support a high rate of physical activity for a relatively short period of time, perhaps 30-45 seconds or so. The aerobic system, on the other hand, provides a much longer term energy supply for the body’s activities, but one that requires a longer time to bring up to peak performance. Subsequently, its peak performance level is then suited to keeping the body operating at an elevated, but not peak, performance level for a much longer period of time. The aerobic system is the energy system that drives the body during routine activities. It is a highly throttleable system. In sports terms, the anaerobic system is for sprinters while the aerobic system is for long distance runners. There’s an interesting anecdote that well illustrates the distinct characteristics and value of these two energy systems.

The sport of competitive swimming is very much about building the body’s energy systems to peak performance levels and then optimizing the actual swimming of races to make the best use of all the energy available to the swimmer. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea, the swimmers Daichi Suzuki (Japan) and David Berkoff (USA) made use of a startling new starting technique in the 100 M backstroke event. Berkoff swam 33 meters of the first 50-meter lap completely underwater using only a dolphin kick, surfacing just before the turn, far ahead of his competition. Suzuki, who actually won the race, used the underwater kick for only a slightly shorter distance at the start of the race and following each turn. This technique was very effective in improving the times of both swimmers due to two effects: (a) an underwater kick of this length makes use almost exclusively of the body’s anaerobic energy system while during the remainder of the race they utilized their aerobic energy systems, meaning that by the end of the race, the swimmers had expended the maximum amount of their bodies’ available energy; they didn’t bring anything back to the wall with them, and (b) the underwater dolphin kick is much more powerful than the often used flutter kick at the start and turns of a backstroke race, so the longer it can be maintained, the faster the swimmer goes and the greater time advantage the swimmer has. This tactical approach to the race was termed the Berkoff Blastoff after its originator. However, the approach made such a dramatic change in the appearance and times of the backstroke event that the rules for the stroke were changed shortly after the Olympic Games to limit the swimmers to a 10 meters distance at the start, and at each turn, before they are required to surface and actually swim the backstroke. This distance was increased to 15 meters in later years.

The basic energy store found within every cell is comprised of molecules of adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. ATP functions like a battery, storing energy in the form of phosphate radicals when surplus energy is available and releasing energy in the form of these same phosphate radicals when the cell requires energy. The trigger for the release of energy within the cell is the enzyme ATP synthase. The ATP molecule itself is comprised of a sugar molecule (ribose), a nucleic acid base (adenine) and three phosphate groups. The energy required for cell processes is actually derived from the phosphate groups. Under control of the ATP synthase enzyme, one or more of the phosphate groups are stripped from the ATP molecule in a reaction that leaves adenosine diphosphate. If there is not an immediate energy requirement signaled by the enzyme, then any available food such as phosphate-creatine and muscle glycogen, or sunlight in the case of plants, is used to manufacture ATP from the adenosine diphosphate available in the cell. Photophosphorylation is the process used by plants and oxidative phosphorylation is used within animal cells. This is all part of the chemiosmotic theory of cellular energy process, with Peter Mitchell receiving a Nobel Prize in 1978 for his original formulation. The discovery of the detailed workings of the ATP molecule subsequently earned the Nobel Prize in 1997 for three researchers: John Walker from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, Paul Boyer from the University of California at Los Angeles in the United States and Jens Skou from Aarhus University in Denmark.

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