08/12/2025
12 Reasons Every Meathead Should Train Their Anaerobic System (With Science & Sweat Angels)
1. More Weight Moved, Faster
This is where the magic happens: the phosphocreatine system — your body’s emergency nitrous oxide kit — kicks in to blast the bar off your chest like a space launch. When you train anaerobically, you’re topping off that system so you can throw down rep after bone-snapping rep.
(Bogdanis, Nevill, Boobis, & Lakomy, 1996)
2. The PR Switch
Your nervous system is like a drunk race car driver — it’s either asleep at the wheel or screaming at redline. Anaerobic training teaches it to go from couch potato to PR crusher in milliseconds.
(Ross & Leveritt, 2001)
3. Lactate Intervals = Pain Tolerance
You know that burning, molten-lava-leg feeling? That’s hydrogen ions stacking up like angry peeps seeing gym BroZ curling in the squat rack. Training anaerobically lets you swim in that fire longer before your muscles wave the white flag.
(Edge, Bishop, Goodman, & Dawson, 2006)
4. Sprint Carryover to Lifting
Sprints aren’t just for track nerds — they torch your Type II fibers into becoming high-voltage meat pistons, primed for explosive lifts and bar speeds that make spotters nervous. Don't worry, you can do sprint type motions with the rower and assault bike so your hamstrings don't go a popping.
(Esbjörnsson‐Liljedahl, Jansson, & Sundberg, 1999)
5. Anti–Gassed Out Syndrome
Ever crush your first couple of sets and then suddenly feel like someone unplugged you from the wall? Anaerobic training rewires your recovery so you can keep swinging that hammer all session.
(Bailey et al., 2009)
6. Enzyme Explosion
You want carb-to-ATP conversion at warp speed? Anaerobic work floods your muscle with glycolytic enzymes like phosphofructokinase, turning pasta into PRs faster than you can say “post-meet cheat meal.”
(Burgomaster et al., 2006) Side note- this is true, but how trainable it is is up for debate 😮
7. Mental Brutality Training
There’s nowhere to hide in a true anaerobic set. The bar doesn’t care about your feelings. The clock doesn’t care about your excuses. You either finish the work or the work finishes you — and that’s how you build meathead grit.
(Paterson & Warburton, 2010)
8. Bigger “Gas Tank” for Heavy Singles
Anaerobic training is like giving your phosphagen and glycolytic systems a bigger ammo clip — you can fire off more max-effort lifts without turning into a sweaty heap of regret after the second set.
(McCartney, Spriet, & Heigenhauser, 1986)
9. Injury-Proof Your Explosiveness
Tendons and ligaments don’t get stronger from Netflix marathons. You’ve got to load them hard and fast so they adapt like Kevlar cables — ready for when you have to rip a deadlift in anger.
(Magnusson & Kjaer, 2019) Side note: collagen and isometrics still reign king here thought
10. Heart Rate Weaponization
You spike your heart rate into “hey, there is a fuzzy white Buffalo in the sky now" territory… and then train your body to bring it back down fast. That means faster between-set recovery and less looking like you’re dying between squat triples.
(Gibala et al., 2012)
11. VO₂ Max Overdrive
Everyone thinks VO₂ max is for marathon nerds. Wrong. HIIT and anaerobic work can push that ceiling higher so you can handle more pain, more work, and more domination under the bar. Especially if you are weaker on the power end of the spectrum - which we show you how to test.
(Helgerud et al., 2007)
12. Brain-Wire Speed
When you train anaerobically, you hardwire your brain-to-muscle connection for faster, cleaner signals. That means your heavy lifts fire like laser-guided missiles instead of drunk bottle rockets.
(Van Cutsem, Marcora, & Duchateau, 2017)
There you go. My top dozen reasons to train your anaerobic system with some true high intensity interval based work.
I do deep in the research, principles and exact protocols that I use to do just that.....but it closes tonight at midnight PST.
link in the first comment
Much love and metabolic mayhem!
Dr Mike
References
Bailey, S. J., Wilkerson, D. P., Dimenna, F. J., & Jones, A. M. (2009). Influence of repeated sprint training on pulmonary O₂ uptake and muscle deoxygenation kinetics in humans. Journal of Applied Physiology, 106(6), 1875–1887.
Bogdanis, G. C., Nevill, M. E., Boobis, L. H., & Lakomy, H. K. (1996). Contribution of phosphocreatine and aerobic metabolism to energy supply during repeated sprint exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology, 80(3), 876–884.
Burgomaster, K. A., Heigenhauser, G. J., & Gibala, M. J. (2006). Effect of short-term sprint interval training on human skeletal muscle carbohydrate metabolism during exercise and time-trial performance. Journal of Applied Physiology, 100(6), 2041–2047.
Edge, J., Bishop, D., Goodman, C., & Dawson, B. (2006). Effects of high- and moderate-intensity training on metabolism and repeated sprints. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 38(7), 1224–1231.
Esbjörnsson‐Liljedahl, M., Jansson, E., & Sundberg, C. J. (1999). Morphological and metabolic response in human muscle to repeated sprints. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica, 167(3), 283–292.
Gibala, M. J., Little, J. P., MacDonald, M. J., & Hawley, J. A. (2012). Physiological adaptations to low‐volume, high‐intensity interval training in health and disease. The Journal of Physiology, 590(5), 1077–1084.
Helgerud, J., Høydal, K., Wang, E., Karlsen, T., Berg, P., Bjerkaas, M., … & Hoff, J. (2007). Aerobic high‐intensity intervals improve VO₂max more than moderate training. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 39(4), 665–671.
Magnusson, S. P., & Kjaer, M. (2019). The impact of loading, unloading, ageing and injury on the human tendon. Journal of Physiology, 597(5), 1283–1298.
McCartney, N., Spriet, L. L., & Heigenhauser, G. J. (1986). Muscle power and metabolism in maximal intermittent exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology, 60(4), 1164–1169.
Paterson, D. H., & Warburton, D. E. (2010). Physical activity and functional limitations in older adults: A systematic review related to Canada's Physical Activity Guidelines. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 7, 38.
Ross, A., & Leveritt, M. (2001). Long‐term metabolic and skeletal muscle adaptations to short‐sprint training: Implications for sprint training and tapering. Sports Medicine, 31(15), 1063–1082.
Van Cutsem, J., Marcora, S., & Duchateau, J. (2017). The role of muscle afferents in the development of central fatigue in humans. Journal of Physiology, 595(11), 3351–3364.
