Threshold Part 1 - Introduction & Energy Systems

'Threshold' is a word you can't avoid in endurance sport. But what does it mean? And how do newer views of exercise physiology improve our understanding of where our barriers lie?

Most serious endurance athletes will have an idea of where their 'threshold' lies - whether FTP for cyclists, HM pace for runners, CSS for swimmers. The usual understanding is that above 'threshold', exercise is associated with a gradual rise in the evil lactic acid, which eventually causes the athlete to have to stop. Below threshold, lactate stays steady. Some models appear to allow the athlete to go on forever, but others suggest (and the real world demonstrates) that exhaustion still occurs, and the athlete must stop for what is presumably an entirely different reason.

I had this planned as one post, then two, then more - I'm not sure now, but I think breaking it up into bits is going to help avoid head-spinning.

I'll start with a quick review of energy systems:

Interval types

PPO, Pmax, FTP, VO2max: Reading the literature, and even blogs, on interval training can prove a nightmare as authors demonstrate that their chosen training method produces wonderful results - but leave you with the nightmare of working out how to carry out out in your garage.

I'm hoping in this post to go through a few terms I've seen and how they relate to each other so it's possible to use studies in your own training. This will assume you have a power meter (or software allowing you to use your turbo as a virtual power meter, eg PerfPro or Trainerroad).

I'll be describing intensities in terms of FTP; not because I agree with FTP as a concept, but because it's the main metric used by power-geeks and their software.

Four By Four

I'm often asked for turbo sessions so I thought I'd detail one of my favourites - the Four By Four. If I had to choose just one session it'd be this one. It's a total of 25 minutes plus warmup, but it can be so hard I have to get a friend in for moral support.

Simply put:

• Warm up (I usually take about 15 minutes, with some bursts)
• 4 minutes on
• 3 minutes off (some people take 4 but I find it's too much)
• Repeat for a total of 4

Stash!

As a former Boatie I have learned that the best part of being part of a team is the inevitable kit stash.

LePirate Belay Glasses

 

Seems a strange item to be reviewing on here, but I've finally solved a problem that's been plaguing me since the start of my heavy turbo use over the last few months.

Another attempt

Attempts at perfection are the enemy of progress. I had a clear idea what I wanted to do with this blog, but frankly trying to make it perfect meant I rarely ended up publishing anything!

As part of some research work I've read about the CRAPL - an attempt to justify releasing half-baked code and ideas on the basis that it's far more useful for people to read something badly-written than to read nothing at all!

So I've binned off a fair bit of the blog, and will try to make a better effort to put stuff up here - on the basis that it'll not be quite what I intended, but more like a series of post-it notes with bits of information that hopefully you might find useful. I'm planning kit and race reviews, training ideas, and I have a keen interest in physiology so there'll probably be some geeked-out posts too.

I've become a member of Team Zoot Europe so there will probably be a fair bit of Zoot kit - I'm hopefully getting a pair of the new Makai shoes before too long to try out, amongst others. See you out there!

Historical Kit - 2015

Current Kit

General

Race belt: Powerman belt (race freebie)
Trisuit: Blueseventy TRIdistance or custom club/GB agegroup kit (GB is a Z3r0d uSuit)
Nutrition (gels): High5 Energy Gel (&Plus)
Nutrition (drink): High5 Energy Source
Nutrition (recovery): Myprotein Recovery XS (aka Post Workout)
Watch: Garmin 920XT
Turbo: Wahoo Kickr

Swim

Wetsuit: Zone 3 Vanquish
Goggles: Aqua Sphere Kayenne
Cap: Blueseventy neoprene cap

Bike

Bike: Quintana Roo Cd0.1 (58cm)
Front wheel: Zipp 808 Firecrest clincher
Rear wheel: Flo Disc
Power meter: Rotor Power Cranks (3D+)
Aero bars: Deda Fastblack 2
Saddle: ISM Adamo Attack
Shoes: DMT New Breeze (48)
Hydration: Speedfil A2
Carrier: XLab Turbo Wing
Helmet: Giro Selector

Run

Shoes: Saucony Virrata (UK14)

Other things I have been using

Speedo STR Pro wetsuit (training only)
Saucony Kinvara 2 shoes
Nike Free 3.0 shoes
HealthRider H150T treadmill
Moxy muscle oximeter
Sufferfest training videos
Perfpro Studio training software

Kit I'd like to try

(Feel free to contact me if you're a company representative and fancy a review!)
New Balance Minimus Hi-Rez shoes
Integrated bar setup
Stryd running power meter
Aero (short sleeve) trisuit