Hey all can someone please explain this?!
"Explain why continuous training above the anaerobic threshold would be detrimental to aerobic endurance?"
Hi so here's my thinking,
If you are constantly increasing your anaerobic threshold, you would get to a point where you can utilise your lactic or alactacid system for far longer than the 'standard' 15secs (ATP/PC system) or the 3-4mins (70% effort of the lactic acid system). This would be detrimental to aerobic endurance as you are utilised other systems for longer periods of time, which means that you won't be using your aerobic energy system as efficiently or even at all. Continuously training in above this threshold keeps almost pushing the point at which the aerobic system would kick in further away. (for lack of better explanation). This means that when perhaps you decide to go do some aerobic endurance based activity like a marathon run, you'll be fine for a little bit but when you actually start to utilise the aerobic system, you've trained only for anaerobic as your threshold kept becoming higher so you could never get into a state or time to train aerobically. Therefore, your endurance has been affected by this continuous training and creates further problems for other aerobic sports/activities.
Let me think of an example:
Let's say you are a professional sprinter - 400m (that weird in-between sprint and jog phase) and you want to be able to sprint the entirety of that race, you are going to train to increase your anaerobic threshold. Okay that's great, but now you decide you would like to enter in longer races such as the 800m or the 1500m. Your body is so used to (and really good at- efficient) using those anaerobic systems that once your aerobic system clocks in, you'll dramatically see a drop in performance. Even if you did try and train aerobically, due to your threshold being so high, you might not be even reaching the state to be training aerobically - and rather still training mainly on your lactic acid system.
Look, this is what I would do to answer that question, not 100% sure but I hoped it helps??
Nic