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The Corner: Where is Steady?
By Gordo Byrn
11/19/2009 |
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This one comes up a lot when I start working with an athlete. Given that most of us are early in our general preparation, I thought that I would share some ideas about the “steady” training zone.
The quick, and simple, answer is that “steady” is the fastest that you can go with your mouth closed.
The longer answer follows and is based on three physiological breakpoints summarized in the article linked below.
The three key breakpoints, and how I like to use them, are:
Aerobic Threshold (AeT) – best to train around this point
Lactate Threshold (LT) – best to train slightly under this point
Functional Threshold (FT) – best to train slightly under this point
The reasons behind each zone/breakpoint are summarized in the article (below) and I won’t repeat here.
When I talk about “steady” – I am talking about training around your AeT. For me, the main purpose of training around this point is to create the capacity to perform work at the higher intensity zones. So my steady training is what creates the capacity for me to sustain my specific training as well as my overload training.
Something that I have found with myself, and my athletes, is that we tend to gravitate towards LT for our endurance training. Particularly with experienced athletes, we have the capacity to do training one “gear” up from steady. Within my own triathlon program, this was most obvious with my bike training. By paying attention to my breath markers (and cross checking with lactate testing), I found that my AeT was in the 118-122 bpm range. Quite low but my early season lactate testing indicated that AeT may have been as low as 110 bpm! I was inefficient on this bike after taking several months off for the birth of my daughter.
By spending a few months working on my low-end aerobic economy, I was able to increase my overall capacity to perform work. I also experienced the benefits of improved body composition as well as increased consistency (I didn’t miss a session for my entire base period).
During the base phase of my training, I was doing more intensive exercise with both my running (mainly in the 140-145 bpm range) as well as my swimming (extended FT main sets). One of the nice things about triathlon is that we can use our three sports to achieve different physiological objectives.
By building my extensive endurance over a 15-week period, I placed myself in a position to tolerate a greatly increased training load (volume and intensity) in my Specific Preparation period. Save your greatest training focus for the periods closest to your race.
If you have found that you tend to lose consistency and/or fitness when you add training load to your program then I recommend you consider a multi-month block where you use your AeT-focused cycling to increase your extensive endurance.
See you at the races,
gordo
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Gordo can be found over at www.EnduranceCorner.com where he coaches endurance athletes and leads cycling-focused training camps. His triathlon training plans are also available via TrainingPeaks.
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[1] – Breakpoint article: http://www.endurancecorner.com/library/endurance_training_essentials/training_zones
[2] – Intensity Translation article: http://www.endurancecorner.com/library/exercise_physiology/endurance_physiology_language
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