What is Energy System Development (ESD)?
ESD is a training method that aims to increase the efficiency of energy metabolism to improve your performance. To ESD is a training method that aims to increase the efficiency of energy metabolism to improve your performance. To understand how it works, you must first understand how the human body produces energy. Three physiological systems work together throughout training to produce energy;
FIRST GEAR | Anaerobic Alactic (immediate energy). This is the fastest and most powerful system. This system works without oxygen, doesn’t produce lactic acid and lasts for 0:01 – 0:30 seconds.
SECOND GEAR | Anaerobic Lactic (short-term energy). Works without oxygen, produces lactic acid and lasts 0:30 – 4:00 minutes. Lactic acid is a by-product which causes fatigue. Our goal is to reduce the body’s exposure to lactic acid so we can perform at a higher level for longer.
THIRD GEAR | Aerobic (long-term energy). Uses oxygen and is the main engine used for efforts over 4 minutes.
The ESD method aims to increase the efficiency of generating energy from nutrients to improve your athletic performance. This increased efficiency in energy production prolongs the point during exercise when your body must switch from aerobic to anaerobic metabolism. This is called your Anaerobic Threshold.
By increasing your Anaerobic Threshold, we’re decreasing your exposure to the accumulation of by-products (lactic acid), which eventually will produce fatigue. Prolonging the onset of fatigue and increasing your cardiovascular fitness training performance means numerous positives for you. First is an improvement in your VO2 max, a measure of endurance that calculates the maximum volume of oxygen the body can use. Second, the more aerobically fit you are, the better your heart can pump blood around your body, the longer it takes you to get puffed out, and the farther and faster you’re able to perform a particular exercise. And that, in turn, can help prevent heart disease.
The ESD style of HIIT cardio training also revs your metabolism and makes you burn calories long after your workout is over. Plus, it increases your ability to hold onto and even build muscle. Why is this important? Your resting metabolic rate is directly influenced by the amount of lean muscle you have. The more muscle on your body and the less fat, the higher your metabolic rate – which means you can eat more without gaining fat – because muscle uses a lot more energy than fat while at rest.
