Make Threshold Training Work for You

Improve your endurance, speed and stamina
Written by Marcus Smith
Tom Walker
Nov 21, 2023
-
5
Mainline Class
Specialty Class
Endurance
Ladies Run Club
Make Threshold Training Work for You

Threshold training will often play a significant role in an athlete’s endurance program. A focussed threshold block, when properly implemented, can increase fitness levels in cyclists, runners and swimmers.

What is threshold training?

To most people, any type of ‘threshold training’ involves the maximum intensity someone is able to hold for up to 1 hour (if they’re cyclists or runners) or1-1.5K in the pool. However, we actually have two different thresholds and they’re both really important to understand.

The difference between lactate thresholds and ventilatory thresholds

You may have heard about the 1st threshold and 2nd threshold, or LT1/VT1 and LT2/VT2… these terms have become a lot more popular recently thanks to distance athletes using lactate measuring devices on YouTube.

LT simply means lactate threshold or turn point and VT means ventilatory threshold or turn point.

The first threshold comes around when exercise intensity initiates a disturbance in physiological homeostasis, intake of oxygen (O2) increases as does amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) exhaled. This usually coincides with the lactate concentration in the blood rising above normal resting levels.

Once this turn point is reached, we can simply define the exercise intensity as moderate. If you continue to exercise moderately or increase effort, you will soon find yourself closer to or at a vigorous intensity.

At this point, you’re working above the disturbance line of physiological homeostasis and on your way to reaching the 2nd threshold or the top end of vigorous activity.

Here we begin to breath in greater amounts of O2 but we stop being able to exhale the same volume of CO2 - this is called your maximum tidal volume. Lactate in the blood stream also rises and will continue to rise above 4mmol/L (depending on definition). If intensity remains the same at this stage you are unable to clear as much lactate as is being made and eventually exercise will cease.

Threshold training example for distance running

Let’s break this down into a simple example.

Think of the 1st threshold as your marathon or Ironman 70.3 distance intensity (Ironman distance for the extremely trained person), a fit person can hold intensity at or close to the 1st threshold for 3-4 hours without a drop in performance.

If using a zoning system think of this as the top of your zone 2 or bottom half of zone 3, you may also hear it referred to as ‘tempo’.

The 2nd turn point is what most people understand to be ‘threshold intensity’ or 10k run pace, sprint distance triathlon or a 40km cycling time trail. A fit person can exercise at or close to the 2nd threshold for 40 – 60mins. This intensity can also be referred to as zone 4.

How to implement threshold training

Hopefully the different thresholds make a bit more sense now... but how can we use threshold training to help us exercise more effectively?

Coaches often prescribe training zones or intensities for sessions, using power meters, heart rate, speed or pace to determine an athlete’s threshold. Each method has their own benefits and limitations, though they all share one thing in common – they are predicting and not measuring.


The only true way to calculate lactate threshold or ventilatory threshold is with a lactate meter or ventilation device.

Should you exercise above or below your lactate threshold?

When exercising below the 1st threshold we get physiological adaptions without a high cost. Lactate has not built up in the blood and therefore the metabolic cost is low, we can do more training hours here as essentially, we recover quicker.

When training above the 2nd threshold, we get a high amount of metabolic and muscular damage which comes with a cost of needing longer time to recover but also a benefit of adaptation. When exercising between the 1st and 2nd thresholds we get the cost of metabolic and muscular damage but not quite the same benefit of adaption we get when at or above the 2nd threshold.

This is why many coaches utilise the 80:20 rule.

Improve endurance performance with the 80:20 rule

If we want to increase our endurance performance, or ability to sustain pace, speed or watts over longer distances we should be very mindful of spending most of our time below our 1st threshold.

A great general rule of thumb (used by a lot of coaches) is the 80:20 rule. Simply put, 80% of time training is easy and 20% of the time training is very hard. There’s a lot of research that backs up this type of training, but let’s take a minute to understand why it works so well.

Exercising below the 1st threshold causes physiological adaptions without a high cost. Lactate has not built up in the blood and therefore the metabolic cost is low, so we can do more training hours here as we recover quicker.

When training above the 2nd threshold, we get a high amount of metabolic and muscular damage which comes with a cost of needing longer time to recover but also has the benefit of adaptation.

If you exercise between the 1st and 2nd thresholds, we get the cost of metabolic and muscular damage but not quite the same benefit of adaption we get when at or above the 2nd threshold.

The only exception to this rule is when doing event specific training, particularly for marathons or half Ironmans.

In these events a lot of time is going to be spent in zone 3, at or between the 1st and 2nd thresholds. It’s smart to train at that intensity to understand realistic paces and power – you definitely want to know what you’re up against! This block might only last for 6-8 weeks during a build up towards the race.

Outside of these events and thinking for an everyday amateur athlete, it’s important to understand where on the threshold scale your coach wants you to be. Ensure when your program requires you to be above the 2nd threshold you go hard and when below the 1st threshold you go easy!

Fun - Honesty - Simplicity - Smash Life - Mental Toughness - HARD WORK

Introduction

Mi tincidunt elit, id quisque ligula ac diam, amet. Vel etiam suspendisse morbi eleifend faucibus eget vestibulum felis. Dictum quis montes, sit sit. Tellus aliquam enim urna, etiam. Mauris posuere vulputate arcu amet, vitae nisi, tellus tincidunt. At feugiat sapien varius id.

Eget quis mi enim, leo lacinia pharetra, semper. Eget in volutpat mollis at volutpat lectus velit, sed auctor. Porttitor fames arcu quis fusce augue enim. Quis at habitant diam at. Suscipit tristique risus, at donec. In turpis vel et quam imperdiet. Ipsum molestie aliquet sodales id est ac volutpat.

Image caption goes here

Dolor enim eu tortor urna sed duis nulla

Elit nisi in eleifend sed nisi. Pulvinar at orci, proin imperdiet commodo consectetur convallis risus. Sed condimentum enim dignissim adipiscing faucibus consequat, urna. Viverra purus et erat auctor aliquam. Risus, volutpat vulputate posuere purus sit congue convallis aliquet. Arcu id augue ut feugiat donec porttitor neque. Mauris, neque ultricies eu vestibulum, bibendum quam lorem id. Dolor lacus, eget nunc lectus in tellus, pharetra, porttitor.

If you want to swim faster on race day, it’s no secret you’ve got to swim fast in training.

Tristique odio senectus nam posuere ornare leo metus, ultricies. Blandit duis ultricies vulputate morbi feugiat cras placerat elit. Aliquam tellus lorem sed ac. Montes, sed mattis pellentesque suscipit accumsan. Cursus viverra aenean magna risus elementum faucibus molestie pellentesque. Arcu ultricies sed mauris vestibulum.

Conclusion

Morbi sed imperdiet in ipsum, adipiscing elit dui lectus. Tellus id scelerisque est ultricies ultricies. Duis est sit sed leo nisl, blandit elit sagittis. Quisque tristique consequat quam sed. Nisl at scelerisque amet nulla purus habitasse.

Nunc sed faucibus bibendum feugiat sed interdum. Ipsum egestas condimentum mi massa. In tincidunt pharetra consectetur sed duis facilisis metus. Etiam egestas in nec sed et. Quis lobortis at sit dictum eget nibh tortor commodo cursus.

Odio felis sagittis, morbi feugiat tortor vitae feugiat fusce aliquet. Nam elementum urna nisi aliquet erat dolor enim. Ornare id morbi eget ipsum. Aliquam senectus neque ut id eget consectetur dictum. Donec posuere pharetra odio consequat scelerisque et, nunc tortor.
Nulla adipiscing erat a erat. Condimentum lorem posuere gravida enim posuere cursus diam.

Triathlon
Swimming
Race Prep
Specialty Class #25-13

ENGINE

Long EMOM with a mixture of machines and body weight exercises.

GYMNASTICS

This Tuesday, we’re focusing on pull-up progressions! Strict, kipping, and butterfly will appear, followed by lat and core supersets.

On Thursday evening, we’ll focus on handstand hold progressions before having some fun with handstand walks and finishing off the session with core and strength work.

HYROX

This is the Last Simulation before race week. We will lower the volume but keep the intensity high to make sure you are ready for race day!

ENGINE: Long EMOM with a mixture of machines and body weight exercises

MOBILITY

This week, we have the topic: Why are your calves and hamstrings always tight? What can we do to remedy this? Get yourself booked in, and I will show you! This is a great session for everyone, but it is extra beneficial to those runners out there!

PURE STRENGTH

This week's pure strength, we have a chance to progress our 20 RM RDL, followed by some heavy press and strict press cluster sets.

WEIGHTLIFTING

This week in weightlifting, we are focusing on the squat clean. With a fun complex followed by some pulls. Perfect technique session, working on the barbell timing and full depth in the clean

Introduction

Mi tincidunt elit, id quisque ligula ac diam, amet. Vel etiam suspendisse morbi eleifend faucibus eget vestibulum felis. Dictum quis montes, sit sit. Tellus aliquam enim urna, etiam. Mauris posuere vulputate arcu amet, vitae nisi, tellus tincidunt. At feugiat sapien varius id.

