Entrenando con A Faster You (Ciclismo en ruta), Parte 1

Sebastian: Hi, this is the Afasteryou Podcast with Sebastian Schluricke and Björn Kafka. Your podcast for aerodynamics and endurance training.

Björn: Hello everyone and happy New Year 2022. We're excited to bring you another podcast. Today it's me and Björn. Hi Björn.

Sebastian: Hi Sebastian. It's been a while since we did a podcast. We've talked a lot, but I'm glad we're being let loose on humanity again. How are you? What have you been up to?

Björn: Well, pretty much like everyone else — we had Christmas, a happy New Year, spent a lot of time with family. That's always a good thing. But we've also been super busy. We worked a lot on our system, especially on the velodrome system. We made significant improvements there. We haven't been showcasing it much on our website yet — our velodrome test system. But we've put a lot of time into it, it works, it's being used by a lot of people, including by ProTour teams. So for us it's important to have that and to see it being used. We've built in a lot of great features — improved features, different algorithms that can be used for velodrome analysis, like lap detection. That's always a special thing at the velodrome. And there are many other features you can already use on our platform. You can also run the Aerotest at the velodrome using the Garmin app. We've programmed a lot there too. It's all usable, but when we have the final release in the next little while, we'll do another podcast on how to use our velodrome test system. Yeah, we've worked a lot on that, we're still working on it, and then new features around the Powertest are in development. But we'll keep you posted.

Sebastian: Actually, let me jump in — we have a new feature for everyone who doesn't know yet. We've had a really cool one-day protocol in beta for a long time, and now we've opened it up to everyone. So we have a one-day indoor or outdoor test protocol. You can even download it as a Zwift file, get guided through Zwift, and run our new Power Test protocol. Just as accurate — just one day of suffering.

Björn: I think it's great. Praising yourself is always tricky, but this came from the community — from you guys. The wish to be able to do the whole thing in one day is something special. That wish came from both the amateur side and the elite, professional side — being able to do it in one day. And that changes everything, because on the second day you also have that psychological pressure to hold up. Performance diagnostics is always a psychological strain. You know on that day you're being measured. And especially the performance-oriented athletes — it really gets to them sometimes, because they want to perform. So being able to do it all in one day, keeping that psychological stamina up for just one day, saying okay, I'll push through this one day and then I've got all my values — that makes it a lot more comfortable than doing it over two days. And it has another perk — if you do it outside, you often have the challenge of not being able to find a stretch of road where you can give full power for 20 straight minutes. That takes a decent section of road. And in this one-day protocol, the second effort — the longer one — is reduced to 12 minutes. That makes it more comfortable too. How are your athletes taking it, Björn? Really well.

Sebastian: I've been using it for a while now. It's my favorite protocol. For me as a coach, and especially for athletes with a high race density, the huge advantage is simply that we lose one fewer day of training. And you can fit these tests in much more flexibly, without having to say okay, another rest day here, then three days there, two days over there. With a one-day test, it's done and dusted. And like you said, 20 minutes of straight road — in Flensburg you have to look long and hard for no cars to come by. In urban areas like Munich it's way worse. So those 12 minutes are great. And now with bad weather, the indoor protocol is ideal. Who wants to hammer on the trainer for 20 minutes? 12 minutes is a lot more relaxed. So yeah, great. But now we're going to talk about tests — or rather about the training we want to derive from these tests. We're doing a little training series for you. And the first case study... ...is a classic road racer with a three-to-four-hour race duration, depending on the category. That could be a hobby athlete up to an amateur, elite amateur, maybe a continental rider or a WorldTour pro. We want to show you how you can build this up and what target parameters you should be hitting. And yeah, that would be the first installment. After that we'll continue with triathletes and other disciplines in cycling and triathlon. But let's get started. Sebastian has the question.

Björn: Right, right. This comes up from athletes too. You've got the metrics, and now we're going to make it a bit clearer with case examples. We're assuming you've done a Powertest. A lot of Powertests have been done, and if you haven't yet, this might show you the advantages of having done one. We're looking at a road racer — you're in the preparation phase, it's winter, and you want to race your first race in the summer, so in about half a year. Or multiple races. And now we're going to think through, based on your Powertest values, what your training could look like. There are lots of different values, so today we're basing it on real example results. On our website under Powertest Description we have two cyclists — the Sprinter and the Marathoner. They're very polarized. Why are they polarized? Because one has a 0.2 VLamax and the other has a 0.8 VLamax. And Björn will probably come back to what VLamax is during the conversation. Just a quick reminder throughout. And those are really two very different values. Björn, can you say a bit about that? 0.2 VLamax, 0.8 VLamax. You can see these numbers are far apart. What does that mean for an athlete? Can you describe them?

Sebastian: So when we talk about these performance metrics — if you're on our website and you've opened a Powertest, two numbers jump out at you right at the start. That's VO2max and VLamax. I'll describe both because they work together beautifully. VO2max, simply put, is your performance capacity — your engine size, to put it bluntly. How many horsepower do you put on the road? We have a detailed description in another podcast, but simply put, think of it as engine size. VLamax is... ...basically the efficiency of the engine — how much fuel does it burn? From these two systems you derive your threshold power. Now, super efficient plus a huge engine doesn't automatically mean best of all worlds — it's always situation-dependent. We'll get to that with the road race training description. But generally speaking, high VO2max means large aerobic capacity. You have to differentiate a bit, but we'll do that in more detail elsewhere. And low VLamax means efficiency — low carb consumption.

