VO2max // The size of the engine
From swimming sprints to 90-minute football matches, the maximum aerobic capacity (VO2max) is the most critical performance metric that needs to be looked at.
As often misunderstood, VO2max is not restricted by raw physical talent, but it can be trained to unknown maximums. VO2max is also a metric that responds quickly to training, so it needs to be monitored regularly.
When you start a training program with LowLands Cycling, I will test your VO2max and plan a training plan tailored to further increase your VO2max. Through our performance software, we also can:
· Compare the effect of high-intensity training and endurance workouts on VO2max.
· Evaluate the impact of specialized nutrition regimes to increase VO2max further.
· Understand the impact of VO2max on fat oxidation and carbohydrate combustion.
VLAmax // Elite Coaches secret weapon disclosed
VLAmax can be looked at from two different sides. From one side, a low VLamax would increase your anaerobic threshold, your fat combustion, and it would shorten your recovery time from hard efforts.
On the other hand, a high VLamax increases the power available for attacks, sprints, and short efforts. The anaerobic capacity can make the difference between winning and losing a race: the final lap, the final sprint, the final push – they are all decided by your glycolytic power.
Vlamax is the most important metric you should focus on and train according to. You may have never heard of INSCYD up until last year, because it was used only by pro teams and national federations. But now its benefits are opened to everyone, and you can finally start connecting all the dots that compose your performances: metrics, training adaptations, and race predictions.
Don’t waste your time training the wrong way. Get tested with us, I know your VLamax – and tailor your training according to it.
Here is what Dan Lorang, coach of IRONMAN world champion Jan Frodeno says about VLamax:
“You really know what to work on if you know the VLamax”
— DAN LORANG - HIGH PERFORMANCE COACH OF IRONMAN WORLD CHAMPION JAN FRODENO
I can help you to create a training program tailored to improve this precious performance metric, to optimize:
· Fat Combustion
· Carbohydrate sparing
· Anaerobic Threshold (FTP Power)
· Ability to recover from hard efforts
· Sprint performance
Anaerobic Threshold
It is commonly known and accepted that there is a critical intensity (or power) as the highest intensity that allows for a “steady state” in your metabolism. People call this the anaerobic threshold, critical power, or velocity. Everybody knows it exists and everybody wants to increase it.
The commonly used methods to determine the anaerobic threshold are based on empirical findings within a specific population. But this has led to a lot of misunderstanding around the anaerobic threshold and has restricted its assessment to some non-specific protocols. The most significant shortfall on the empirical determination of the anaerobic threshold is that it doesn't provide any insight into why the anaerobic threshold is what it is.
By testing your AT with me, you’ll get it tested according to its primary definition: the maximum intensity at which lactate combustion equals lactate production. These tests will benefit you with an improved understanding of your own performances and how they’re composed. More precisely, you’ll then get to:
· Know the influence of physiological metrics on your anaerobic threshold.
· Reduce the standard error of determination of the anaerobic threshold to < 3%.
· Calculate the enhancement of the anaerobic threshold by improving a single performance metric.
Lactate accumulation & recovery
In disciplines with random interval-type work demand, such as cycling or football, repeated high-intensity efforts are unavoidable.
Every bout of sprinting and attacking may result in lactate accumulation. The duration and intensity that an athlete can recover from these efforts are crucial.
The ability to use lactate as a fuel and to use it to optimize your performance is absolutely crucial in high-intensity sports. These kinds of capabilities are highly trainable, and with me, you can start training them for real, and see the real benefits in a very short time.
Economy // Decrypting the speed hack
We’re sure you have heard of economy; running economy, cycling economy, swimming economy… the word is used across all disciplines. But very few actually understand it, forget about measuring it.
So, what economy really is?
· Economy relates to the conversion of energy into speed or power (depending on what you measure).
· Understanding economy means understanding how much energy is needed to move at a certain speed or produce a certain power.
· The amount of energy available is a matter of physical ability, but how fast an athlete moves with that energy is a whole different story.
Decrypt the key to go fast:
· Economy is the single most crucial parameter in free motion sports such as running and swimming. Obtaining insight into your economy will become a competitive advantage.
· Assess the impact of a prescribed training regime on changes in economy.
· Monitor economy regularly and tune it to your training programs.
· The software we use to evaluate you is a high-precision tool that allows you to capture the effect of different equipment such as running shoes or wetsuits and their energy cost at various speeds.
Fat combustion
Fat combustion is the bottleneck of endurance performance in sports like running and triathlon. I’m also able to measure and track this metric through our performance software. So you can create strategies to increase your energy expenditure from fat and thereby enhance your performance.
Why?
· Fat combustion rates are highly individual metrics.
· Accurately understanding fat combustion is crucial in endurance sports.
· Significant differences are observed both between different athletes and between other states of training in the same athletes at different times.
· Knowing the FatMax Zone allows you to train fat combustion most efficiently.
Carbohydrates combustion
It is also crucial to understand precisely how much carbohydrates you burn during exercise. With this understanding, you can find the perfect level of fueling for your training and races, and which level will fatigue or enhance your performance.
Fuel to perform
· Focus on carbohydrate combustion and get tailored nutrition plans.
· Perfecting intake of carbohydrates is trainable but needs to be practiced.
· Adjust the pacing and plan a fueling strategy to avoid running out of fuel.
Conventional assessment of carbohydrate combustion based on gas analyses has significant limitations. Not only are they lab-based test only, but they also get affected by nutrition status. Scientific research has shown that neglecting lactate measurements when assessing carbohydrate combustion from gas exchange is misleading.
Through our performance software you can finally compare your lactate production and compare it to the carbohydrate combustion one. The only way to produce lactate is by breaking down carbohydrates; thus lactate production is directly linked to carbohydrate combustion.
Measure these metrics where it matters: on the track, on the climb, and on the field.