Eget quis mi enim, leo lacinia pharetra, semper. Eget in volutpat mollis at volutpat lectus velit, sed auctor. Porttitor fames arcu quis fusce augue enim. Quis at habitant diam at. Suscipit tristique risus, at donec. In turpis vel et quam imperdiet. Ipsum molestie aliquet sodales id est ac volutpat.

Image caption goes here

Dolor enim eu tortor urna sed duis nulla

Elit nisi in eleifend sed nisi. Pulvinar at orci, proin imperdiet commodo consectetur convallis risus. Sed condimentum enim dignissim adipiscing faucibus consequat, urna. Viverra purus et erat auctor aliquam. Risus, volutpat vulputate posuere purus sit congue convallis aliquet. Arcu id augue ut feugiat donec porttitor neque. Mauris, neque ultricies eu vestibulum, bibendum quam lorem id. Dolor lacus, eget nunc lectus in tellus, pharetra, porttitor.

If you want to swim faster on race day, it’s no secret you’ve got to swim fast in training.

Tristique odio senectus nam posuere ornare leo metus, ultricies. Blandit duis ultricies vulputate morbi feugiat cras placerat elit. Aliquam tellus lorem sed ac. Montes, sed mattis pellentesque suscipit accumsan. Cursus viverra aenean magna risus elementum faucibus molestie pellentesque. Arcu ultricies sed mauris vestibulum.

Conclusion

Morbi sed imperdiet in ipsum, adipiscing elit dui lectus. Tellus id scelerisque est ultricies ultricies. Duis est sit sed leo nisl, blandit elit sagittis. Quisque tristique consequat quam sed. Nisl at scelerisque amet nulla purus habitasse.

Nunc sed faucibus bibendum feugiat sed interdum. Ipsum egestas condimentum mi massa. In tincidunt pharetra consectetur sed duis facilisis metus. Etiam egestas in nec sed et. Quis lobortis at sit dictum eget nibh tortor commodo cursus.

Odio felis sagittis, morbi feugiat tortor vitae feugiat fusce aliquet. Nam elementum urna nisi aliquet erat dolor enim. Ornare id morbi eget ipsum. Aliquam senectus neque ut id eget consectetur dictum. Donec posuere pharetra odio consequat scelerisque et, nunc tortor.
Nulla adipiscing erat a erat. Condimentum lorem posuere gravida enim posuere cursus diam.

Triathlon
Swimming
Race Prep
Endurance #25-13

Monday Ride

A ride dedicated to group riding skills and some fitness. Coach Rob Foster leads this ride, if you'd like to join email Rob Foster.

Start time: 05:59 am

Session Length: 1.5 hour

Location: The Loop Cafe, Bike DXB

Track Tuesday

Our weekly on track speed session! For any level of runner looking to build their run speed, threshold and Vo2max fitness and run with the best running community in Dubai.

Time: 05:59 am

Session Length: 1.5 hour

Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park

Entrance fee

Friday - Coffee Run

Our weekly tempo run.  Sessions are built on an RPE scale and accessible to all levels of runner. We start together, run hard then finish together and chat about it over a coffee and breakfast.

Brief time: 05:54 am
Start time
: 05:59 am

Start Location: Common Grounds

Saturday - Jebel Jais Ride

Today our weekly endurance ride is at Jebel Jais! If you're interested to join email us here.

Introduction

Mi tincidunt elit, id quisque ligula ac diam, amet. Vel etiam suspendisse morbi eleifend faucibus eget vestibulum felis. Dictum quis montes, sit sit. Tellus aliquam enim urna, etiam. Mauris posuere vulputate arcu amet, vitae nisi, tellus tincidunt. At feugiat sapien varius id.

Eget quis mi enim, leo lacinia pharetra, semper. Eget in volutpat mollis at volutpat lectus velit, sed auctor. Porttitor fames arcu quis fusce augue enim. Quis at habitant diam at. Suscipit tristique risus, at donec. In turpis vel et quam imperdiet. Ipsum molestie aliquet sodales id est ac volutpat.

Image caption goes here

Dolor enim eu tortor urna sed duis nulla

Elit nisi in eleifend sed nisi. Pulvinar at orci, proin imperdiet commodo consectetur convallis risus. Sed condimentum enim dignissim adipiscing faucibus consequat, urna. Viverra purus et erat auctor aliquam. Risus, volutpat vulputate posuere purus sit congue convallis aliquet. Arcu id augue ut feugiat donec porttitor neque. Mauris, neque ultricies eu vestibulum, bibendum quam lorem id. Dolor lacus, eget nunc lectus in tellus, pharetra, porttitor.

If you want to swim faster on race day, it’s no secret you’ve got to swim fast in training.

Tristique odio senectus nam posuere ornare leo metus, ultricies. Blandit duis ultricies vulputate morbi feugiat cras placerat elit. Aliquam tellus lorem sed ac. Montes, sed mattis pellentesque suscipit accumsan. Cursus viverra aenean magna risus elementum faucibus molestie pellentesque. Arcu ultricies sed mauris vestibulum.

Conclusion

Morbi sed imperdiet in ipsum, adipiscing elit dui lectus. Tellus id scelerisque est ultricies ultricies. Duis est sit sed leo nisl, blandit elit sagittis. Quisque tristique consequat quam sed. Nisl at scelerisque amet nulla purus habitasse.

Nunc sed faucibus bibendum feugiat sed interdum. Ipsum egestas condimentum mi massa. In tincidunt pharetra consectetur sed duis facilisis metus. Etiam egestas in nec sed et. Quis lobortis at sit dictum eget nibh tortor commodo cursus.

Odio felis sagittis, morbi feugiat tortor vitae feugiat fusce aliquet. Nam elementum urna nisi aliquet erat dolor enim. Ornare id morbi eget ipsum. Aliquam senectus neque ut id eget consectetur dictum. Donec posuere pharetra odio consequat scelerisque et, nunc tortor.
Nulla adipiscing erat a erat. Condimentum lorem posuere gravida enim posuere cursus diam.

Triathlon
Swimming
Race Prep
Ladies Run Club 25-13

Monday

There is no in person session this week at LRC. Those who are Unlimited Members, your Training Peaks have been programmed still.

Tuesday

Time: 5:59am

Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park

Entrance fee

Session: Track Tuesday

This is your chance to run fast with the wider IFE community and coaches. This week we will be running 600m repeats. Which will start at 5km pace and progress to 3km pace, so that the pace increases within each rep.

Wednesday

There is no in person session this week at LRC. Those who are Unlimited Members, your Training Peaks have been programmed still.

Friday

Time: 5:59am

Location: Common Grounds

Session: The Coffee Run

This week we will be running a negative split session, meaning that the second half is faster than the first. After 30 mins of easy running, lock into a 20 mins block of effort from 7 - 9 RPE.

Saturday

Time: 5:15am

Location: Cape Town

Session: Two Oceans

Today the 56km runners will be taking on Two Oceans.

Sunday

Time: 6:00am

Location: Cape Town

Session: Two Oceans

Today the 21km runners will be taking on Two Oceans.

Introduction

Mi tincidunt elit, id quisque ligula ac diam, amet. Vel etiam suspendisse morbi eleifend faucibus eget vestibulum felis. Dictum quis montes, sit sit. Tellus aliquam enim urna, etiam. Mauris posuere vulputate arcu amet, vitae nisi, tellus tincidunt. At feugiat sapien varius id.

Eget quis mi enim, leo lacinia pharetra, semper. Eget in volutpat mollis at volutpat lectus velit, sed auctor. Porttitor fames arcu quis fusce augue enim. Quis at habitant diam at. Suscipit tristique risus, at donec. In turpis vel et quam imperdiet. Ipsum molestie aliquet sodales id est ac volutpat.

Image caption goes here

Dolor enim eu tortor urna sed duis nulla

Elit nisi in eleifend sed nisi. Pulvinar at orci, proin imperdiet commodo consectetur convallis risus. Sed condimentum enim dignissim adipiscing faucibus consequat, urna. Viverra purus et erat auctor aliquam. Risus, volutpat vulputate posuere purus sit congue convallis aliquet. Arcu id augue ut feugiat donec porttitor neque. Mauris, neque ultricies eu vestibulum, bibendum quam lorem id. Dolor lacus, eget nunc lectus in tellus, pharetra, porttitor.

If you want to swim faster on race day, it’s no secret you’ve got to swim fast in training.

Tristique odio senectus nam posuere ornare leo metus, ultricies. Blandit duis ultricies vulputate morbi feugiat cras placerat elit. Aliquam tellus lorem sed ac. Montes, sed mattis pellentesque suscipit accumsan. Cursus viverra aenean magna risus elementum faucibus molestie pellentesque. Arcu ultricies sed mauris vestibulum.

Conclusion

Morbi sed imperdiet in ipsum, adipiscing elit dui lectus. Tellus id scelerisque est ultricies ultricies. Duis est sit sed leo nisl, blandit elit sagittis. Quisque tristique consequat quam sed. Nisl at scelerisque amet nulla purus habitasse.

Nunc sed faucibus bibendum feugiat sed interdum. Ipsum egestas condimentum mi massa. In tincidunt pharetra consectetur sed duis facilisis metus. Etiam egestas in nec sed et. Quis lobortis at sit dictum eget nibh tortor commodo cursus.

