My journey into physiological testing and program design started approximately 20 years ago when working with ironman triathletes, skiers, cyclists and mountain bikers. All around me were coaches prescribing general triathlon programming without knowing their athlete’s specific performance limitations. How can I prescribe an athlete specific program to improve performance without identifying their limitation(s)?
Topics: Zones and Other Metrics
The last blog post discussed how to complete a 5-1-5 Assessment to evaluate which system: cardiac, pulmonary, or muscle oxidative capacity was most limiting to an athlete’s performance. In this post I will detail how to interpret the data to determine which system is most limiting. Upon completion of a 5-1-5 assessment, 2-3 graphs will need to be analyzed. 1) A total hemoglobin (THb) response graph which indicates how much blood is present underneath the sensor and 2) A muscle oxygen saturation (SmO2) response graph which indicates how much hemoglobin is oxygenated in the capillaries under the sensor. Optional: a third graph with heart rate response. Its typically more helpful to have the power/speed step graph overlaid with each graph to know when the power/speed is changing. Limitations are typically identified by trends in the THb and SmO2 response curves rather than by looking purely at the number values presented from the data. These trends help to identify the underlying physiology which then sheds light on the limitations being experienced during this assessment.
Topics: Zones and Other Metrics, Testing
In this post, I want to go beyond simply determining training intensity zones to determining what factor is limiting the performance intensity of the athlete.
Topics: Zones and Other Metrics
In this post, I will discuss how Muscle Oxygen monitoring is used to determine training intensity zones, and how it compares to the other methods. Specifically, I will analyze how we use our Moxy Monitor device to determine training intensity zones. As you read on, keep in mind that I assume the goal of performing any physiologic assessment is to gain information which can be used to help the athlete train more effectively.
Topics: Zones and Other Metrics
Functional Threshold Power (FTP) has become a very popular method for setting training intensity zones among cyclists. FTP seems to overcome some of the drawbacks of the other methods for setting training intensity zones that I’ve discussed so far.
Topics: Zones and Other Metrics
This is probably the single topic in this blog series on determining training intensity zones which is going to stir up the most controversy. I’ll start with a quick summary so you know where I’m headed with this, and then I’ll go into some more details. First a quick reminder: I’m an engineer trying to learn exercise physiology. As such, I don’t claim to be an expert, just an interested outsider.
Topics: Zones and Other Metrics
Here is the fourth post in my series on determining training intensity zones. Today’s topic focuses on using VO2 max to define training intensity zones for an individual athlete.
Topics: Zones and Other Metrics
This is the third post in my series on determining training intensity zones. The topic of this post is using Maximum Heart Rate to define training intensity zones for an individual athlete.
Topics: Zones and Other Metrics
Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) is the simplest method for setting training intensity zones. Essentially, the athlete self-reports how hard they are exercising. It is inherently subjective, since there is no way to externally verify what the athlete is feeling.
Topics: Zones and Other Metrics
