The Science of Winning
by George Blackwell
Get ready – this one is a nerdy one!
A recent bed-time read of mine has been Jan Olbrecht’s “The Science of Winning: Planning, Periodizing and Optimizing Swim Training”, which would send most people to sleep, but for me is very engaging… Although I’m still making my way through it, one of the early chapters was on the interpretation of the physiology of different athletes, their lactate curves, and what these may or may not mean. The author uses simple language to contextualise characteristics you may see as a coach, to help readers understand the coaching or programme an athlete might need.
Here are the key takeaways:
Anaerobic Capacity – Your ability to produce speed / force / energy MAXIMALLY. Usually, sprinters that can produce a huge output, but not sustain it for long, have a HIGH anaerobic capacity, and well-trained ultra-runners usually have very low anaerobic capacities.
Anaerobic Power – Your ability to sustain speeds / forces / energy outputs CLOSE to max for a prolonged time. Athletes with very well-developed anaerobic power are suited to sports like 200m swimming, 800m running, etc. You would expect ultra-runners / triathletes to have a substantially lower anaerobic power comparatively.
Aerobic Capacity – Your ability to utilise Oxygen MAXIMALLY. Another term for VO2 Max. We expect ultra-runners / triathletes to have a well-developed VO2 Max (relatively speaking), but not as high as for those participating in other events where maximal output for 6-12 mins is key for performance.
Aerobic Power – Your ability to sustain high %’s of their aerobic capacity for long periods of time. This is another term for lactate thresholds. The higher one’s thresholds, the higher the output they can sustain for long periods.
Why is this important to ultra-runners / triathletes?
Jan goes on to explain the balance between Aerobic Capacity (VO2 Max) and Aerobic Power (your lactate threshold). For well-trained athletes, if their VO2 Max is at an all-time high, it’s unlikely their thresholds (aerobic power) will also be optimally developed. What we are looking for is the balancing act between ‘capacity’ and ‘power’ that leads to the best performance for the athlete. This depends on the profile of the athlete and the demands of the event they are training for. Some of TMR’s triathletes may have heard Kristian Blummenfelt talking about deliberately reducing his VO2 Max to perform optimally over the Ironman Distance, which is exactly what Jan is referring to in this chapter!
References:
The Science of Winning: Planning, Periodizing and Optimizing Swim Training - by Jan Olbrecht