Odio felis sagittis, morbi feugiat tortor vitae feugiat fusce aliquet. Nam elementum urna nisi aliquet erat dolor enim. Ornare id morbi eget ipsum. Aliquam senectus neque ut id eget consectetur dictum. Donec posuere pharetra odio consequat scelerisque et, nunc tortor.
Nulla adipiscing erat a erat. Condimentum lorem posuere gravida enim posuere cursus diam.

Triathlon
Swimming
Race Prep
Mainline Class
Specialty Class
Endurance
Ladies Run Club
Daily Workout 25-13

Eid Mubarak, we hope you all have a great long weekend! Class times are different this week, so please check the schedule on Mindbody! We have a great week lined up, so see you all on the gym floor!

Monday:

We start the week with an epic partner workout. Grab a partner, and let's start the week with a bang!


Conditioning:

40 min amrap in pairs

50 Cal Row

6 wall walks

50 CB Clean and Jerk

6 Wall Walks

50 Box Jump Overs

6 Wall Walks

Tuesday:

On Tuesday, we have some push-and-pull work in our strength area, focused on overhead pressing, and then 2 12-minute AMRAPs for you to get stuck into.

Strength:

Every 90 sec x 8 Alt between

A: 8 Dual DB Z press

B: 20 Alt Gorilla Rows

Conditioning:

12 min amrap

30 Wall balls

30/25 cal ski

30 Double Unders

Rest 3 Mins

12 min amrap

30/25 Sal Ass bike

20 V Ups

20 Russian KB Swings

Wednesday:

Wednesday, we are hitting some paused back squats in the strength, and then we get after a real grind of a WOD with some burpee pull-ups, front squats, and running.

Strength:

Every 2 mins x 6 - 3/3/2/2/1/1 Tempo Back Squats @21X1

Conditioning:

10 rounds for time

5 Front Squats

Pool Run

5 burpee pull-ups

Thursday:

Thursday, snatch complex with some accessory, followed by the workout ACID BATH.

Strength:

Every 2 mins x 8 - 1 Snatch Pull + 1 hang Power Snatch +

1 Power snatch

rest 3 mins

Every 2 mins x 3 - 5 Snatch Grip Deadlift

Conditioning:

For time

500m ski

500m row

1000m c2 bike

Friday:

FUF - Finishing the week with some push-pull work in the strength, before an all-in barbell workout to end the week! What Better!

Strength:

Every 2 mins x 5 - 5 push press

rest 3 mins

Every 2 mins x 4 complete 6 DB bench Press @ 30x1 + 3-5 strict pull ups

Conditioning:

5 min amrap

9 Deadlift

6 Hang Power Clean

3 STOH

Rest 3 mins x 3

Introduction

Mi tincidunt elit, id quisque ligula ac diam, amet. Vel etiam suspendisse morbi eleifend faucibus eget vestibulum felis. Dictum quis montes, sit sit. Tellus aliquam enim urna, etiam. Mauris posuere vulputate arcu amet, vitae nisi, tellus tincidunt. At feugiat sapien varius id.

Eget quis mi enim, leo lacinia pharetra, semper. Eget in volutpat mollis at volutpat lectus velit, sed auctor. Porttitor fames arcu quis fusce augue enim. Quis at habitant diam at. Suscipit tristique risus, at donec. In turpis vel et quam imperdiet. Ipsum molestie aliquet sodales id est ac volutpat.

Image caption goes here

Dolor enim eu tortor urna sed duis nulla

Elit nisi in eleifend sed nisi. Pulvinar at orci, proin imperdiet commodo consectetur convallis risus. Sed condimentum enim dignissim adipiscing faucibus consequat, urna. Viverra purus et erat auctor aliquam. Risus, volutpat vulputate posuere purus sit congue convallis aliquet. Arcu id augue ut feugiat donec porttitor neque. Mauris, neque ultricies eu vestibulum, bibendum quam lorem id. Dolor lacus, eget nunc lectus in tellus, pharetra, porttitor.

If you want to swim faster on race day, it’s no secret you’ve got to swim fast in training.

Tristique odio senectus nam posuere ornare leo metus, ultricies. Blandit duis ultricies vulputate morbi feugiat cras placerat elit. Aliquam tellus lorem sed ac. Montes, sed mattis pellentesque suscipit accumsan. Cursus viverra aenean magna risus elementum faucibus molestie pellentesque. Arcu ultricies sed mauris vestibulum.

Conclusion

Morbi sed imperdiet in ipsum, adipiscing elit dui lectus. Tellus id scelerisque est ultricies ultricies. Duis est sit sed leo nisl, blandit elit sagittis. Quisque tristique consequat quam sed. Nisl at scelerisque amet nulla purus habitasse.

Nunc sed faucibus bibendum feugiat sed interdum. Ipsum egestas condimentum mi massa. In tincidunt pharetra consectetur sed duis facilisis metus. Etiam egestas in nec sed et. Quis lobortis at sit dictum eget nibh tortor commodo cursus.

Odio felis sagittis, morbi feugiat tortor vitae feugiat fusce aliquet. Nam elementum urna nisi aliquet erat dolor enim. Ornare id morbi eget ipsum. Aliquam senectus neque ut id eget consectetur dictum. Donec posuere pharetra odio consequat scelerisque et, nunc tortor.
Nulla adipiscing erat a erat. Condimentum lorem posuere gravida enim posuere cursus diam.

Triathlon
Swimming
Race Prep
Make Threshold Training Work for You

Threshold training will often play a significant role in an athlete’s endurance program. A focussed threshold block, when properly implemented, can increase fitness levels in cyclists, runners and swimmers.

What is threshold training?

To most people, any type of ‘threshold training’ involves the maximum intensity someone is able to hold for up to 1 hour (if they’re cyclists or runners) or1-1.5K in the pool. However, we actually have two different thresholds and they’re both really important to understand.

The difference between lactate thresholds and ventilatory thresholds

You may have heard about the 1st threshold and 2nd threshold, or LT1/VT1 and LT2/VT2… these terms have become a lot more popular recently thanks to distance athletes using lactate measuring devices on YouTube.

LT simply means lactate threshold or turn point and VT means ventilatory threshold or turn point.

The first threshold comes around when exercise intensity initiates a disturbance in physiological homeostasis, intake of oxygen (O2) increases as does amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) exhaled. This usually coincides with the lactate concentration in the blood rising above normal resting levels.

Once this turn point is reached, we can simply define the exercise intensity as moderate. If you continue to exercise moderately or increase effort, you will soon find yourself closer to or at a vigorous intensity.

At this point, you’re working above the disturbance line of physiological homeostasis and on your way to reaching the 2nd threshold or the top end of vigorous activity.

Here we begin to breath in greater amounts of O2 but we stop being able to exhale the same volume of CO2 - this is called your maximum tidal volume. Lactate in the blood stream also rises and will continue to rise above 4mmol/L (depending on definition). If intensity remains the same at this stage you are unable to clear as much lactate as is being made and eventually exercise will cease.

Threshold training example for distance running

Let’s break this down into a simple example.

Think of the 1st threshold as your marathon or Ironman 70.3 distance intensity (Ironman distance for the extremely trained person), a fit person can hold intensity at or close to the 1st threshold for 3-4 hours without a drop in performance.

If using a zoning system think of this as the top of your zone 2 or bottom half of zone 3, you may also hear it referred to as ‘tempo’.

The 2nd turn point is what most people understand to be ‘threshold intensity’ or 10k run pace, sprint distance triathlon or a 40km cycling time trail. A fit person can exercise at or close to the 2nd threshold for 40 – 60mins. This intensity can also be referred to as zone 4.

How to implement threshold training

Hopefully the different thresholds make a bit more sense now... but how can we use threshold training to help us exercise more effectively?

Coaches often prescribe training zones or intensities for sessions, using power meters, heart rate, speed or pace to determine an athlete’s threshold. Each method has their own benefits and limitations, though they all share one thing in common – they are predicting and not measuring.


The only true way to calculate lactate threshold or ventilatory threshold is with a lactate meter or ventilation device.

Should you exercise above or below your lactate threshold?

When exercising below the 1st threshold we get physiological adaptions without a high cost. Lactate has not built up in the blood and therefore the metabolic cost is low, we can do more training hours here as essentially, we recover quicker.

When training above the 2nd threshold, we get a high amount of metabolic and muscular damage which comes with a cost of needing longer time to recover but also a benefit of adaptation. When exercising between the 1st and 2nd thresholds we get the cost of metabolic and muscular damage but not quite the same benefit of adaption we get when at or above the 2nd threshold.

This is why many coaches utilise the 80:20 rule.

Improve endurance performance with the 80:20 rule

If we want to increase our endurance performance, or ability to sustain pace, speed or watts over longer distances we should be very mindful of spending most of our time below our 1st threshold.

A great general rule of thumb (used by a lot of coaches) is the 80:20 rule. Simply put, 80% of time training is easy and 20% of the time training is very hard. There’s a lot of research that backs up this type of training, but let’s take a minute to understand why it works so well.

Exercising below the 1st threshold causes physiological adaptions without a high cost. Lactate has not built up in the blood and therefore the metabolic cost is low, so we can do more training hours here as we recover quicker.