Björn: Okay, so now I'm Athlete 1, the one we called the Sprinter. I have a VO2max of 60 and a VLamax of 0.8. Those are my starting values. Now I want to do this competition in the summer. Lots of metrics get displayed — I know my training zones, what wattage ranges I should be riding in, and I know the durations. Now the basic question. What should I be doing? How do I steer my training to have an effect on my VO2max and my VLamax? And if I want to race in the summer, what VLamax should I aim for as a road racer? What's the optimal VLamax on race day? That's probably the clearest way to phrase it, Björn, correct me if needed. There's surely a VLamax you can have during training, and a VLamax you'd aim for on race day. And of course I don't want to forget VO2max, but if I understand correctly, we're trying to push VO2max up over time. But back to the actual question: what VO2max should I have as a road racer on race day?

Sebastian: That's exactly the right way to think about it. Anyone who did magic tricks as a kid knows — before you make the rabbit disappear, you have to learn how to make it appear. Same thing in training. I have to know which metrics I need to perform at a race. And as you said correctly — VO2max, as high as possible. That doesn't always work, but it should be as high as possible. And VLamax depends a bit on VO2max, but for a road race I'd generally say: a 0.5 VLamax, plus or minus. It depends — if it's a very hilly course, it should be a bit lower. If it's an extreme sprinter's course, maybe a criterium, VLamax can trend toward 0.6. But VLamax should be in that range for a one-day race. For a stage race, the Tour de France, VLamax should be lower if you're racing for GC. If you're a sprinter there, VLamax should be higher — because VLamax is your glycolytic power, which feeds heavily into your sprint power. If your VLamax drops too much, your sprint performance drops at the end of the day too. So like I said, with a 0.5 you can pretty much do anything. It's the all-rounder, the Swiss Army knife.

Björn: You just named a lot of aspects, there's a lot of information packed in there for me as a cyclist. The key takeaway first: road racing, I should have a 0.5 VLamax on race day. That's already something I can work with, something I can target, and I can shape my training around that. What's really interesting in this context — we have these two athletes. One has a 0.8 VLamax and a VO2max of 60. That means he needs to bring his VLamax down toward race day, get more efficient, burn less fuel. And in contrast, the Marathoner, who already has a very low VLamax of 0.2 — he needs to get a little less efficient, to have more ability to sprint. Because that's the dynamic of a road race — when... ...there's a breakaway attempt, you need to be able to go really hard, high wattage, without instantly collapsing. And that's where the less efficient rider, who burns more fuel than the 0.2 guy, is actually well suited to follow a sprint.

Sebastian: Exactly, because at the end of the day you might benefit from drafting — you can rest there. With the 0.2 VLamax guy, he can't go with the move, he's hanging out there alone, trying to close the gap, and he probably won't if he's up against ten riders who are drafting and rotating. But that's exactly the right way to think about it.

Björn: Sorry, you mentioned one more thing I want to pick up quickly. You can see the discrepancy there too — what's specifically needed? You said that at the Tour, if I'm a sprinter, I'd need a higher VLamax — but then I have the challenge of burning a lot of carbs, and always struggling to make it over the mountains with the others, where a ton of carbs get burned. If I'm someone with a higher VLamax so I can sprint better, I have the challenge that when the races are very fast, I'm burning a lot of carbs the whole time. And that's the suffering you see, if you follow stage races, that sprinters go through.

Sebastian: Yeah, the sprinters, the top sprinter teams — they have... ...three or four, at least three guys assigned to get the sprinter over the mountains. It's perfectly timed. The winner crosses the line, then there's a time cut, a certain percentage — 10, 15 percent depending on the stage — of the winner's time that you're allowed to add. And that gets really timed. They make sure to climb as efficiently as possible, then descend like hell. In the gruppetto, as it's called, where the sprinters descend — you don't want to be there on a descent, because that's... ...super fast, but they climb extremely efficiently, suffer a lot, eat a ton, descend like the devil, and then have their domestiques pull them on the flats so they make it through the stage without being eliminated for missing the time cut. But that's the price you pay to put down those 1500 to 2100 watt sprint efforts at the end of a stage.

