Australian Triathlete — December 2017

70 | AustrAliAn triAthlete

MAXIMAL oXyGen

UPTAke: does IT

MATTeR?

using Douglas bags to measure expired

oxygen and carbon dioxide with Lode

bikes setting wattage. But once I had

participated in a few trials, it became

obvious that my VO2max wasn’t changing

much. It was just a number that gave me

an idea of the limits of my heart rate.

It didn’t add much to my training, aside

from giving me the confidence that I had a

decent motor, which I still needed to learn

how to use and tune.

Fast-forward 20 years and on top of

the basics, we have power, rpm, left-right

balance, pedalling efficiency,

temperature, elevation gain, TSS (training

stress score) or equivalent, and more.

But I feel as though data collection may

have jumped the shark. With the glut of

information we now try to understand on

a daily basis, are we over complicating

things just a little? Do you really care

what your normalised power was on the

weekend ride? Does it really add to your

(or your hypothetical coach’s)

understanding of the session? Do you

even know what normalised power is and

how it changes your power number?

Professor John Hawley and his mates

essentially covered off all that I am about

A

long time ago in a galaxy far,

far away, I had time gates to

jump through that involved

training two or three times

a day, attending tutorials or lectures,

grabbing a meal or even catching up with

friends (usually while training). Oh, and

sleeping! Through this halcyon period

(“the 90s”), Danger (Damien Angus) and

I discussed two major topics: physiology

and time optimisation. I know you were all

expecting me to say girls, but the topic of

‘fairer sex’ is covered under the umbrella

of physiology and time.

One prominent difference between

training now and in the 90s is the

availability of data. Heart rate, speed and

distance was really all there was. I used to

volunteer for scientific studies so that I

could objectify my performance. This

included maximal oxygen uptake

(VO2max) and lactate threshold (LT) -

text by dr mItCh anderson

IllUStrAtIon by shutterstoCK.Com/ nIKola KnezevIC