When training above the 2nd threshold, we get a high amount of metabolic and muscular damage which comes with a cost of needing longer time to recover but also has the benefit of adaptation.

If you exercise between the 1st and 2nd thresholds, we get the cost of metabolic and muscular damage but not quite the same benefit of adaption we get when at or above the 2nd threshold.

The only exception to this rule is when doing event specific training, particularly for marathons or half Ironmans.

In these events a lot of time is going to be spent in zone 3, at or between the 1st and 2nd thresholds. It’s smart to train at that intensity to understand realistic paces and power – you definitely want to know what you’re up against! This block might only last for 6-8 weeks during a build up towards the race.

Outside of these events and thinking for an everyday amateur athlete, it’s important to understand where on the threshold scale your coach wants you to be. Ensure when your program requires you to be above the 2nd threshold you go hard and when below the 1st threshold you go easy!

Fun - Honesty - Simplicity - Smash Life - Mental Toughness - HARD WORK

Introduction

Mi tincidunt elit, id quisque ligula ac diam, amet. Vel etiam suspendisse morbi eleifend faucibus eget vestibulum felis. Dictum quis montes, sit sit. Tellus aliquam enim urna, etiam. Mauris posuere vulputate arcu amet, vitae nisi, tellus tincidunt. At feugiat sapien varius id.

Eget quis mi enim, leo lacinia pharetra, semper. Eget in volutpat mollis at volutpat lectus velit, sed auctor. Porttitor fames arcu quis fusce augue enim. Quis at habitant diam at. Suscipit tristique risus, at donec. In turpis vel et quam imperdiet. Ipsum molestie aliquet sodales id est ac volutpat.

Image caption goes here

Dolor enim eu tortor urna sed duis nulla

Elit nisi in eleifend sed nisi. Pulvinar at orci, proin imperdiet commodo consectetur convallis risus. Sed condimentum enim dignissim adipiscing faucibus consequat, urna. Viverra purus et erat auctor aliquam. Risus, volutpat vulputate posuere purus sit congue convallis aliquet. Arcu id augue ut feugiat donec porttitor neque. Mauris, neque ultricies eu vestibulum, bibendum quam lorem id. Dolor lacus, eget nunc lectus in tellus, pharetra, porttitor.

If you want to swim faster on race day, it’s no secret you’ve got to swim fast in training.

Tristique odio senectus nam posuere ornare leo metus, ultricies. Blandit duis ultricies vulputate morbi feugiat cras placerat elit. Aliquam tellus lorem sed ac. Montes, sed mattis pellentesque suscipit accumsan. Cursus viverra aenean magna risus elementum faucibus molestie pellentesque. Arcu ultricies sed mauris vestibulum.

Conclusion

Morbi sed imperdiet in ipsum, adipiscing elit dui lectus. Tellus id scelerisque est ultricies ultricies. Duis est sit sed leo nisl, blandit elit sagittis. Quisque tristique consequat quam sed. Nisl at scelerisque amet nulla purus habitasse.

Nunc sed faucibus bibendum feugiat sed interdum. Ipsum egestas condimentum mi massa. In tincidunt pharetra consectetur sed duis facilisis metus. Etiam egestas in nec sed et. Quis lobortis at sit dictum eget nibh tortor commodo cursus.

Odio felis sagittis, morbi feugiat tortor vitae feugiat fusce aliquet. Nam elementum urna nisi aliquet erat dolor enim. Ornare id morbi eget ipsum. Aliquam senectus neque ut id eget consectetur dictum. Donec posuere pharetra odio consequat scelerisque et, nunc tortor.
Nulla adipiscing erat a erat. Condimentum lorem posuere gravida enim posuere cursus diam.

Triathlon
Swimming
Race Prep
Endurance #25-13

Monday Ride

A ride dedicated to group riding skills and some fitness. Coach Rob Foster leads this ride, if you'd like to join email Rob Foster.

Start time: 05:59 am

Session Length: 1.5 hour

Location: The Loop Cafe, Bike DXB

Track Tuesday

Our weekly on track speed session! For any level of runner looking to build their run speed, threshold and Vo2max fitness and run with the best running community in Dubai.

Time: 05:59 am

Session Length: 1.5 hour

Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park

Entrance fee

Friday - Coffee Run

Our weekly tempo run.  Sessions are built on an RPE scale and accessible to all levels of runner. We start together, run hard then finish together and chat about it over a coffee and breakfast.

Brief time: 05:54 am
Start time
: 05:59 am

Start Location: Common Grounds

Saturday - Jebel Jais Ride

Today our weekly endurance ride is at Jebel Jais! If you're interested to join email us here.

Introduction

Mi tincidunt elit, id quisque ligula ac diam, amet. Vel etiam suspendisse morbi eleifend faucibus eget vestibulum felis. Dictum quis montes, sit sit. Tellus aliquam enim urna, etiam. Mauris posuere vulputate arcu amet, vitae nisi, tellus tincidunt. At feugiat sapien varius id.

Eget quis mi enim, leo lacinia pharetra, semper. Eget in volutpat mollis at volutpat lectus velit, sed auctor. Porttitor fames arcu quis fusce augue enim. Quis at habitant diam at. Suscipit tristique risus, at donec. In turpis vel et quam imperdiet. Ipsum molestie aliquet sodales id est ac volutpat.

Image caption goes here

Dolor enim eu tortor urna sed duis nulla

Elit nisi in eleifend sed nisi. Pulvinar at orci, proin imperdiet commodo consectetur convallis risus. Sed condimentum enim dignissim adipiscing faucibus consequat, urna. Viverra purus et erat auctor aliquam. Risus, volutpat vulputate posuere purus sit congue convallis aliquet. Arcu id augue ut feugiat donec porttitor neque. Mauris, neque ultricies eu vestibulum, bibendum quam lorem id. Dolor lacus, eget nunc lectus in tellus, pharetra, porttitor.

If you want to swim faster on race day, it’s no secret you’ve got to swim fast in training.

Tristique odio senectus nam posuere ornare leo metus, ultricies. Blandit duis ultricies vulputate morbi feugiat cras placerat elit. Aliquam tellus lorem sed ac. Montes, sed mattis pellentesque suscipit accumsan. Cursus viverra aenean magna risus elementum faucibus molestie pellentesque. Arcu ultricies sed mauris vestibulum.

Conclusion

Morbi sed imperdiet in ipsum, adipiscing elit dui lectus. Tellus id scelerisque est ultricies ultricies. Duis est sit sed leo nisl, blandit elit sagittis. Quisque tristique consequat quam sed. Nisl at scelerisque amet nulla purus habitasse.

Nunc sed faucibus bibendum feugiat sed interdum. Ipsum egestas condimentum mi massa. In tincidunt pharetra consectetur sed duis facilisis metus. Etiam egestas in nec sed et. Quis lobortis at sit dictum eget nibh tortor commodo cursus.

Odio felis sagittis, morbi feugiat tortor vitae feugiat fusce aliquet. Nam elementum urna nisi aliquet erat dolor enim. Ornare id morbi eget ipsum. Aliquam senectus neque ut id eget consectetur dictum. Donec posuere pharetra odio consequat scelerisque et, nunc tortor.
Nulla adipiscing erat a erat. Condimentum lorem posuere gravida enim posuere cursus diam.

Triathlon
Swimming
Race Prep
Ladies Run Club 25-13

Monday

There is no in person session this week at LRC. Those who are Unlimited Members, your Training Peaks have been programmed still.

Tuesday

Time: 5:59am

Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park

Entrance fee

Session: Track Tuesday

This is your chance to run fast with the wider IFE community and coaches. This week we will be running 600m repeats. Which will start at 5km pace and progress to 3km pace, so that the pace increases within each rep.

Wednesday

There is no in person session this week at LRC. Those who are Unlimited Members, your Training Peaks have been programmed still.

Friday

Time: 5:59am

Location: Common Grounds

Session: The Coffee Run

This week we will be running a negative split session, meaning that the second half is faster than the first. After 30 mins of easy running, lock into a 20 mins block of effort from 7 - 9 RPE.

Saturday

Time: 5:15am

Location: Cape Town

Session: Two Oceans

Today the 56km runners will be taking on Two Oceans.

Sunday

Time: 6:00am

Location: Cape Town

Session: Two Oceans

Today the 21km runners will be taking on Two Oceans.

Introduction

Mi tincidunt elit, id quisque ligula ac diam, amet. Vel etiam suspendisse morbi eleifend faucibus eget vestibulum felis. Dictum quis montes, sit sit. Tellus aliquam enim urna, etiam. Mauris posuere vulputate arcu amet, vitae nisi, tellus tincidunt. At feugiat sapien varius id.

Eget quis mi enim, leo lacinia pharetra, semper. Eget in volutpat mollis at volutpat lectus velit, sed auctor. Porttitor fames arcu quis fusce augue enim. Quis at habitant diam at. Suscipit tristique risus, at donec. In turpis vel et quam imperdiet. Ipsum molestie aliquet sodales id est ac volutpat.

