Archive for the ‘power training’ Category

Bike Wheels on a Gravel Road

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

It’s cold here in Central Virginia.  Now I know those of you living up north may scoff at our idea of cold, but it was 20 degrees last Saturday morning when we headed out for our ride.  Yes, you read that right, I actually got myself out for a ride well below my usual cutoff of 32 degrees and dry.  And yes, I did come back with all my digits and other body parts neither frozen nor frostbitten (though it was touch and go for a bit there with the toes and nose). In all seriousness,though, I was quite comfortable, especially by the end of the ride when it warmed to a balmy 25, mainly because the ride was mostly on gravel roads. (more…)

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Hormonal Response to Training

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

We all know that training in certain levels stimulates different physiological responses — training around thre shold is a great way to induce mitochondrial biogenesis while training in the anaerobic zone will help improve the amount of work you can perform using anaerobic energy systems.  But one adaptation that doesn’t always get discussed is hormonal responses to training, and I was surprised to find that performing certain workouts are more effective at stimulating the body to produce hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone, so if you want to boost your body’s production of these hormones without recourse to any special “preparations” (i.e. doping), read on.

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A Three Minute Threshold Test?

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010

I stumbled upon the work of some exercise physiologists in the UK who did some work on a 3′ test to determine Critical Power, which correlates closely with functional threshold power, the number upon which we base training levels.  Normally, we determine this number through some sort of time trial (e.g. the ubiquitous 20′ tt taking the average power for that duration and multiplying it by some percentage, usually 95%). Vanhatalo? et al? have argued that the average power during the last 30″ of a 3′ all out effort closely approximates that number.

So, does this mean that the days of doing a monthly time trial are over?  I’m not so sure, but it is an interesting avenue to explore. (more…)

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