ADVANCED FITNESS PERFORMANCE
Competitive Athlete
- KNOW YOUR ZONES
Training should be based on your personal metabolic zones.
Get the most out of your training sessions.
Gas exchange metabolic testing has the following advantages:
1. More accurate than estimating your heart rate zones.
2. Easier to perform than the old constant work rate 30 minute testing with blood lactate levels.
3. Reproducible
4. Use your heart rate zones to plan your training. 5
5. New Study finds gas exchange measures to be superior to lactate measurements in predicting performance in 40K cycling time trials.4
6. Landmark study coauthored by C. Foster showed that more time spent in the low heart rate zone during a 5 month training period improved 10Km times!6
A heart rate monitor (polar b1 ) is a simple, inexpensive
and accurate way to measure your heart rate and stay in your zones.
You will not find gas exchange heart rate zones and metabolic zones in textbooks yet since it is NEW Technology. This site and Advanced Fitness Performance will continue to monitor the worlds literature to keep you informed. Several very important articles are referenced for your information.1,2,3,4,5, 6
Click on articles for link to abstract
1 Maximal lactate steady state determination with a single incremental exercise test
2 Quantifying training intensity distribution in elite endurance athletes: is there evidence for an "optimal" distribution
3 A conceptual framework for performance diagnosis and training prescription from submaximal gas exchange parameters - theory and application
4 Predictive validity of ventilatory and lactate thresholds for cycling time trial performance
5 How do endurance runners actually train? Relationship with competition performance. 2005 This article looks at cross country runners and how training in the different zones effected competition times
6 Esteve-Lanao j, Foster C, Seiler S, Lucia A
Impact of training intensity distribution on performance in endurance athletes.
J Strength Cond Res. 2007 Aug;21(3):943-9.
PMID: 17685689 [PubMed - in process]
Click on articles for link to abstract
1 Maximal lactate steady state determination with a single incremental exercise test
2 Quantifying training intensity distribution in elite endurance athletes: is there evidence for an "optimal" distribution
3 A conceptual framework for performance diagnosis and training prescription from submaximal gas exchange parameters - theory and application
4 Predictive validity of ventilatory and lactate thresholds for cycling time trial performance
5 How do endurance runners actually train? Relationship with competition performance. 2005 This article looks at cross country runners and how training in the different zones effected competition times
6 Esteve-Lanao j, Foster C, Seiler S, Lucia A
Impact of training intensity distribution on performance in endurance athletes.
J Strength Cond Res. 2007 Aug;21(3):943-9.
PMID: 17685689 [PubMed - in process]