Björn: So that adds a whole other level of interest, because you can see it's a huge strategic and tactical effort by the teams — they have to find that mix. On one hand, I have to finish the stage — if I don't finish, I can't go for the points jersey. And on the other hand, I have to have a certain level of efficiency. And on yet another hand, when it comes down to the sprint, I need that huge glycolytic power — a high VLamax — the ability to supply energy through carbohydrate metabolism. It's a real tactical and strategic challenge. But that makes the whole thing exciting. When you watch stage races, you can sympathize a bit more with the sprinters going over the mountains, and with the challenges the teams face. Back to our athletes. So we have the Sprinter and the Marathoner. The Powertest gives you the ability to look at training zones first. And if we look at these training zones, we have... ...and in English here, let me switch it to German so we can see the German training zone names. So we have Recovery, Base — base endurance — Fatmax as a zone, Tempo as a zone, Sweet Spot as a zone. We have Maximum Lactate Steady State — the steady state of lactate. That's a special training zone, you can say something about that too. We have Threshold, VO2max at 90%, and VO2max. Those are the training zones being displayed. And with the Powertest you know what wattage ranges these training zones are in. So you can train in the correct zones. Now if I'm the Sprinter and I have a 60 VO2max and the relatively high VLamax, and I want to train: What should my training look like over the next six months, to end up on race day with a 0.5 VLamax, roughly? How should I train? Which training zones are most important for me? Do I do a lot of base training, a lot of Fatmax training? When do I start with threshold training? When do I do VO2max training? How would you approach it? How would you build the training structure from this information?

Sebastian: So generally — the Sprinter is an extreme example. When I see values like that as a coach, the first question I ask is: how much volume has this person been training? Have they maybe just been doing very little? Does he naturally have a higher VO2max but also an incredibly inefficient high VLamax? You see that fairly often. And then... ...you simply recommend: okay, we ride a lot of base now in these zones, we try to ride as much as possible in the Fatmax range, and you get a really nice effect — just through volume and through riding a lot of Fatmax, you slowly lower the lactate production rate and get a slight bump in VO2max. That would be the typical case, from what I see. You'd always start with a big volume block.

Björn: Okay, so four to six — what's a big volume block for you? Four weeks, six weeks, eight weeks?

Sebastian: I'd do two times three weeks. Maybe even three times three weeks. Okay. But always a little mixed — the first week you really just ride this base stuff, maybe with one or two small sprints, maybe some 40-20s, three minutes, twice a week. That would be VO2max, right? Right, that's VO2max — 40 seconds at VO2max load, 20 seconds pause. The next week I'd try to build in Fatmax work. This Fatmax number — let's say he's got almost 50% Fatmax that he can ride in — then out of maybe 14 hours of weekly training, I'd have him ride 7 hours at Fatmax. Then in the last week I'd do a little mix of VO2max and Fatmax, then take a recovery week where we drop training volume by 40% to allow some recovery. Then another block with a bit more volume. And at the latest after eight weeks, after the second recovery week, I'd run another test and see what we've done. And that's the best part. If I'm talking about a six-month window, I need to know — like in school — how is this athlete's progress? Are we hitting the milestones on the way there? And then I readjust. But generally, start with a big volume block — two times three weeks.

Björn: Can you say again — you do a little mix, if I understood correctly. A VO2max portion is in there every week. That's generally a way to keep the athlete activated, and to keep VO2max activated. But the focus from week two onward is on these Fatmax intervals. Can you describe what a Fatmax interval would look like?

Sebastian: Okay, so how should Fatmax intervals be ridden for a Sprinter? The nice thing is — because this Sprinter with the high lactate production rate has lower performance capacity in the Fatmax range, we can spend a lot of time there, and above all, we don't need to structure it as intervals. So if you have, say, a two-hour endurance ride, you can easily ride an hour of that at Fatmax. That's where I'd do a lot of volume. As for why we ride these VO2max bits in between — I wanted to mention that quickly — it's activation, absolutely, but our heart is a key factor in VO2max too. Stroke volume, how much blood we're pumping — that shouldn't go to sleep. If our heart rate just sits at 130 the whole time because we're only riding base, we lose a bit of stroke volume. So we ride some VO2max once or twice a week to bring the heart rate up again, so we don't lose it. Plain and simple. Exactly.

Björn: Okay, so that's what the Fatmax intervals look like. We have a six-week window where we use these Fatmax intervals. And now six or eight weeks have passed. We do the next Powertest to check — which in my view always makes sense: if you're doing something, check whether it's actually having an effect. There can be other reasons why training doesn't take hold. You just have to observe and see what's going on. So we do the next Powertest. What would you as a coach want to see? How should the values have developed for the Sprinter, who started with a 60 VO2max and a 0.8 VLamax? How should those values ideally have developed, in your view, after these eight weeks?

Sebastian: So if this is someone who worked with low volume and really follows through on these eight weeks — and if we play with cadence a bit in the Fatmax work, riding a bigger gear for longer stretches — then I'd want us to have come down to a 0.6, 0.65 VLamax, and that VO2max has gotten a stimulus too, just through the volume. Maybe we're at a 64 now. And then we've really gained something. We've probably picked up 20 watts at threshold power, minimum.

Björn: Okay. So those are the first two months we've sketched out for the Sprinter. Let's do the same for the Marathoner. He's got a 50 VO2max — significantly less than the Sprinter — but a pretty low VLamax, 0.2. Same question: What would his next eight weeks of training look like if he also wanted to do a road race in six months?