Image caption goes here

Dolor enim eu tortor urna sed duis nulla

Elit nisi in eleifend sed nisi. Pulvinar at orci, proin imperdiet commodo consectetur convallis risus. Sed condimentum enim dignissim adipiscing faucibus consequat, urna. Viverra purus et erat auctor aliquam. Risus, volutpat vulputate posuere purus sit congue convallis aliquet. Arcu id augue ut feugiat donec porttitor neque. Mauris, neque ultricies eu vestibulum, bibendum quam lorem id. Dolor lacus, eget nunc lectus in tellus, pharetra, porttitor.

If you want to swim faster on race day, it’s no secret you’ve got to swim fast in training.

Tristique odio senectus nam posuere ornare leo metus, ultricies. Blandit duis ultricies vulputate morbi feugiat cras placerat elit. Aliquam tellus lorem sed ac. Montes, sed mattis pellentesque suscipit accumsan. Cursus viverra aenean magna risus elementum faucibus molestie pellentesque. Arcu ultricies sed mauris vestibulum.

Conclusion

Morbi sed imperdiet in ipsum, adipiscing elit dui lectus. Tellus id scelerisque est ultricies ultricies. Duis est sit sed leo nisl, blandit elit sagittis. Quisque tristique consequat quam sed. Nisl at scelerisque amet nulla purus habitasse.

Nunc sed faucibus bibendum feugiat sed interdum. Ipsum egestas condimentum mi massa. In tincidunt pharetra consectetur sed duis facilisis metus. Etiam egestas in nec sed et. Quis lobortis at sit dictum eget nibh tortor commodo cursus.

Odio felis sagittis, morbi feugiat tortor vitae feugiat fusce aliquet. Nam elementum urna nisi aliquet erat dolor enim. Ornare id morbi eget ipsum. Aliquam senectus neque ut id eget consectetur dictum. Donec posuere pharetra odio consequat scelerisque et, nunc tortor.
Nulla adipiscing erat a erat. Condimentum lorem posuere gravida enim posuere cursus diam.

Triathlon
Swimming
Race Prep
Mainline Class
Specialty Class
Endurance
Ladies Run Club
Daily Workout 25-13

Eid Mubarak, we hope you all have a great long weekend! Class times are different this week, so please check the schedule on Mindbody! We have a great week lined up, so see you all on the gym floor!

Monday:

We start the week with an epic partner workout. Grab a partner, and let's start the week with a bang!


Conditioning:

40 min amrap in pairs

50 Cal Row

6 wall walks

50 CB Clean and Jerk

6 Wall Walks

50 Box Jump Overs

6 Wall Walks

Tuesday:

On Tuesday, we have some push-and-pull work in our strength area, focused on overhead pressing, and then 2 12-minute AMRAPs for you to get stuck into.

Strength:

Every 90 sec x 8 Alt between

A: 8 Dual DB Z press

B: 20 Alt Gorilla Rows

Conditioning:

12 min amrap

30 Wall balls

30/25 cal ski

30 Double Unders

Rest 3 Mins

12 min amrap

30/25 Sal Ass bike

20 V Ups

20 Russian KB Swings

Wednesday:

Wednesday, we are hitting some paused back squats in the strength, and then we get after a real grind of a WOD with some burpee pull-ups, front squats, and running.

Strength:

Every 2 mins x 6 - 3/3/2/2/1/1 Tempo Back Squats @21X1

Conditioning:

10 rounds for time

5 Front Squats

Pool Run

5 burpee pull-ups

Thursday:

Thursday, snatch complex with some accessory, followed by the workout ACID BATH.

Strength:

Every 2 mins x 8 - 1 Snatch Pull + 1 hang Power Snatch +

1 Power snatch

rest 3 mins

Every 2 mins x 3 - 5 Snatch Grip Deadlift

Conditioning:

For time

500m ski

500m row

1000m c2 bike

Friday:

FUF - Finishing the week with some push-pull work in the strength, before an all-in barbell workout to end the week! What Better!

Strength:

Every 2 mins x 5 - 5 push press

rest 3 mins

Every 2 mins x 4 complete 6 DB bench Press @ 30x1 + 3-5 strict pull ups

Conditioning:

5 min amrap

9 Deadlift

6 Hang Power Clean

3 STOH

Rest 3 mins x 3

Introduction

Mi tincidunt elit, id quisque ligula ac diam, amet. Vel etiam suspendisse morbi eleifend faucibus eget vestibulum felis. Dictum quis montes, sit sit. Tellus aliquam enim urna, etiam. Mauris posuere vulputate arcu amet, vitae nisi, tellus tincidunt. At feugiat sapien varius id.

Eget quis mi enim, leo lacinia pharetra, semper. Eget in volutpat mollis at volutpat lectus velit, sed auctor. Porttitor fames arcu quis fusce augue enim. Quis at habitant diam at. Suscipit tristique risus, at donec. In turpis vel et quam imperdiet. Ipsum molestie aliquet sodales id est ac volutpat.

Image caption goes here

Dolor enim eu tortor urna sed duis nulla

Elit nisi in eleifend sed nisi. Pulvinar at orci, proin imperdiet commodo consectetur convallis risus. Sed condimentum enim dignissim adipiscing faucibus consequat, urna. Viverra purus et erat auctor aliquam. Risus, volutpat vulputate posuere purus sit congue convallis aliquet. Arcu id augue ut feugiat donec porttitor neque. Mauris, neque ultricies eu vestibulum, bibendum quam lorem id. Dolor lacus, eget nunc lectus in tellus, pharetra, porttitor.

If you want to swim faster on race day, it’s no secret you’ve got to swim fast in training.

Tristique odio senectus nam posuere ornare leo metus, ultricies. Blandit duis ultricies vulputate morbi feugiat cras placerat elit. Aliquam tellus lorem sed ac. Montes, sed mattis pellentesque suscipit accumsan. Cursus viverra aenean magna risus elementum faucibus molestie pellentesque. Arcu ultricies sed mauris vestibulum.

Conclusion

Morbi sed imperdiet in ipsum, adipiscing elit dui lectus. Tellus id scelerisque est ultricies ultricies. Duis est sit sed leo nisl, blandit elit sagittis. Quisque tristique consequat quam sed. Nisl at scelerisque amet nulla purus habitasse.

Nunc sed faucibus bibendum feugiat sed interdum. Ipsum egestas condimentum mi massa. In tincidunt pharetra consectetur sed duis facilisis metus. Etiam egestas in nec sed et. Quis lobortis at sit dictum eget nibh tortor commodo cursus.

Odio felis sagittis, morbi feugiat tortor vitae feugiat fusce aliquet. Nam elementum urna nisi aliquet erat dolor enim. Ornare id morbi eget ipsum. Aliquam senectus neque ut id eget consectetur dictum. Donec posuere pharetra odio consequat scelerisque et, nunc tortor.
Nulla adipiscing erat a erat. Condimentum lorem posuere gravida enim posuere cursus diam.

Triathlon
Swimming
Race Prep
Specialty Class #25-13

ENGINE

Long EMOM with a mixture of machines and body weight exercises.

GYMNASTICS

This Tuesday, we’re focusing on pull-up progressions! Strict, kipping, and butterfly will appear, followed by lat and core supersets.

On Thursday evening, we’ll focus on handstand hold progressions before having some fun with handstand walks and finishing off the session with core and strength work.

HYROX

This is the Last Simulation before race week. We will lower the volume but keep the intensity high to make sure you are ready for race day!

ENGINE: Long EMOM with a mixture of machines and body weight exercises

MOBILITY

This week, we have the topic: Why are your calves and hamstrings always tight? What can we do to remedy this? Get yourself booked in, and I will show you! This is a great session for everyone, but it is extra beneficial to those runners out there!

PURE STRENGTH

This week's pure strength, we have a chance to progress our 20 RM RDL, followed by some heavy press and strict press cluster sets.

WEIGHTLIFTING

This week in weightlifting, we are focusing on the squat clean. With a fun complex followed by some pulls. Perfect technique session, working on the barbell timing and full depth in the clean

Introduction

Mi tincidunt elit, id quisque ligula ac diam, amet. Vel etiam suspendisse morbi eleifend faucibus eget vestibulum felis. Dictum quis montes, sit sit. Tellus aliquam enim urna, etiam. Mauris posuere vulputate arcu amet, vitae nisi, tellus tincidunt. At feugiat sapien varius id.

Eget quis mi enim, leo lacinia pharetra, semper. Eget in volutpat mollis at volutpat lectus velit, sed auctor. Porttitor fames arcu quis fusce augue enim. Quis at habitant diam at. Suscipit tristique risus, at donec. In turpis vel et quam imperdiet. Ipsum molestie aliquet sodales id est ac volutpat.

Image caption goes here

Dolor enim eu tortor urna sed duis nulla

Elit nisi in eleifend sed nisi. Pulvinar at orci, proin imperdiet commodo consectetur convallis risus. Sed condimentum enim dignissim adipiscing faucibus consequat, urna. Viverra purus et erat auctor aliquam. Risus, volutpat vulputate posuere purus sit congue convallis aliquet. Arcu id augue ut feugiat donec porttitor neque. Mauris, neque ultricies eu vestibulum, bibendum quam lorem id. Dolor lacus, eget nunc lectus in tellus, pharetra, porttitor.

If you want to swim faster on race day, it’s no secret you’ve got to swim fast in training.

