-style sprints across the field with very short breaks and then run another rep. When pushing myself my muscles abandon aerobic metabolism and switch over to anaerobic pathways. Glucose gets broken down into pyruvate, and because I end up sprinting too hard for oxygen to keep up, that pyruvate gets turned into lactate almost instantly. Strangely, learning the science behind this actually made my conditioning feel more manageable. Now, when I\u2019m in the middle of those brutal sprints, I think about what\u2019s happening inside my body, and it motivates me to keep going. Understanding the process takes away the mystery and gives me something concrete to focus on during the toughest parts of training. It helps me push through the discomfort knowing it\u2019s all part of getting stronger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In rugby we condition just about every day and some of the workouts are very strenuous and push us into heavy lactate buildup. We\u2019ll run repeated full-speed suicide-style sprints across the field with very short breaks and then run another … Continue reading