Sebastian: So it's a bit more complicated — wouldn't say that exactly, but we have to think differently. And in our example on the website's Description, we see they have a similar threshold power. If you were to base your training zones or training on percentages, that wouldn't work. They can't both train the same way. And now comes a stark contrast. With the rider with the low VO2max, you'd try to make him a bit less efficient first, to reach a higher VO2max. And I'd also go through volume. A lot, but well-fueled. People with a very low VLamax often restrict their eating. Their body is forced to switch to fats. So they do a base training, they'd also build in VO2max work. But — and here's the big but — I'd add strength training. Classic hypertrophy training: three sets of 12, squats, deadlifts, maybe some upper body, to stimulate that anaerobic glycolytic system. Long rest between sets, to make him a bit worse in that area. Because then we also have the ability to gain more at VO2max — especially when we do the VO2max intervals. We'll talk about that in a bit. And looking ahead to the race — what do I see? There's a two-minute climb and they hammer over it. ...then with his 50 VO2max, he simply won't be able to go with the pack. But if we get a small stimulus on VO2max — say, we even get up to a 60 or 55. But not in two months — over the half year. Right, not in two months. And then if we get VLamax up a bit, you can hang with the group. Then you're in it.

Björn: Okay, so that's the long-term target we'd be aiming for. Staying with these two months — you clearly said we need strength training. What does that look like for you? How much per week? Twice a week, three times a week?

Sebastian: I'd do strength training twice a week. And I'd start really easy. Maybe just once in the first week, because we all know — one full-range-of-motion squat, and if this body hasn't lifted a piece of iron in however long or never at all... ...he will definitely be in pain and barely able to move from the muscle soreness. So one easy session, then in week two I'd do two sessions, slowly working up, increasing weights. I'd really stay in a classic hypertrophy block for two times three weeks, then see what comes out of it. Afterwards you can of course say, we do max strength training — that would be the classic next step in a volume block. But like I said, if someone has never really done strength training, it's humbling.

Björn: Let's stay with these two months. We build in strength training two to three times a week. We're smart about it. If an athlete has never lifted, we start slowly. Maybe once a week, maybe twice a week, but only one set per muscle group, for example. We could probably do a separate podcast on how to design smart strength training for cycling specifically. What's important here is: okay, you need strength training, you need hypertrophy training. That's a specific type of strength work. If you look at weight-based strength training, you have max strength, hypertrophy, and strength endurance — those are the different forms. Takeaway here — hypertrophy training. That's a pretty interesting thing and it's important. You named it as one of the most important aspects for raising VLamax. We've already defined 0.5 VLamax as the target. So we have to increase it either way, if that's the good VLamax we need for our race. Now the question is — we have strength training, what does the rest of the time look like? You said we need VO2max. You'd also have VO2max training for this athlete. A big difference between the two athletes is the VO2max intensity. One rides significantly more watts than the other. The differences are really big there. And how would you approach these eight weeks? Is base endurance a core element? Fatmax, or base endurance?

Sebastian: Yeah, do Fatmax too. And like I said, pay attention to good fueling, carb-rich. And one thing you often observe with people with a low VLamax — they also tend to push a bigger gear. Watch for cadence to stay higher. I'd say always 90. Ideally 95. That's uncomfortable. But we get better oxygen supply there. The leg turns over a bit faster, we activate the muscles differently. So break out of that habit, for the stimulus on VO2max and on lactate production.

Björn: Okay, say we put the focus on Fatmax for a week — the system gives time recommendations. For example, the Sprinter can ride 7:18 for this specific case — let's say about 7 hours — and the Marathoner can train 6.5 hours. Would you aim to implement those times as shown?

Sebastian: Yes, I would. The Marathoner should maybe pay attention to doing this Fatmax in a kind of interval form — two times 20 minutes or two times 30, because he has a higher energy flow. The Sprinter can easily say, I'll ride two hours of Fatmax.

Björn: How would you handle fueling during training? How should the Marathoner fuel during training, and how should the Sprinter fuel? Just to highlight the difference. With the Sprinter, with the values we've simulated, Fatmax sits between 185 and 195 watts. And the Marathoner is between 215 and 230 watts. So he's riding significantly more, because he has a much more developed aerobic system. But as you already mentioned, he tends to eat less. How should the Marathoner fuel, if his goal is to raise VLamax? How should he eat during that phase?

Sebastian: Carb-rich. Carbs during training. The carbs we've listed — take them in from the first hour on, definitely. If it gets really long, maybe even a bit more. With the Sprinter, if you want a strong stimulus on VLamax, you can even slightly under-fuel. Then you get an even stronger stimulus. I wouldn't do hardcore low-carb stuff — that can go wrong. I recently saw a case where it really backfired, with a coach who tried it. Fascinating how strong the effect was. But generally, the Marathoner should take in carbs — really don't even think about not eating, even if it feels okay, just eat.

Björn: Okay, I think that's an important piece of info — especially for the Marathoner, if we want to raise VLamax, training and training stimulus also depend on nutrition, and we can't eat under-caloric. And with the Sprinter, you can't go as wrong, though there's still always the risk of under-fueling. You're never fully safe from that.

Sebastian: Exactly. And then you do the tests and hopefully get the results you want — a drop in VLamax or a rise in VLamax with a slight stimulus on VO2max. And then the question is what happens next.

