Okay, going anaerobic has nothing to do with the amount of muscle/liver glycogen storage. Aanerobic respiration is related to the exertion that you put your body under. You pretty much have it explained already: don't go out too fast or you'll ruin yourself. Anaerobic respiration is a type of energy creation process (and by energy I mean ATP - the cellular energy source), comparable to aerobic respiration which requires the same substrates (and oxygen), to produce ATP in a much more effective way. Think of it as a car, if you drive sedately, you'll get 6L/100km or whatever. If you put the pedal to the floor, you'll get 22L/100km or whatever. Same energy source, but the conversion process is much more efficient in aerobic (sedately) vs anaerobic (hammer time). I agree with you that people don't know how to train effectively, and believe that hard, all-day-every-day is the way to go. Hell, I did before I started university and was exposed to proper human physiology and the ability to critically read a research article. What needs to be emphasised is that anaerobic respiration is not a process that can continue for extended periods of time. Usain Bolt uses almost 100% anaerboic respiration, for a max of probably 20-30s (I dont think he could go at that speed for much longer than that). What people tend to do is ride above their anaerobic threshold/lactate threshold, which as has been described is an inefficient, non-sustainable process. But it is not the only process occurring. Respiration (at a cellular level) is a balance of aerobic and anaerobic. At exertion levels below the lactate threshold, the dominant force is aerobic respiration (the engine that lets you ride 200km at 60% exertion), as you get further above the lactate threshold to maximum intensity, the balance between aerobic and anaerobic respiration shifts toward anaerobic. In the Usain Bolt example, he is probably going at 5/95% ratio. Most of us, when pushing on a climb/end of a race @80-90% max are at a ratio of 60/40 (thumbsucked values, but the concept is what I'm trying to illustrate). And that 40% is what ends a ride. It uses up way too much fuel, it creates unwanted byproducts. The 60% is still chugging along at its efficient pace. If I'm coming across correctly, that is why if you go too hard in the first 30-60mins of the race, you completely deplete your glycogen stores and "bonk"/"hit the wall" etc... I agree the body needs to be trained, and the fat primed comment was not aimed at you at all. Training increases your body's efficiency (hence a hard day of intervals will raise the lactate threshold and your VO2max), which will shift the relationship toward aerobic metabolism at higher intensities. Nope, carboloading hypersaturates your glycogen stores. Glycogen depletion is what happens when you bonk/hit the wall, and you body cannot adequately mobilise fuel to match your requirements, thus your performance drops substantially. Carboloading for a weekend warrior is effective and has been proven in multiple studies. In trained athletes it is more effective, as their bodies are more efficient at using fuel, but the process of hypersaturating your glycogen stores is just as effective.
