Road Cycling · Public discussion

ReL lactate testing / training

Started by Andy Coggan · · Last activity · 1 post · 376 views

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Road Cycling
Published
15 July 2004
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Andy Coggan
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  1. Quoted message said:
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    "warren" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

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    > > Actually it's the experience and knowledge that shows that "one


    size

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    > > fits all" is often not the best one can do with the information


    and

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    > > training plans built around "one-size-fits-all" are not optimal.

    > You're confusing a scheme for classifying training


    intensities/workouts with

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    > a training plan.

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    No, I'm not. You are using one size fits all approach to setting the
    zones based on information that is more limited than can otherwise be
    obtained.

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    Right.........


    Of course you respond in this way. You have your own little agenda to
    protect.

    And what agenda is that? Mine is a strictly volunteer effort - if people at
    USAC, the AIS, the (former) Mapei training center, TrainingBible, etc.,
    appreciate my efforts, great. If they don't, no skin off of my nose.

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    If your "one-size-fits-all" approach is truly the best YOU can
    come up with then it's another indication of your lack of ability in
    this area.

    If I'm so lacking in ability in this area, then why is it that I'm the only
    one who has formulated a cogent system for classifying workouts based on
    power that relies on one simple measurement? Similarly, why is it that -
    without knowing a single thing else about you - I have previously been able
    to predict your OBLA power based on your normalized power from a criterium?
    For that matter, what about Per Elmsater's post earlier in this thread, in
    which he correctly estimated the average power you sustain during those 30 s
    on, 30 s off intervals, simply from knowing your OBLA power?

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    > How those zones are used is the training plan.

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    Nonsense. That's like claiming that explaining to a non-English speaker


    the

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    difference between "left" and "right" is equivalent to giving them
    directions to their intended destination.

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    Your version of the semantics, nothing more.

    Okay then, wiseguy: without reference to ANYTHING other than the training
    levels I've described, tell us in DETAIL how you've been training for
    nationals. Again, no cheating by mentioning anything other than the power
    level(s) you've been training at.

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    Less than
    optimal zones leads to less than optimal training plans.

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    I'm afraid you've been hoodwinked, Warren: there is no difference


    between

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    training at, say, a few percent below your LT (or OBLA or whatever other
    metric you care to use) and a few percent above. Those that claim that
    "there's magic in them zones!" are just making it up.

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    Right.... The results, lactate levels, and perceived exertion each show
    that you're wrong.

    And how is that?

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    Of course, your opinion stated above is just another
    attempt to support your one-size-fits-all approach, with its wide
    training zones to encompass every possible user-just like CTS tries to
    do with it's lower-level training plans.

    My opinion is based on spending 25+ years studying the physiology of
    exercise - nothing more, nothing less.

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    His results show that his opinion about this is more accurate than


    your

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    opinion.

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    "His results"? So Max was the one pedaling the bike, was he? ;-)


    Results of his guidance. From Hampsten, Armstrong, and Julich, to some
    Motorola, Mapei and US pros, to most recently Dario Cioni, Christine
    Thorburn, and myself on a lower scale, these are all examples of riders
    who improved significantly while receiving Max's guidance.

    I knew that if I baited you that you would result to name-dropping and
    appeals-to-authority, just like many others do when they feel like they are
    losing a debate. I don't think, though, that you really deserve to list
    yourself in the same company as these other riders. ;-)

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    Even I can see the relationships and changes over time. Power
    numbers I see during training give hints about what is changing and


    the

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    test results never bring surprises, just additional information and/or
    confirmation. The shape of the curves provides some more insight.

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    For example, a curve that suddenly slopes upward (sudden increase in
    blood lactate at a given range of watts) indicates that type 2b fibers
    are now being utilized without an appropriate amount of type 2a fibers


    being used first

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    First, recruitment of motor units occurs in an orderly fashion based on


    the

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    size of the alpha motor neuron, something that is known as the Henneman


    size

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    principle. Thus, it is essentially impossible to recruit type IIb (IIx,


    in

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    the modern vernacular) muscle fibers without also recruiting type IIa


    (as

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    well as type I).

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    We agree.

    It sure doesn't seem that way to me. ;-)

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    I didn't say that 2b or 2a fibers were being recruited
    without any type 1 fibers.

    Then what exactly did you mean by "...a curve that suddenly slopes upward
    (sudden increase in blood lactate at a given range of watts) indicates that
    type 2b fibers are now being utilized without an appropriate amount of type
    2a fibers being used first"?

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    I said the contribution of 2a was not
    appropriate, or not enough before 2b was recruited. Certain training
    would improve the abilities of 2a fibers so that the use of 2b could be
    delayed or essentially not needed until the power was at a higher
    level.

    "Certain training" would be essentially any endurance training.

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    Second, anybody who is doing more than a modicum of training won't have


    any

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    type IIb (IIx) fibers to speak of, since all but a few percent will have
    been transformed into IIa.

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    So your opinion is that I'm not using 2b fibers to put out 1300+ watts,
    nor is Petacchi at 1600+ watts?

    You're using all of your IIb (IIx) fibers, but since you only have 1-5% of
    them, their contribution can essentially be ignored, at least when it comes
    to discussing the blood lactate-exercise intensity relationship.