Björn: For fairness — we got your expectations for the Sprinter after two months. Same question for the Marathoner. What would you expect? We've made sure we fuel well during training. We've focused on Fatmax — same as the Sprinter. We have our own wattage zones, we follow through. But we've also introduced strength training twice a week. We've fueled well. What does it optimally look like after two months? What would you want to see in this athlete?

Sebastian: Want? Well, we should have a slight stimulus on VO2max. If we're at 52, 53 — that's not bad, that's a 5 to 6 percent performance increase, that'd be great. And on VLamax, we'd ideally have gone from 0.2 to 0.3. That'd be great. Okay. Now, of course — when you do the test, you might see, oh, nothing happened at threshold, I'm riding the same. Yeah, but we've shifted which energy pools we pull from. The goal is to be able to sprint. So that'd be the nice scenario. Whether we get from 0.2 to 0.5 — that'll be a hard road. For that athlete I'd aim for a high 0.3 or 0.4. Last winter I had a case — we started with 0.25. Within three months we pulled him up to 0.42. That was ideal for the start of the road racing season. We scored several wins. But that's the dream scenario.

Björn: If you compare the two athletes — while we have this open in parallel, and if you're looking at the Description page right now — you'll see they're allowed roughly the same training volume, though the Sprinter can do more. Why can the Sprinter generally train more than the Marathoner?

Sebastian: We see times. But these times primarily reflect an energy flow. The time we calculate is based on VO2max. VO2max is the key determinant for how much volume we train.

Björn: Okay, jumping in briefly — the Sprinter has the significantly higher VO2max. So that would be one reason he can train more than the Marathoner.

Sebastian: Right, exactly. That's one reason. The other is that volume, the energy volume, is also determined by time and the energy flow we burn in base training. And base training, as we saw, is faster for the... ...Marathoner — he has higher energy flow per hour, and that reduces the Marathoner's training time.

Björn: What I should add here: if I say they look roughly the same, that's not really true. They look similar in shape, but if you look at the individual times, there's a big difference. Whether I can do 15 hours of base or 21 hours — that's six more hours per week. That's a full day of extra riding. That's a real number. That's a big difference. We're comparing a 50 VO2max to a 60 VO2max. And with a 70 VO2max I can train even more, absorb even more volume. And for the Marathoner, he rides more watts in the base zone, so higher energy turnover, which means a bit less time in that training zone — ends up with roughly the corresponding energy turnover, but relative to his 50 VO2max. One thing where they really differ. Where they really differ is in the VO2max zone. A Sprinter — or our example Sprinter — can train about one hour six to one hour ten, and our Marathoner only 20 minutes. That's a factor of three to four between them. Why can the Sprinter train so much more at VO2max? Than the Marathoner — and here's another big difference, those were just the times. If I look at the tables and check the wattage zones, the Sprinter can do VO2max intervals at 70, 80 watts more than the Marathoner. So he can train more, and at higher intensity. And that's all due to VO2max, right?

Sebastian: Yeah, right, exactly. VO2max always has a certain share of glycolytic power in it, and because the Sprinter has a relatively high share of that, we need to spend more time there to get a nice VO2max stimulus. To put it plainly — the Sprinter's threshold power... ...and his power at VO2max — there's 70 watts between them. And the Marathoner's threshold power to his VO2max — only 30 watts between them. And that explains this very strong difference. The Marathoner gets a strong stimulus just above threshold at VO2max. That's why we defined this V90 zone. And we can spend much more time there, because we already have a strong stimulus. And the glycolytic share — the fraction of VLamax within VO2max — is lower for the Marathoner than for the Sprinter.

Björn: Okay, these are very specific things you're naming. We need to make sure our listeners — guys and girls out there — catch it. But I think we'll get to it. You mentioned V90 and VO2max. The VO2max zone is there to raise VO2max. We defined our goals at the start over a relatively short period. Half a year isn't really the longest timeframe you could imagine. You heard from Björn what you can achieve after two months. So — what expectation should you have? What's possible in two months of training? We looked at it from the Marathoner's and the Sprinter's perspective. And now the question is, what's possible over half a year? With the Marathoner we're trying to become less efficient, to reach the 0.5. Side effect — becoming less efficient, we also have a chance to work more on VO2max. The Sprinter, if I understand correctly, has great prerequisites for training at VO2max. Can train at very high power, can spend a lot of time there. He could also work a lot to improve his VO2max. But since we defined the goal as being ready for a sprint race in six months, the training options available are limited. So we wanted to lower VLamax for him, and with the other we want to raise it — that has different effects. Let's assume the positive scenario, that the athletes actually achieved what you envisioned. We've finished the first two-month block, done the Powertest, got new zones — training zones have shifted, power zones we train in have shifted, and the volumes have changed too. How would I continue training as the Sprinter over the next two months, assuming we now have a 0.65 VLamax, and we've also improved VO2max thanks to all that Fatmax work? How do we continue? What would be the sensible plan for the next two months? How would you structure it?

Sebastian: So I'd plan two weeks VO2max, two weeks base Fatmax, then two weeks VO2max again. Then two weeks — or one week — base and test. That's the scenario I'd set up.

