Evaluating the Relationships between Muscle Oxygenation, Ventilation, and Lactate Thresholds

The next generation approach to metabolic profiling and training prescription will almost certainly not include breakpoints or thresholds at all, and will use more flexible methods of describing continuous physiological response profiles in real-time. I think that by defining the rules which our brains are already using to find patterns, we will be able to better understand the real physiological relationships for an individual athlete, and improve how we can apply insights to that individual athlete's training.

Why Perform Hard-Start VO2max Intervals?

Hard-start intervals use an initial hard effort at a power output above what would be sustainable for the intended interval duration, to enhance oxygen uptake and cardiac output. Let's talk about some of the reasons for why we might want to perform hard-start intervals, when they might be appropriate for our training, and when they might not be.

Workload, Intensity, and VO2max Trainability

Here are some of my current thoughts and questions on the topic of VO2max trainability, time near VO2max, hard-start and intermittent intervals, and adaptations toward capacity and efficiency.

Speculating on Physiology in the Lab vs on the Road

For this experiment we wanted to look at physiological response to the same workout in the LAB vs in the FIELD. It's fascinating! There are a lot of conflicting and equivocal findings, ultimately suggesting that there is a high degree of individual variability in how each of us produce power across modalities and conditions.

Comparing VO2 Master Pro to TrueOne 2400 – Part 2

The 5-1 assessment we run is a submaximal intermittent step test that uses NIRS and VO2 to identify physiological thresholds and training zones. I've mentioned it before. We use the general terms ‘Aerobic Threshold’ (AeT) and ‘Anaerobic Thresholds’ (AnT) for the first and second breakpoints respectively, and a polarized 3-zone model between these thresholds. The … Continue reading Comparing VO2 Master Pro to TrueOne 2400 – Part 2 →