This weekend I attended as support and supporter the Ironman 70.3 event at Wimbleball lake in Somerset. Renowned as the toughest course on the circuit due very hilly bike and run course, it’s a picturesque place to compete in and to watch. I took a lap of the run course and can vouch that it’s undulations and variety of surfaces do make it a challenge (or maybe that’s just a lack of distance running on my part!). In the event village, you get an idea of what it is that makes the triathlete tick. Conversations on which gels to take, tyre pressures, helmet aerodynamics and carbon bike frames were everywhere. Each athlete was looking for the silver bullet that would give them the edge on race day, it got me wondering whether or not they placed the same emphasis on the training they were doing….looking at some of the body shapes and running techniques around I suspect not.

Maybe that’s a bit of cynicism on my part. I know that small differences in surface area make a large impact on drag. I know the importance maintaining electrolyte balance and carbohydrate and protein intake on a long distance endurance event. I also now know that body glide can shave seconds off the removal of a wetsuit and elastic laces can also achieve a quicker transition. But I also know the value of training at appropriate intensity and how test data, like maximum lactate steady state, can aid this. I also know the how a movement screen and appropriate training can dramatically reduce the potential for injury and how some strength training can improve running economy and power output on the bike. I didn’t hear any of those conversations. Again, maybe because it was race day and thoughts of training were in the past.

As for the event itself, it was incredibly well run. The layout of the campsite, event village and course was very spectator friendly and think this was appreciated by the athletes as they were cheered around the grueling course. Also, the way the 1400+ athletes were looked after and organised was superb, everything ran incredibly smoothly and kudos has to go the organisers.

Yesterday I attended a BASES workshop focusing on critical power. Essentially it is a performance measure that gives a level of training intensity that is maintainable for somewhere between 20-40 mins. Theoretically it should be the same as your maximum lactate steady state (MLSS) but it tends to sit a little higher in the severe intensity domain. However, those utilising it tend use a further zone classification between the heavy and severe zones, imaginatively titled the ‘very heavy’ zone.

The test itself requires three maximum effort tests of varying lengths between 3 and 15 minutes long (3, 7 and 12 minutes seem to be the most common). These tests usually take place on the same day with 3 hours recovery between each one. With the average power data you can plot a graph against time and get a measure  of critical power.

The measure lends itself particularly well to cycling given the familiarity with wattage as a measure of training intensity, however it is possible to take the tests using a set distance or time that is more applicable to runners and swimmers where taking of MLSS is very difficult to achieve. The information is very communicable to athletes given the graph produced and units are simple to understand. The value is also great to use for prescription of intensities when designing training sessions.

A certain amount of familiarity needs to be developed with the test in terms of pacing strategy which can skew early tests (those who’ve used the cooper test will be familiar with this) and the large recovery periods and requirement for full day to test could make the test inconvenient compared to a MLSS test which essentially gives a similar measure. It was mentioned that it had been trialled within an hour with similar results to the full day testing. If this proves reliable then I think the test becomes much more usable, primarily in cycling and swimming.

Here’s a piece out of Australia published in this months Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. It is looking at the effect of concurrent resistance and endurance training on certain parameters for endurance cyclists (full reference at the bottom of the page).

Participants completing the study numbered 14 and were all well trained male cyclists who had been involved in competition for at least 12 months and had not taken part in any resistance training for at least 6 months. Participants were divided into a control group and test group with 7 in each and were tested during the non competitive period of the season. Testing consisted of 1 repetition maximum (RM) squat test, a graded exercise test during which a VO2 max score and peak power output score were obtained and a 30km dynamic cycling test (CT30) and were undertaken in the week before and after the 6 week training program.

The CT 30 test is a 30-km time trial that includes a 250m sprint at the 4, 14 and 24-km mark and a 1-km sprint at the 9, 19 and 29 km marks. During the training program, participants underwent 3 resistance training sessions per week for 6 weeks with one session focused on strength, one on power and one on muscle hypertrophy (appendix 1).

No significant differences were found between groups on any of the tests as a result of the training program that was prescribed. A few possible reasons given for a lack of improvement were given. The prescribed volume may have had an extended overreaching effect reducing the impact of the training and this potentially combined with too short a period of time from the end of training to repeat testing (lag time) meant that recovery and adaptation were unable to take place. It was suggested that there was maybe a lack of specificity to resistance training and, due to the nature of the CT30 test, pacing strategy in the test may have had an effect. The authors conclude by stating that resistance training is unlikely to dynamic endurance cycling performance.

Draw your own conclusions from the piece and by all means give it a read, it would be interesting to hear from some of you that may not agree with dropping resistance training from an endurance cyclists training program.

• Levin, G.T., McGuigan, M.R. & Laursen, P.B. (2009). Effect of concurrent resistance and endurance training on physiologic and performance parameters of well trained endurance cyclists. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 23(8) pp. 2280-2286.

Appendix 1

Strength – Lunges, squats, stiff leg deadlifts, seated calf raises, inclined crunches

Power – Jump squat, single leg jump squat, clean grip deadlift, single leg calf raise, back extension

Hypertrophy – Single leg leg press, knee extension, knee flexion, standing calf raises, abdominal crunches