Björn: Okay, so because you've already lowered the lactate production rate, you'd now start with VO2max again, to maybe raise VO2max too?

Sebastian: VO2max also rises through base training — don't forget that. That's one of the big things. Generally we always want to raise VO2max. But here we have a very specific scenario. And you said at the very start, we want the highest possible VO2max with an adjusted VLamax. And now we'd set this new stimulus via VO2max intervals. For the first two weeks with the Sprinter I'd do something like 30-30 intervals and 40-20 intervals. Then the two weeks of base, and the next two weeks I'd maybe only do 40-20s, to pick up a slightly higher stimulus.

Björn: If you want a precise description of these sessions, just download the PDF. The sessions are there, including the descriptions for these VO2max intervals, what the rest times should be, how many sets to do. It's all in there. Okay, so now we start doing a mix. Before we had a Fatmax focus, it was successful — we continue that successful path and bring in these VO2max intervals. And if this 8 — so, a week looks like what? How many VO2max intervals do we do per week? Two days of VO2max intervals?

Sebastian: Three days.

Björn: Three days of these VO2max intervals.

Sebastian: So classic would be: Monday easy, Tuesday-Wednesday intervals, Thursday maybe ride or not ride, Friday off. Saturday intervals again, Sunday long — a classic 3-2 block as you'd ride it. You could also say you ride intervals Tuesday, easy Wednesday, intervals Thursday. You can choose a bit. And you can choose whether to start with the full load — so, 4x7 minutes of 30-30 right away — or... ...build up slowly, say three times seven minutes, then four times seven minutes the next day. That's usually a bit easier for athletes. You can decide based on feel.

Björn: Okay, we've done the two months, and now it's only two months until our main race. What would you want at this point? Where are we?

Sebastian: New test.

Björn: Right, new test — what would you want? VO2max — and VLamax? VO2max raised,

Sebastian: ...to a 68. VLamax ideally down a bit. Maybe because we shortened the rest times between the VO2max intervals in the second VO2max block. So less time to clear the lactate. A nice 0.6 would be good, maybe even a bit under. That'd be good.

Björn: Okay, so we've moved further toward our goal. 0.6 VLamax. A significant increase at VO2max. That's doable.

Sebastian: That's the ideal scenario.

Björn: That's a real number. Going from 60 to 68 is a real jump. But we're talking about optimal training execution. We're sketching the optimal scenario here. You know, in detail it depends on lots of other parameters. We don't want to hash all that out. You know yourselves what training depends on — there's a whole tail of factors. We're just trying to show you what an optimal path could look like, so you have a rough idea of how to design your training using the Powertest. Okay, good. Now we're in another interval, the two months for the Marathoner. We managed to get up to a 0.3 VLamax. VO2max improved slightly — we're at 52, 53 now. What do our next two months look like?

Sebastian: Similar principle. I'd still continue strength training, but this time strength endurance — short rest times and 20 reps. You could do classic circuit training, something with a kettlebell, twice a week, 20 minutes, enough. And for intervals, I'd start with 40-20s. That's not too much.

Björn: You're doing VO2max intervals again.

Sebastian: Yeah, exactly. VO2max 40-20 in the first week. And in the second week I'd go straight into VO2max-90 intervals. Those are significantly grinding and harder. But I wouldn't start them in the first week, because that's already... ...already heavy. That'd be the first two-week block. Then the second two-week block — classic base, Fatmax, keep the circuit training. Then another VO2max block with VO2max-90, also two weeks. Then another week of base or easy, and in week 8 a test. Hopefully VO2max has moved.

Björn: Okay. You see the big difference — we continue strength training to keep getting a bit less efficient. We still want a higher VLamax. And we've now started bringing in VO2max intervals. We use VO2max-90, because — you already said — the gap between threshold power and VO2max power isn't as big as for someone with a low VO2max. So we already get a stimulus on VO2max at 90 percent. And we can hold that much longer than at 100 percent — which we can't hold long. We've also seen, even though we have the same threshold power as the Sprinter, at VO2max there's a 70-80 watt difference between us and the Sprinter. So he's training at a completely different intensity, has a completely different stimulus at VO2max power. Good, so we've done the training. Two-week, two-week rhythm, eight weeks, and now we check the training effect. What would you want to see? Where do we land with VLamax? We were at 0.3. Where are we now?

Sebastian: Maybe 0.35. And on VO2max — where were we, around 43? If we can get over 55 there, that'd be great. I can see us making that. Then we have the new baseline values. And then, because the next question is coming — what do the next weeks look like? Now I'd look at what performance profile this race demands.