Tristique odio senectus nam posuere ornare leo metus, ultricies. Blandit duis ultricies vulputate morbi feugiat cras placerat elit. Aliquam tellus lorem sed ac. Montes, sed mattis pellentesque suscipit accumsan. Cursus viverra aenean magna risus elementum faucibus molestie pellentesque. Arcu ultricies sed mauris vestibulum.

Conclusion

Morbi sed imperdiet in ipsum, adipiscing elit dui lectus. Tellus id scelerisque est ultricies ultricies. Duis est sit sed leo nisl, blandit elit sagittis. Quisque tristique consequat quam sed. Nisl at scelerisque amet nulla purus habitasse.

Nunc sed faucibus bibendum feugiat sed interdum. Ipsum egestas condimentum mi massa. In tincidunt pharetra consectetur sed duis facilisis metus. Etiam egestas in nec sed et. Quis lobortis at sit dictum eget nibh tortor commodo cursus.

Odio felis sagittis, morbi feugiat tortor vitae feugiat fusce aliquet. Nam elementum urna nisi aliquet erat dolor enim. Ornare id morbi eget ipsum. Aliquam senectus neque ut id eget consectetur dictum. Donec posuere pharetra odio consequat scelerisque et, nunc tortor.
Nulla adipiscing erat a erat. Condimentum lorem posuere gravida enim posuere cursus diam.

Triathlon
Swimming
Race Prep
Make Threshold Training Work for You

Threshold training will often play a significant role in an athlete’s endurance program. A focussed threshold block, when properly implemented, can increase fitness levels in cyclists, runners and swimmers.

What is threshold training?

To most people, any type of ‘threshold training’ involves the maximum intensity someone is able to hold for up to 1 hour (if they’re cyclists or runners) or1-1.5K in the pool. However, we actually have two different thresholds and they’re both really important to understand.

The difference between lactate thresholds and ventilatory thresholds

You may have heard about the 1st threshold and 2nd threshold, or LT1/VT1 and LT2/VT2… these terms have become a lot more popular recently thanks to distance athletes using lactate measuring devices on YouTube.

LT simply means lactate threshold or turn point and VT means ventilatory threshold or turn point.

The first threshold comes around when exercise intensity initiates a disturbance in physiological homeostasis, intake of oxygen (O2) increases as does amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) exhaled. This usually coincides with the lactate concentration in the blood rising above normal resting levels.

Once this turn point is reached, we can simply define the exercise intensity as moderate. If you continue to exercise moderately or increase effort, you will soon find yourself closer to or at a vigorous intensity.

At this point, you’re working above the disturbance line of physiological homeostasis and on your way to reaching the 2nd threshold or the top end of vigorous activity.

Here we begin to breath in greater amounts of O2 but we stop being able to exhale the same volume of CO2 - this is called your maximum tidal volume. Lactate in the blood stream also rises and will continue to rise above 4mmol/L (depending on definition). If intensity remains the same at this stage you are unable to clear as much lactate as is being made and eventually exercise will cease.

Threshold training example for distance running

Let’s break this down into a simple example.

Think of the 1st threshold as your marathon or Ironman 70.3 distance intensity (Ironman distance for the extremely trained person), a fit person can hold intensity at or close to the 1st threshold for 3-4 hours without a drop in performance.

If using a zoning system think of this as the top of your zone 2 or bottom half of zone 3, you may also hear it referred to as ‘tempo’.

The 2nd turn point is what most people understand to be ‘threshold intensity’ or 10k run pace, sprint distance triathlon or a 40km cycling time trail. A fit person can exercise at or close to the 2nd threshold for 40 – 60mins. This intensity can also be referred to as zone 4.

How to implement threshold training

Hopefully the different thresholds make a bit more sense now... but how can we use threshold training to help us exercise more effectively?

Coaches often prescribe training zones or intensities for sessions, using power meters, heart rate, speed or pace to determine an athlete’s threshold. Each method has their own benefits and limitations, though they all share one thing in common – they are predicting and not measuring.


The only true way to calculate lactate threshold or ventilatory threshold is with a lactate meter or ventilation device.

Should you exercise above or below your lactate threshold?

When exercising below the 1st threshold we get physiological adaptions without a high cost. Lactate has not built up in the blood and therefore the metabolic cost is low, we can do more training hours here as essentially, we recover quicker.

When training above the 2nd threshold, we get a high amount of metabolic and muscular damage which comes with a cost of needing longer time to recover but also a benefit of adaptation. When exercising between the 1st and 2nd thresholds we get the cost of metabolic and muscular damage but not quite the same benefit of adaption we get when at or above the 2nd threshold.

This is why many coaches utilise the 80:20 rule.

Improve endurance performance with the 80:20 rule

If we want to increase our endurance performance, or ability to sustain pace, speed or watts over longer distances we should be very mindful of spending most of our time below our 1st threshold.

A great general rule of thumb (used by a lot of coaches) is the 80:20 rule. Simply put, 80% of time training is easy and 20% of the time training is very hard. There’s a lot of research that backs up this type of training, but let’s take a minute to understand why it works so well.

Exercising below the 1st threshold causes physiological adaptions without a high cost. Lactate has not built up in the blood and therefore the metabolic cost is low, so we can do more training hours here as we recover quicker.

When training above the 2nd threshold, we get a high amount of metabolic and muscular damage which comes with a cost of needing longer time to recover but also has the benefit of adaptation.

If you exercise between the 1st and 2nd thresholds, we get the cost of metabolic and muscular damage but not quite the same benefit of adaption we get when at or above the 2nd threshold.

The only exception to this rule is when doing event specific training, particularly for marathons or half Ironmans.

In these events a lot of time is going to be spent in zone 3, at or between the 1st and 2nd thresholds. It’s smart to train at that intensity to understand realistic paces and power – you definitely want to know what you’re up against! This block might only last for 6-8 weeks during a build up towards the race.

Outside of these events and thinking for an everyday amateur athlete, it’s important to understand where on the threshold scale your coach wants you to be. Ensure when your program requires you to be above the 2nd threshold you go hard and when below the 1st threshold you go easy!

Fun - Honesty - Simplicity - Smash Life - Mental Toughness - HARD WORK

Introduction

Mi tincidunt elit, id quisque ligula ac diam, amet. Vel etiam suspendisse morbi eleifend faucibus eget vestibulum felis. Dictum quis montes, sit sit. Tellus aliquam enim urna, etiam. Mauris posuere vulputate arcu amet, vitae nisi, tellus tincidunt. At feugiat sapien varius id.

Eget quis mi enim, leo lacinia pharetra, semper. Eget in volutpat mollis at volutpat lectus velit, sed auctor. Porttitor fames arcu quis fusce augue enim. Quis at habitant diam at. Suscipit tristique risus, at donec. In turpis vel et quam imperdiet. Ipsum molestie aliquet sodales id est ac volutpat.

Image caption goes here

Dolor enim eu tortor urna sed duis nulla

Elit nisi in eleifend sed nisi. Pulvinar at orci, proin imperdiet commodo consectetur convallis risus. Sed condimentum enim dignissim adipiscing faucibus consequat, urna. Viverra purus et erat auctor aliquam. Risus, volutpat vulputate posuere purus sit congue convallis aliquet. Arcu id augue ut feugiat donec porttitor neque. Mauris, neque ultricies eu vestibulum, bibendum quam lorem id. Dolor lacus, eget nunc lectus in tellus, pharetra, porttitor.

If you want to swim faster on race day, it’s no secret you’ve got to swim fast in training.

Tristique odio senectus nam posuere ornare leo metus, ultricies. Blandit duis ultricies vulputate morbi feugiat cras placerat elit. Aliquam tellus lorem sed ac. Montes, sed mattis pellentesque suscipit accumsan. Cursus viverra aenean magna risus elementum faucibus molestie pellentesque. Arcu ultricies sed mauris vestibulum.

Conclusion

Morbi sed imperdiet in ipsum, adipiscing elit dui lectus. Tellus id scelerisque est ultricies ultricies. Duis est sit sed leo nisl, blandit elit sagittis. Quisque tristique consequat quam sed. Nisl at scelerisque amet nulla purus habitasse.

Nunc sed faucibus bibendum feugiat sed interdum. Ipsum egestas condimentum mi massa. In tincidunt pharetra consectetur sed duis facilisis metus. Etiam egestas in nec sed et. Quis lobortis at sit dictum eget nibh tortor commodo cursus.

Odio felis sagittis, morbi feugiat tortor vitae feugiat fusce aliquet. Nam elementum urna nisi aliquet erat dolor enim. Ornare id morbi eget ipsum. Aliquam senectus neque ut id eget consectetur dictum. Donec posuere pharetra odio consequat scelerisque et, nunc tortor.
Nulla adipiscing erat a erat. Condimentum lorem posuere gravida enim posuere cursus diam.

Triathlon
Swimming
Race Prep
Ladies Run Club 25-13

Monday

There is no in person session this week at LRC. Those who are Unlimited Members, your Training Peaks have been programmed still.

Tuesday

Time: 5:59am

Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park

Entrance fee

Session: Track Tuesday

This is your chance to run fast with the wider IFE community and coaches. This week we will be running 600m repeats. Which will start at 5km pace and progress to 3km pace, so that the pace increases within each rep.

