Our Perspective on Human Performance
Intro and workshop Being located in SW London/ Surrey, I have often been asked about the Ball-Buster, a seriously challenging duathlon which can test the mettle of even the most robust athletes. This is an event I frequently recommend to clients to demonstrate their end of summer fitness, on terrain many people commonly train, using ‘The Box’ or […]
Philosophy In-Motion: Becoming a good coach isn’t as simple as attending a few courses or reading a few chapters in a book…as I have learnt over the last few years! I hope to share what are considered the general principles of coaching with my unique perspective from experience with numerous and very different athletes. I […]
My previous post on Terrain’ing briefly explores the use of available terrain for effective physiological performance training, ideal for mountainous events on the continent. Exposure to intensities for durations long enough to stress that part of the physiological spectrum is key for improving and becoming ‘better’ and faster over the course. Essentially, frequency and sequence […]
The 2016 road-racing and event season is well under way, and some great spectacles have already passed with extremely exciting and closely contested monument pro-races Strade Bianchi, Paris-Roubaix, Paris-Nice, Milan-San Remo, Tirrenho-Adriatico and Tour of the Basque, while Amstel Gold and Leige-Bastogne-Liege imminently under way. Winter preparation of strength and endurance should now be starting […]
Why take protein? Protein is required for anabolic activity; repair and replacement of damaged proteins (caused by oxidative stress of high energy turnover and mechanical disruption) after intense resistance or endurance based exercise. Muscle Protein Synthesis (MPS) and muscle protein degradation are opposing processes present during and after exercise that acutely fatigues muscles to the […]
Recovery and Adaptation In the previous post I discussed the interaction effect which occurs between strength and endurance training, and how strength gains are restricted at the molecular level in the muscle due to intense aerobic exercise. Optimal strategies exist to maximise strength gains, practically with appropriately scheduled training and nutritionally with ‘windows of opportunity’ […]
Concurrent Strength and Endurance Training (S&E) As a continuation from my last post about improving strength to increase sustainable power through resistance exercise with weights… this post delves into more of the actual training practicalities involved. Performing strength and endurance training promotes a greater volume of Type IIA, more fatigue resistant, high force muscle […]
This is the time of year we need to be confirming what our events next spring will be, for a couple of good reasons; entrance registrations for the more popular public races open and close relatively quickly due to limited numbers. In particular events abroad have restricted foreign participants to save disappointment unless you have previously seeded or qualified, […]
Since my first experiences as a youthful spectator of professional cycling watching Gianni Bugno win the 1990 Wincanton Classic in Brighton, I have been fascinated by what it takes for performance cycling passionistas like us to achieve elite status and I am still learning how the process can be accelerated for all of us, with precious little time […]
As a member of BASES looking to gain accreditation as a Chartered Scientist in Sports and Exercise Science I am obliged to follow the code of conduct which is formed around World Medical Association guidelines for conducting scientific experimentation on human volunteers and subjects enrolled into novel investigation for the purposes of scientific progression. Even […]
The club 10 or an odd half-marathon now and again don’t seem to satisfy us endurance athletes anymore, as we seek bigger and bigger challenges the fitter we get. The number of sport science publications have also rocketed in the last few years, on hydration, fuelling and general long distance performance. Ultra-distance events are definitely […]
I have previously described the three primary independent factors which dictate endurance cycling performance which are known to applied exercise physiologists…. 1. Gross cycling efficiency – the ability to use oxygen and convert fuel (carbs/fats/ protein etc) to energy in the muscles and is dictated by individual expression of specific metabolic enzymes which control […]
