The practical aspect of "conditioning" is that it becomes an act of preparing/training the body for what is to come next. For this exercise, it is the game of lacrosse. Back to the body: there are three main energy systems for handling different tasks — the aerobic/oxidative system, which is used primarily in long-distance type events; the anaerobic/lactate system, which is used for higher-intensity exercises lasting up to a minute and a half; and the anaerobic/ATP system, which is used for very intense movements, lasting less than 10 seconds. Lacrosse is primarily a combination of the last two. This might make a lot of players stop and wonder whether their conditioning plan actually IS what the doctor ordered.

Dissection: During the course of a game, a lacrosse player might, in fact, run upwards of three to five miles. But upon closer inspection of the actual movements that go into the total distance, we see that most of the running is actually sprints ranging from 10 to 50 yards, depending on the position. These sprints are then strung together by some slow jogging or walking, and yes, there are even periods where players are standing around.

This more accurate analysis would have lacrosse athletes calling upon those last two energy systems mentioned. If we really watched the game and broke it down into average energy system required, again, averaged by position, we would end up with numbers that looked something like this: 60% Anaerobic/ATP, 20% Anaerobic/Lactate and 20% Aerobic.

Unlike the (unfortunate) conditioning that has become somewhat "standard," these sport-specific facts cast serious doubt on the old notion that running and running and running for hours on end actually prepares lacrosse players for anything other than long-distance running. While it can be a small percentage of conditioning training, the emphasis is on SMALL.