Wednesday

There is no in person session this week at LRC. Those who are Unlimited Members, your Training Peaks have been programmed still.

Friday

Time: 5:59am

Location: Common Grounds

Session: The Coffee Run

This week we will be running a negative split session, meaning that the second half is faster than the first. After 30 mins of easy running, lock into a 20 mins block of effort from 7 - 9 RPE.

Saturday

Time: 5:15am

Location: Cape Town

Session: Two Oceans

Today the 56km runners will be taking on Two Oceans.

Sunday

Time: 6:00am

Location: Cape Town

Session: Two Oceans

Today the 21km runners will be taking on Two Oceans.

Introduction

Mi tincidunt elit, id quisque ligula ac diam, amet. Vel etiam suspendisse morbi eleifend faucibus eget vestibulum felis. Dictum quis montes, sit sit. Tellus aliquam enim urna, etiam. Mauris posuere vulputate arcu amet, vitae nisi, tellus tincidunt. At feugiat sapien varius id.

Eget quis mi enim, leo lacinia pharetra, semper. Eget in volutpat mollis at volutpat lectus velit, sed auctor. Porttitor fames arcu quis fusce augue enim. Quis at habitant diam at. Suscipit tristique risus, at donec. In turpis vel et quam imperdiet. Ipsum molestie aliquet sodales id est ac volutpat.

Image caption goes here

Dolor enim eu tortor urna sed duis nulla

Elit nisi in eleifend sed nisi. Pulvinar at orci, proin imperdiet commodo consectetur convallis risus. Sed condimentum enim dignissim adipiscing faucibus consequat, urna. Viverra purus et erat auctor aliquam. Risus, volutpat vulputate posuere purus sit congue convallis aliquet. Arcu id augue ut feugiat donec porttitor neque. Mauris, neque ultricies eu vestibulum, bibendum quam lorem id. Dolor lacus, eget nunc lectus in tellus, pharetra, porttitor.

If you want to swim faster on race day, it’s no secret you’ve got to swim fast in training.

Tristique odio senectus nam posuere ornare leo metus, ultricies. Blandit duis ultricies vulputate morbi feugiat cras placerat elit. Aliquam tellus lorem sed ac. Montes, sed mattis pellentesque suscipit accumsan. Cursus viverra aenean magna risus elementum faucibus molestie pellentesque. Arcu ultricies sed mauris vestibulum.

Conclusion

Morbi sed imperdiet in ipsum, adipiscing elit dui lectus. Tellus id scelerisque est ultricies ultricies. Duis est sit sed leo nisl, blandit elit sagittis. Quisque tristique consequat quam sed. Nisl at scelerisque amet nulla purus habitasse.

Nunc sed faucibus bibendum feugiat sed interdum. Ipsum egestas condimentum mi massa. In tincidunt pharetra consectetur sed duis facilisis metus. Etiam egestas in nec sed et. Quis lobortis at sit dictum eget nibh tortor commodo cursus.

Odio felis sagittis, morbi feugiat tortor vitae feugiat fusce aliquet. Nam elementum urna nisi aliquet erat dolor enim. Ornare id morbi eget ipsum. Aliquam senectus neque ut id eget consectetur dictum. Donec posuere pharetra odio consequat scelerisque et, nunc tortor.
Nulla adipiscing erat a erat. Condimentum lorem posuere gravida enim posuere cursus diam.

Triathlon
Swimming
Race Prep
Mainline Class
Specialty Class
Endurance
Ladies Run Club
Daily Workout 25-13

Eid Mubarak, we hope you all have a great long weekend! Class times are different this week, so please check the schedule on Mindbody! We have a great week lined up, so see you all on the gym floor!

Monday:

We start the week with an epic partner workout. Grab a partner, and let's start the week with a bang!


Conditioning:

40 min amrap in pairs

50 Cal Row

6 wall walks

50 CB Clean and Jerk

6 Wall Walks

50 Box Jump Overs

6 Wall Walks

Tuesday:

On Tuesday, we have some push-and-pull work in our strength area, focused on overhead pressing, and then 2 12-minute AMRAPs for you to get stuck into.

Strength:

Every 90 sec x 8 Alt between

A: 8 Dual DB Z press

B: 20 Alt Gorilla Rows

Conditioning:

12 min amrap

30 Wall balls

30/25 cal ski

30 Double Unders

Rest 3 Mins

12 min amrap

30/25 Sal Ass bike

20 V Ups

20 Russian KB Swings

Wednesday:

Wednesday, we are hitting some paused back squats in the strength, and then we get after a real grind of a WOD with some burpee pull-ups, front squats, and running.

Strength:

Every 2 mins x 6 - 3/3/2/2/1/1 Tempo Back Squats @21X1

Conditioning:

10 rounds for time

5 Front Squats

Pool Run

5 burpee pull-ups

Thursday:

Thursday, snatch complex with some accessory, followed by the workout ACID BATH.

Strength:

Every 2 mins x 8 - 1 Snatch Pull + 1 hang Power Snatch +

1 Power snatch

rest 3 mins

Every 2 mins x 3 - 5 Snatch Grip Deadlift

Conditioning:

For time

500m ski

500m row

1000m c2 bike

Friday:

FUF - Finishing the week with some push-pull work in the strength, before an all-in barbell workout to end the week! What Better!

Strength:

Every 2 mins x 5 - 5 push press

rest 3 mins

Every 2 mins x 4 complete 6 DB bench Press @ 30x1 + 3-5 strict pull ups

Conditioning:

5 min amrap

9 Deadlift

6 Hang Power Clean

3 STOH

Rest 3 mins x 3

Introduction

Mi tincidunt elit, id quisque ligula ac diam, amet. Vel etiam suspendisse morbi eleifend faucibus eget vestibulum felis. Dictum quis montes, sit sit. Tellus aliquam enim urna, etiam. Mauris posuere vulputate arcu amet, vitae nisi, tellus tincidunt. At feugiat sapien varius id.

Eget quis mi enim, leo lacinia pharetra, semper. Eget in volutpat mollis at volutpat lectus velit, sed auctor. Porttitor fames arcu quis fusce augue enim. Quis at habitant diam at. Suscipit tristique risus, at donec. In turpis vel et quam imperdiet. Ipsum molestie aliquet sodales id est ac volutpat.

Image caption goes here

Dolor enim eu tortor urna sed duis nulla

Elit nisi in eleifend sed nisi. Pulvinar at orci, proin imperdiet commodo consectetur convallis risus. Sed condimentum enim dignissim adipiscing faucibus consequat, urna. Viverra purus et erat auctor aliquam. Risus, volutpat vulputate posuere purus sit congue convallis aliquet. Arcu id augue ut feugiat donec porttitor neque. Mauris, neque ultricies eu vestibulum, bibendum quam lorem id. Dolor lacus, eget nunc lectus in tellus, pharetra, porttitor.

If you want to swim faster on race day, it’s no secret you’ve got to swim fast in training.

Tristique odio senectus nam posuere ornare leo metus, ultricies. Blandit duis ultricies vulputate morbi feugiat cras placerat elit. Aliquam tellus lorem sed ac. Montes, sed mattis pellentesque suscipit accumsan. Cursus viverra aenean magna risus elementum faucibus molestie pellentesque. Arcu ultricies sed mauris vestibulum.

Conclusion

Morbi sed imperdiet in ipsum, adipiscing elit dui lectus. Tellus id scelerisque est ultricies ultricies. Duis est sit sed leo nisl, blandit elit sagittis. Quisque tristique consequat quam sed. Nisl at scelerisque amet nulla purus habitasse.

Nunc sed faucibus bibendum feugiat sed interdum. Ipsum egestas condimentum mi massa. In tincidunt pharetra consectetur sed duis facilisis metus. Etiam egestas in nec sed et. Quis lobortis at sit dictum eget nibh tortor commodo cursus.

Odio felis sagittis, morbi feugiat tortor vitae feugiat fusce aliquet. Nam elementum urna nisi aliquet erat dolor enim. Ornare id morbi eget ipsum. Aliquam senectus neque ut id eget consectetur dictum. Donec posuere pharetra odio consequat scelerisque et, nunc tortor.
Nulla adipiscing erat a erat. Condimentum lorem posuere gravida enim posuere cursus diam.

Triathlon
Swimming
Race Prep
Specialty Class #25-13

ENGINE

Long EMOM with a mixture of machines and body weight exercises.

GYMNASTICS

This Tuesday, we’re focusing on pull-up progressions! Strict, kipping, and butterfly will appear, followed by lat and core supersets.

On Thursday evening, we’ll focus on handstand hold progressions before having some fun with handstand walks and finishing off the session with core and strength work.

HYROX

This is the Last Simulation before race week. We will lower the volume but keep the intensity high to make sure you are ready for race day!

ENGINE: Long EMOM with a mixture of machines and body weight exercises

MOBILITY

This week, we have the topic: Why are your calves and hamstrings always tight? What can we do to remedy this? Get yourself booked in, and I will show you! This is a great session for everyone, but it is extra beneficial to those runners out there!

PURE STRENGTH

This week's pure strength, we have a chance to progress our 20 RM RDL, followed by some heavy press and strict press cluster sets.

