Physiological profiling
The individualisation of training
To get the maximal adaption with minimal time and fatigue the best athletes in the world know that you need train at specific intensities. A lactate test and a power meter used to be my secret weapon that allowed me to compete professionally with a full time job and no history as an elite athlete. Fast forward 20 years and almost everyone has access the equipment and the knowledge but few really exploit them sometimes simply because of lack of clear strategy or experience of how to apply the knowledge. The experience to know how to apply it is now becoming essential if you are a pro but even as a time crunched age grouper the bar has been raised across the board. Training with a scattergun approach or simply intensifying everything won’t cut it anymore. You need focus and a strategy based on your current physiology and where you want to move your physiology.
My Story
I am not an elite athlete, I was a MD student until I broke my back in a car accident a 21yr which changed the direction of my life forever. I spent nearly 2 months in a hospital ward in which I was the only one to WALK out and to be honest I didn't sit down much again for about 20 years. I left medicine and did a PhD in biochemistry while starting triathlon as my rehab 5 years later I was racing PRO and held the national Ironman record for more than 5 years. I now have an amazing family with three girls and love talking about science and triathlon more than ever.
A metabolic strategy
The Individualised training based on physiology is one of the holy grails of coaching which most will promise but very few deliver. The first stage is to assess the key determinants of performance that you are interested in. The purpose of this is to determine their how well tailored their physiology is to the demands of the event of choice. There are four stages to the process from profiling to training design, but I focus primarily on assessing the physiology in seven key determinants I find most useful. I dont focus on gold standard lab grade testing which I use but can be expensive and not available to all.