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    (or how ever you choose to define the transition from
    slow twitch to fast twitch fibers). As the ability of the 2a fibers is
    improved the shape of the curve between near 1 mMol and near 3mMol


    will

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    become more gradual. Without even knowing the lactate or watts numbers
    you could look at the shape of the curve and know this.

    Objection, your Honor: ASSuming facts not in evidence! ;-)

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    Drawing such a conclusion is going WAY beyond what can be reasonably
    inferred from such data .

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    This is funny to me. It's so easy to see on the graphs. I've seen other
    people's tests too and often see the same graph shapes and reasons for
    those shapes.

    Again, you are drawing conclusions that go far beyond the data: just because
    somebody's blood lactate-power curve has been flattened in the mid/lower
    portion of the curve does not necessarily mean that they've increased the
    respiratory capacity of their type II fibers.

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    But then again, that's not surprising given the
    difference between coaches/athletes and scientists: the former are often
    casting wildly about for ANYTHING that they THINK might provide an edge,


    and

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    their standard of proof for what works and what doesn't is
    all-too-frequently abysmally low. Scientists, OTOH, are raised in a


    culture

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    that discourages excessive speculation and the drawing of unsupportable
    conclusions, such as the one you make above.


    Amazing arrogance on your part. Something that is so easy for even me
    to see during a test, and then confirmed by looking briefly at the
    graphs and accurately predicting the subject's ability and history, and
    you say this is not reasonable...

    Yes, very arrogant of me to declare what I don't know, and can't possibly
    know without additional measurements.

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    > There
    > are many, many things other than fitness that influence the absolute


    blood

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    > lactate concentration at a particular exercise intensity, e.g.,


    blood

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    > sampling site/method, glycogen stores, nutritional state, etc.

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    None of these factors has entered into the results I've been seeing in
    my tests. It's quite easy to account for these things anyway.

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    Dream on: even if you have somebody do their last couple of workouts on


    an

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    ergometer at controlled intensities and feed them precisely measured


    amounts

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    of carbohydrate, you'd be lucky to keep glycogen stores in a +/- 10%


    range.

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    To think that you can control them adequately outside of laboratory so


    as to

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    be able to draw the sorts of conclusions you wish to draw is


    preposterous.

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    Again, so easy to see and account for, even for me. The results of the
    tests I've seen don't show the kind of abnormalities you suggest. You
    must be letting all those red herrings get in your way of seeing what's
    easily seen by others. Perhaps you're reading too much (for this
    application) into small increments or small differences in measured
    lactate.

    Au contraire: it is you (and/or your coach) who is apparently reading too
    much into small, quite possibly random differences in measured lactate
    concentrations, and then using the data to based decisions about training
    upon. Me, I say screw the lactate and focus on what really counts: actual
    function (performance).

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    Always
    the earlobe,

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    Is SaO2 measured to be certain that the degree of hyperemia isn't
    influencing the results? (Doubtful.)

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    No influence, or so small as not to matter.

    A rather bold statement from someone who apparently has no idea what I'm
    getting at, don't you think? ;-)

    Blood lactate concentration varies slightly but significantly between
    arterial, venous, and/or arterialized venous blood, even when sampled from
    an inactive limb or bodypart. Thus, to avoid random variation from
    influencing the results it is necessary to assure an equivalent degree of
    oxygenation in all samples. To dismiss the issue out-of-hand is therefore
    simply ignorant.

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    always rested, several days after a long ride, normal
    meals before training or racing, etc.

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    > Morever, even if you could the only way you could execute a training


    plan

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    > based on such information with the requisite precision would be if


    you did

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    > all of your training on an ergometer (which would be sub-optimal for


    other

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    > reasons).

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    It's really not that difficult. Knowing what is going on with the
    ability of type 1 fibers, type 2a, and type 2b fibers indivdually and
    together allows for training that can be implemented to address
    specific needs. Less wasted effort.

    Or so you claim. But as I've stated, you can't interpret the blood lactate
    data the way you have, so yours is really just a pie-in-the-sky theory.

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    First, see above: neither you nor I nor anybody else riding more than


    100

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    miles/week really has any IIb (IIx) fibers to worry about.

    Quoted message said:

    So my 1300+ watts is done with 2a fibers only?

    Type I and type IIa, since you have only 1-5% type IIb fibers left (unless
    you've been a real slacker lately). But the point isn't really what fibers
    you are recruiting, but the fact that you don't know enough about the
    physiology of exercise to know that you don't have any significant quantity
    of type IIb (IIx) fibers left. So why should anyone believe you when you
    start theorizing about what changes in the shape of the lactate-exercise
    intensity curve really mean, and how this information can be used to guide
    training?

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    Oh well, you can call
    those fibers what ever you want. The training is affecting some fibers
    in ways that allow for the very high power. It seems to me that those
    fibers, whatever you want to call them, produce a lot of lactate and a
    lot of power during short periods.
    Second, as I
    indicated previously, there are many more factors influencing blood


    lactate

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    levels than just fiber type/fiber type recruitment.


    Yes, and these other factors, at least in my own tests and the ones
    I've observed, were either accounted for or not important enough to
    affect the results.

    And you know that how?

    Quoted message said:

    It's important to consider not just the measured

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