Björn: Okay, we'll get to that. What I find interesting in these numbers — first, the big difference is: what did the Sprinter gain at VO2max? Eight points, from 60 to 68. And what did the Marathoner gain? At best — and you described it that way — significantly more than the Sprinter. With the Sprinter we landed at 55. You see the Sprinter can set a significantly higher stimulus at VO2max, simply because he has this big VLamax. And also, we went from 0.8 down to 0.6, maybe 0.55 or 0.6. And with the Marathoner we only went from 0.2 to 0.35. The difference isn't as big there. Relatively speaking, you could frame it differently. But the journeys these two athletes take are quite different. You can see how completely different the training for these two athletes is. Independent of the fact that there are analogies — both still somehow train VO2max, both still somehow train Fatmax, though one has a clear focus on strength training and the other doesn't. One now uses more VO2max-90, and what's dramatically different is the wattages. They're completely different. In the training zones where the athletes train, you can say there are analogies, but the zones themselves and the intensities are totally different. Also the focus on strength training, and fueling — the Marathoner's fueling is much more important, always over-fuel in quotes, or fuel precisely as you said. But we're not training to improve our economy further — we're not lowering VLamax, we need to raise it. Yeah, it's an interesting thing. And now we've finished our four months of training and we're in the last two-month block. And now, rightly, you say we need to look at what the race demands. Do you know a well-known race? Name one we want to pick as the target.

Sebastian: Yeah — since we're both from northern Germany and I haven't lived there in a long time — there's a classic called Rundum Ascheffel. There's a climb, about four minutes long, then you hit a plateau and you keep grinding, then a small descent, a right turn, and a long straight. You need to be able to hammer over these three minutes. If you're not there, you're done. And that's the classic that comes to mind. And you'd train a bit toward that.

Björn: Okay, so we take this race, and now we're at the Sprinter. We have a 68 VO2max now and 0.6 VLamax. What do our last eight weeks before the race look like?

Sebastian: Now you have to think — what's the Sprinter's problem at this race, and what's the Marathoner's problem at this race? Let me go through that quickly. The Sprinter may not have a problem hammering those four minutes up the climb — on the first lap. Maybe on lap 10 — that's when he's tired. The second problem he'll have is that when it continues over the top on the windward section, he can't keep up because he's basically fatigued. Call it lactate, or phosphates probably, so high he can't keep going. And with the Marathoner, the problem is he can't even stay with the pack on the first climb. They just ride away. And once they're over the top, he won't be able to close the gap. Even if he'd have the power to stay up front, he can't get there. So those are the two scenarios. What would I do? We may still have the problem that the Sprinter has slightly too high lactate production. So I'd say okay, let's do the classic. I'd do a two-week sweet spot block with different cadences, tending toward a bigger gear, maybe a 60-rpm cadence. Our diagnostics tell you what power you can ride there. So two weeks sweet spot, then I'd hang a base week on it, then a bit more rest. And then I'd start training specifically. From that point on, I'd say: okay, I'll ride two minutes fast, and then try to hold threshold power for another three minutes. To simulate this race a bit. And then you think — at the start, I can do that. But what if I've already been training for two hours, already done three of these intervals, and after two hours of race or training time, when I'm already fatigued, I do five more? You have to keep that in mind. Training — just start and make it harder. Get used to it and then make it a bit more complicated. That doesn't mean intervals should always be ridden in the same structure — you can say, I ride myself tired and then stick hard intervals at the end, to bring out that performance. That's how I'd work. So for this race: two minutes hard, four-five minutes at threshold to simulate it. I wouldn't go the full distance — four minutes all-out and then five minutes threshold, that'd be a bit too much. That would need pretty long rest times in between. I'd just say two, two-and-a-half minutes, four-five minutes threshold on top, then ten minutes rest, the same again.

Björn: Okay, so this gets very specific to the race character. You start training very specifically to the race, which is really interesting. My question now would be — okay, I build this in. Can you lay it out for the Sprinter? We have eight weeks available. Briefly, how many weeks before would you recover? One week before? Two weeks before?

Sebastian: Well — it's not like a long-distance race. We have significantly shorter recovery times. I'd start slowly tapering a week before the race, or maybe ten days before, but still keep intensity in. I'd also do a long ride four days before the race, an intense ride five days before — and especially a long one, especially for the Sprinter, to get another light stimulus on VLamax. So four or five hours of long base, maybe even slightly under-fueled, so you come home a little flat and then load up. Yeah, that's how I'd do it.

Björn: And the six weeks before that — what do they look like?

Sebastian: You build this specific — two weeks sweet spot. Yeah, two weeks sweet spot. With a bigger gear, to get another stimulus on VLamax. But occasionally a bit harder. Then an easy week with base. Then I'd do two weeks of very, very intensive work. That gives us a good five weeks. Then I'd add another week of base. Then once more a bit specific, but not as hard as the two weeks before, maybe at 80 percent. And then I start tapering. And then the form should come together.

Björn: What would your hope be for the athlete? Where did you land?

Sebastian: I'd say — maybe a slight stimulus on VLamax. VLamax gets a bit higher, but what I'm mainly after — and you can't measure this, we can't measure this — is that the athlete learns to use lactate as an energy source better, a kind of lactate shuttling, improving that so you simply fatigue less. That'd be the dream scenario. You can also do over-under intervals, so short above threshold and short below threshold. You could do that too, for example in these specific blocks — although for this race it's so specific I might not do that. But a slight stimulus on VO2max and a slight stimulus on VLamax. So maybe if we're lucky we have a 69. Or maybe only a 68. But VLamax maybe went down again. Maybe to 0.55. Maybe 0.54. That I can see. And learning to eat. That would be the next thing. About two weeks before the race, start getting used to very high carb loads. Really 100, 110 grams of carbs per hour.

