Anaerobic endurance refers to the ability to sustain intense, short duration activity such as weight lifting or sprinting. Anaerobic means "without oxygen". During anaerobic work, involving maximum effort, the body is putting forth so much effort that the demands for oxygen and fuel exceed the rate of supply; the muscles have to rely on the stored reserves of fuel. The muscles, being deprived of oxygen, go into what is known as oxygen debt. The body's stored fuel soon runs out and activity ceases - painfully. This is called lactic threshold or anaerobic threshold or onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA). Activity will not be resumed until the lactic acid is removed and the oxygen debt is repaid. Fortunately, the body can resume limited activity after even only a small proportion of th