Wasn’t there a time a few years back when some app actually had an activity that covered bedroom antics? MapMySomething probably
True, but you will have nevertheless defined your ‘Matt Spooner Zones’ and be training with those.
Why don’t we just get rid of any attempt at science and introduce a new system of TriTalk Zones?
The good zones:
Zone 1 - easy
Zone 2 - steady.
Zone 4 - hard.
The bad zones:
Zone 0 - too easy
Zone 3 - not steady enough, and not hard enough, haven’t you read the memo?
Zone 5 - the ambulance zone
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This is true, but Matt Spooner zones are fairly vague, one day an easy run is 138bpm and another day it is 130bpm because I know that tiredness, temperature, sleep and external stresses have an impact.
The people on IMJ get really hung up on really precise numbers, coaches tell them to go and have physiological tests in the gym. I understand that I have 6 years experience (still a newby relative to most here), most IMJers are much newer, however, there must be simpler advice to give, rather than being really hung up on zones.
Do we not just have two zones depending on whether you are threshold or polarised training?
Threshold:
- Threshold
- Below Threshold
Polarised:
- Get moving you fat slob
- OMG IM GOING TO DIE
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In practical terms, if you are going to coach a load of people over the Internet that you have almost no personal contact with, you need to use a prescribed method and stick dogmatically to it 
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Profit = turnover - cost of doing business
The less you have to do with your clients, the more time you have to swan around Tesco in your team GB kit 
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Is your problem the way people are using this information/testing, the zones themselves or the obsession with the precise prescription? I do think too many use jargon they either don’t understand properly or don’t define what they mean by a specific term.
I am not sure of the point of a MaxHR test but VO2 max could certainly be a useful in the conext of triathlon, especially from sprint to maybe even HIM (IMHO). You can see on here that FTP values get posted but the test they have done is a MAP test or CP20.
On another IMJ group, maybe UK but there is a coach out there offering “physiology testing” remotely as he uses the game changing package INSCYD. Now i know a guy who worked on it, its great, algorithms on lactate testing to find out things like fatmax and its scary accurate, maybe not quite as gas exchange obvs. but how can you tell carb/fat ratio from a garmin trace. its bullshit and people lapping it up. Gas exchange testing is gold standard, the mobile mask cost 5k though and to do it in a lab is time consuming and costly. Unless you are elite and getting it retested at least every couple of mesocycles, maybe every one then what is the point. Simple doesn’t sell though.
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3 zones, below LT1 above LT2 and one in the middle. do most of your work below LT1 doe the rest about Lt2 and the ration changes depending on target race and date. As you get closer to race day do more at TRP. It really is simple for 99% of athletes.
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Saw that on Taran’s channel
That’s it there. It’s what Seiler, Couzens, Inigo San Millan, Inigo Mujika all talk about. I haven’t read Lydiard but pretty sure that is the basis of what he did from what others have said about his training.
On the modern met. carts, it’s great how they are now compared to the Douglas bags we used at uni in the 90s. Swapping them out, balancing the CO2 input and so on.
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does he review it? would like to see what someone thinks as obviously its not going to be as good as a lab but testing in the field has to be valuable
Dunno.
Just saw he had it on for a ramp test, so I googled it.
Might have a review elsewhere on his channel
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My issues are:
Obsession with precise prescription, especially for MOP, BOP athletes. Being precise doesn’t help, it creates needless confusion. Most people need simple guidance, however, these threads on IMJ become hopelessly confusing, tends to end in a bun fight between different coaches.
maybe I am wong about Vo2 Max and I am missing and opportunuity. If my FTP changes by +/- 15w it’s not going to change my race plan, as FTP is just one element. For me the 2 1/2 hour ride at 313w is far more valuable than knowing my FTP. Next I want to know what is the max I can hold for 5 hours as this will help me plan my IM ride intensity
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Don’t forget the super-secret sauce… CONSISTENCY!
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Totally agree that people need simplicity. I haven’t seen the threads but can imagine people are arguing over minutiae when it’s of little value. It sounds like it’s people using these metrics and zones inappropriately rather than the metrics or zones themselves.
I doubt knowing your VO2 max would massively impact your training but just one of those things that helps build a more accurate picture, like lactate testing and so on. I studied it at uni (in the 90s) so find it interesting and like to keep up with it when I can.
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most of whom haven’t been on a coaching course in their lives so think that it is all about running at 152bpm and going to 153 will destroy a years training. I remember a comment on MAF , you must run under this arbitrary heart rate or walk. So its a good guide to keep the novice running slower but some one moaned i have to walk too far on my runs as there are hills. I said so go over the HR for a bit, got argued with that its building aerobic engine and you are wasting the time if you go over. I just don’t get how walking for a mile helps you build your ability to run that mile. If I did that round here Id be walking half of my long runs and before all this Id walk 4miles a day easily already.
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Guidance without context is just noise
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Links to ST very rarely seem to work for me but this has to go down as the quickest escalation ever, even for them.
It also has the potential to run and run once the usual suspects get on their high horses.
https://forum.slowtwitch.com/forum/Slowtwitch_Forums_C1/Triathlon_Forum_F1/chris_froome_dislikes_disc_brakes_P7450390/
(If the link doesn’t work it’s the Chris Froome disc brake thread)
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