Why Strength and Conditioning Matter

"Fatigue makes cowards of us all." - General George Patton, 1944

Sport tests character and competence. Extended competition tends to degrade both.

Legendary pitcher Johnny Sain said, "If running did it, they'd look for pitchers on track teams." He used this quote to justify his controversial belief that throwing was a more important training tool than running drills. Another saying went, "you don't run the ball across the plate."

Nevertheless, tradition dictated conditioning for pitchers. We had an annual "Pitcher's Mile" on an elevated, indoor track at Briggs Cage. It felt more like competition than training. In 1976, my personal best was 5:07. That wasn't the best time among all the pitchers. 

Volleyball tests you physically and especially mentally. The long matches and long rallies measure your skill and your focus. The players who have paid the "training price" often stand up well "close and late."

The purest measure of aerobic fitness is "maximal oxygen consumption" or VO2max. This is measurable with a cycle ergometer and metabolic cart, neither of which are readily available. The Cooper 12-minute run is a good substitute. Athletes run as far as possible in 12 minutes. 

The original Cooper equation is:

VO₂max (mL/kg/min) = (Distance in meters − 504.9) ÷ 44.73

The equation is not sex-specific—the physiology is already reflected in the distance covered. Normative interpretations differ by age and sex, but the equation itself is the same.

Here's a practical table for female athletes:

12-Minute Distance	Miles	Estimated VO₂max
1800 m	1.12	28.9
1900 m	1.18	31.1
2000 m	1.24	33.4
2100 m	1.30	35.6
2200 m	1.37	37.8
2300 m	1.43	40.1
2400 m	1.49	42.3
2500 m	1.55	44.5
2600 m	1.62	46.8
2700 m	1.68	49.0
2800 m	1.74	51.2
2900 m	1.80	53.5
3000 m	1.86	55.7
3100 m	1.93	57.9

Suggested interpretation for high school girls

Estimated VO₂max	General Rating
<35	Below average
35–40	Average
40–45	Good
45–50	Excellent
50–55	Exceptional
>55	Elite endurance capacity

The point isn't to train "for a test" but to train mental toughness. Can we build a model of 'fitness' and 'resilience'? We can approximate.

Perhaps fatigue does something even more specific. It exposes which behaviors survive stress.

State	What is revealed?
Fresh	Talent
Moderate fatigue	Conditioning
Severe fatigue	Habits
Extreme competitive pressure	Character

Decades ago, three-sport athletes were, if not the norm, not the exception. You didn't have to get in shape because athletes competed in various sports year round. 

It's not a one to one correlation, but conditioning correlates with mental toughness in elite athletes. 

Keep grinding.