Björn: Okay, so that's specific fueling strategies — so it's practiced, so during the race you can take in high amounts of carbs. That becomes part of the focus, and also the mental preparation. The race-like pattern — so you know how it's specifically shaped — very high intensity and then still riding at threshold. Simulating the climb at this race, how you go up, and that you have to hold intensity briefly after. So very specific. And yeah, that's a complete picture. One thing you can't expect is to show all the options a coach has in their repertoire in a video or a podcast. That's not possible. We're trying to cover the fundamentals here. Björn and other coaches will have many more options, much more ability to respond individually to an athlete's needs. Those are the big advantages of having a coach. That's why you get a coach. We're trying to show how important VO2max and VLamax are for the structural foundation of training. How you try to move toward the demands of a race, how you should train to actually reach those numbers — because if you line up at such a race with a 0.2 VLamax, you have no chance. It doesn't matter how you trained. And how well that developed. If you came in with a 50 VO2max and a 0.2 VLamax and on race day still have a 0.2 VLamax, you'll have a really hard time on that day, if I understood correctly. On your mark, get set, go — and you watch him pull away, and all you can do is shift. Exactly. And the rider who came in with a 0.8 VLamax — if you still have a 0.8 VLamax on race day and line up, you'll probably ride well at the start, and later you just run out of energy because you burned too many carbs. You can't take in enough, and then it doesn't matter how the training went up to that point. Doesn't matter how much you gained — it makes sense to get VLamax to a place where you have both the ability to jump and the necessary efficiency and economy to actually still be there at the end. And that's the crux that comes in. You could theoretically say: as low VLamax as possible, so you're as economical as possible. But if it's a road race, you can draft — you have to be able to go with the others, because you save so much energy sitting in the group that it's a tactical challenge at that point.

Sebastian: I'd quickly add something about the Marathoner regarding training. I'd also do a sweet spot block, but with higher cadence — really high, happily 95 plus, similar to base — and the specificity there should look a bit different. You have to think — how will the Marathoner ride this race within his capabilities? He'll maybe hang on a bit, and then he has to try to go at very high tempo and gradually filter through the field. And then at the top of the climb, he rides back in. The first two, three laps will be ugly, and after that it'll get better. You can simulate that in training. You say, okay, I really try to put down a very high two-minute power, then above threshold — a bit above threshold — for a few minutes, two or three minutes more. That would be the approach. Where for the other you'd say, okay, maybe we ride three minutes faster and then only two minutes in that range, so we have that slight offset, similar to our intervals.

Björn: We still have the eight weeks for the Marathoner left. The last two weeks might look similar for both athletes. What do the six weeks before look like for the Marathoner?

Sebastian: Like I said, we also have a similar two weeks sweet spot, but this time with high cadence. Then I'd maybe bring back an easy base week, and then go into the specific prep. Again three sessions per week with these intervals, but this time — instead of two and a half or three minutes — maybe only two minutes hard. And then another three minutes at threshold or above threshold, to better match his strengths. I'd still keep the strength training. Maybe in these very intensive periods only once a week. I'd still want to keep the circuit training. And, like the Sprinter, a sensible taper. Get used to the high carb amounts. And then both should be fit. They should both warm up well. Warming up well — I wouldn't set intensity very high. Sometimes really 40 — the person with the tendentially lower lactate production needs a long time to warm up, we all know that. So he should easily spin for 45 minutes. Easy. A bit under base. Just easy riding somewhere on the road. The other might need only 30 minutes. Fuel well during the warmup. Then maybe one or two activation sprints for both, then to the start line, bottle ready, mentally prepared — the Marathoner saying, okay, the first three laps are going to be tough, and the Sprinter saying, okay, the first three laps will be easy. The Sprinter shouldn't go full gas at the start, chasing every attack — he can do that. He should say, I hold back, I save 10 percent. The Marathoner has to fight to stay in for the first three laps. But he has the asset of knowing he'll get significantly better later. Approach it smart. The Sprinter offensive, the Marathoner...

Björn: Okay.

Sebastian: Right.

Björn: So we've sketched out six months of training, with one way to respond — how you can use a Powertest to adjust your training zones, and above all to check your training progress. And how you prepare for a road race — one way to prepare, where you really use the values and metrics to get there. One more thing to say at this point — really think about nutrition. It's a key lever, especially for steering VLamax. Lowering VLamax basically means eating too little. Raising VLamax means eating more — to put it bluntly. And yeah, hopefully we've shown you how to structure your training. Today was about the road cyclist preparing for a one-day road race. In the next podcast we'll cover other disciplines, other sports, and what training could look like for them, depending on the metrics you bring in.

Sebastian: Feel free to write us — on Instagram, or email info at afasteryou dot com — which rider you'd like us to discuss. I think we've covered this one exhaustively. Thanks.

Björn: Lots of jargon again. Questions welcome — we can always explain things. We're looking forward to your feedback. Until then, all the best. Happy training and Powertesting. Exactly. See you. Ciao, ciao.