WEIGHTLIFTING

This week in weightlifting, we are focusing on the squat clean. With a fun complex followed by some pulls. Perfect technique session, working on the barbell timing and full depth in the clean

Introduction

Mi tincidunt elit, id quisque ligula ac diam, amet. Vel etiam suspendisse morbi eleifend faucibus eget vestibulum felis. Dictum quis montes, sit sit. Tellus aliquam enim urna, etiam. Mauris posuere vulputate arcu amet, vitae nisi, tellus tincidunt. At feugiat sapien varius id.

Eget quis mi enim, leo lacinia pharetra, semper. Eget in volutpat mollis at volutpat lectus velit, sed auctor. Porttitor fames arcu quis fusce augue enim. Quis at habitant diam at. Suscipit tristique risus, at donec. In turpis vel et quam imperdiet. Ipsum molestie aliquet sodales id est ac volutpat.

Image caption goes here

Dolor enim eu tortor urna sed duis nulla

Elit nisi in eleifend sed nisi. Pulvinar at orci, proin imperdiet commodo consectetur convallis risus. Sed condimentum enim dignissim adipiscing faucibus consequat, urna. Viverra purus et erat auctor aliquam. Risus, volutpat vulputate posuere purus sit congue convallis aliquet. Arcu id augue ut feugiat donec porttitor neque. Mauris, neque ultricies eu vestibulum, bibendum quam lorem id. Dolor lacus, eget nunc lectus in tellus, pharetra, porttitor.

If you want to swim faster on race day, it’s no secret you’ve got to swim fast in training.

Tristique odio senectus nam posuere ornare leo metus, ultricies. Blandit duis ultricies vulputate morbi feugiat cras placerat elit. Aliquam tellus lorem sed ac. Montes, sed mattis pellentesque suscipit accumsan. Cursus viverra aenean magna risus elementum faucibus molestie pellentesque. Arcu ultricies sed mauris vestibulum.

Conclusion

Morbi sed imperdiet in ipsum, adipiscing elit dui lectus. Tellus id scelerisque est ultricies ultricies. Duis est sit sed leo nisl, blandit elit sagittis. Quisque tristique consequat quam sed. Nisl at scelerisque amet nulla purus habitasse.

Nunc sed faucibus bibendum feugiat sed interdum. Ipsum egestas condimentum mi massa. In tincidunt pharetra consectetur sed duis facilisis metus. Etiam egestas in nec sed et. Quis lobortis at sit dictum eget nibh tortor commodo cursus.

Odio felis sagittis, morbi feugiat tortor vitae feugiat fusce aliquet. Nam elementum urna nisi aliquet erat dolor enim. Ornare id morbi eget ipsum. Aliquam senectus neque ut id eget consectetur dictum. Donec posuere pharetra odio consequat scelerisque et, nunc tortor.
Nulla adipiscing erat a erat. Condimentum lorem posuere gravida enim posuere cursus diam.

Triathlon
Swimming
Race Prep
Endurance #25-13

Monday Ride

A ride dedicated to group riding skills and some fitness. Coach Rob Foster leads this ride, if you'd like to join email Rob Foster.

Start time: 05:59 am

Session Length: 1.5 hour

Location: The Loop Cafe, Bike DXB

Track Tuesday

Our weekly on track speed session! For any level of runner looking to build their run speed, threshold and Vo2max fitness and run with the best running community in Dubai.

Time: 05:59 am

Session Length: 1.5 hour

Location: Dubai Sports City Sports Park

Entrance fee

Friday - Coffee Run

Our weekly tempo run.  Sessions are built on an RPE scale and accessible to all levels of runner. We start together, run hard then finish together and chat about it over a coffee and breakfast.

Brief time: 05:54 am
Start time
: 05:59 am

Start Location: Common Grounds

Saturday - Jebel Jais Ride

Today our weekly endurance ride is at Jebel Jais! If you're interested to join email us here.

Introduction

Mi tincidunt elit, id quisque ligula ac diam, amet. Vel etiam suspendisse morbi eleifend faucibus eget vestibulum felis. Dictum quis montes, sit sit. Tellus aliquam enim urna, etiam. Mauris posuere vulputate arcu amet, vitae nisi, tellus tincidunt. At feugiat sapien varius id.

Eget quis mi enim, leo lacinia pharetra, semper. Eget in volutpat mollis at volutpat lectus velit, sed auctor. Porttitor fames arcu quis fusce augue enim. Quis at habitant diam at. Suscipit tristique risus, at donec. In turpis vel et quam imperdiet. Ipsum molestie aliquet sodales id est ac volutpat.

Image caption goes here

Dolor enim eu tortor urna sed duis nulla

Elit nisi in eleifend sed nisi. Pulvinar at orci, proin imperdiet commodo consectetur convallis risus. Sed condimentum enim dignissim adipiscing faucibus consequat, urna. Viverra purus et erat auctor aliquam. Risus, volutpat vulputate posuere purus sit congue convallis aliquet. Arcu id augue ut feugiat donec porttitor neque. Mauris, neque ultricies eu vestibulum, bibendum quam lorem id. Dolor lacus, eget nunc lectus in tellus, pharetra, porttitor.

If you want to swim faster on race day, it’s no secret you’ve got to swim fast in training.

Tristique odio senectus nam posuere ornare leo metus, ultricies. Blandit duis ultricies vulputate morbi feugiat cras placerat elit. Aliquam tellus lorem sed ac. Montes, sed mattis pellentesque suscipit accumsan. Cursus viverra aenean magna risus elementum faucibus molestie pellentesque. Arcu ultricies sed mauris vestibulum.

Conclusion

Morbi sed imperdiet in ipsum, adipiscing elit dui lectus. Tellus id scelerisque est ultricies ultricies. Duis est sit sed leo nisl, blandit elit sagittis. Quisque tristique consequat quam sed. Nisl at scelerisque amet nulla purus habitasse.

Nunc sed faucibus bibendum feugiat sed interdum. Ipsum egestas condimentum mi massa. In tincidunt pharetra consectetur sed duis facilisis metus. Etiam egestas in nec sed et. Quis lobortis at sit dictum eget nibh tortor commodo cursus.

Odio felis sagittis, morbi feugiat tortor vitae feugiat fusce aliquet. Nam elementum urna nisi aliquet erat dolor enim. Ornare id morbi eget ipsum. Aliquam senectus neque ut id eget consectetur dictum. Donec posuere pharetra odio consequat scelerisque et, nunc tortor.
Nulla adipiscing erat a erat. Condimentum lorem posuere gravida enim posuere cursus diam.

Triathlon
Swimming
Race Prep
Make Threshold Training Work for You

Threshold training will often play a significant role in an athlete’s endurance program. A focussed threshold block, when properly implemented, can increase fitness levels in cyclists, runners and swimmers.

What is threshold training?

To most people, any type of ‘threshold training’ involves the maximum intensity someone is able to hold for up to 1 hour (if they’re cyclists or runners) or1-1.5K in the pool. However, we actually have two different thresholds and they’re both really important to understand.

The difference between lactate thresholds and ventilatory thresholds

You may have heard about the 1st threshold and 2nd threshold, or LT1/VT1 and LT2/VT2… these terms have become a lot more popular recently thanks to distance athletes using lactate measuring devices on YouTube.

LT simply means lactate threshold or turn point and VT means ventilatory threshold or turn point.

The first threshold comes around when exercise intensity initiates a disturbance in physiological homeostasis, intake of oxygen (O2) increases as does amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) exhaled. This usually coincides with the lactate concentration in the blood rising above normal resting levels.

Once this turn point is reached, we can simply define the exercise intensity as moderate. If you continue to exercise moderately or increase effort, you will soon find yourself closer to or at a vigorous intensity.

At this point, you’re working above the disturbance line of physiological homeostasis and on your way to reaching the 2nd threshold or the top end of vigorous activity.

Here we begin to breath in greater amounts of O2 but we stop being able to exhale the same volume of CO2 - this is called your maximum tidal volume. Lactate in the blood stream also rises and will continue to rise above 4mmol/L (depending on definition). If intensity remains the same at this stage you are unable to clear as much lactate as is being made and eventually exercise will cease.

Threshold training example for distance running

Let’s break this down into a simple example.

Think of the 1st threshold as your marathon or Ironman 70.3 distance intensity (Ironman distance for the extremely trained person), a fit person can hold intensity at or close to the 1st threshold for 3-4 hours without a drop in performance.

If using a zoning system think of this as the top of your zone 2 or bottom half of zone 3, you may also hear it referred to as ‘tempo’.

The 2nd turn point is what most people understand to be ‘threshold intensity’ or 10k run pace, sprint distance triathlon or a 40km cycling time trail. A fit person can exercise at or close to the 2nd threshold for 40 – 60mins. This intensity can also be referred to as zone 4.

How to implement threshold training

Hopefully the different thresholds make a bit more sense now... but how can we use threshold training to help us exercise more effectively?

Coaches often prescribe training zones or intensities for sessions, using power meters, heart rate, speed or pace to determine an athlete’s threshold. Each method has their own benefits and limitations, though they all share one thing in common – they are predicting and not measuring.


The only true way to calculate lactate threshold or ventilatory threshold is with a lactate meter or ventilation device.

Should you exercise above or below your lactate threshold?

When exercising below the 1st threshold we get physiological adaptions without a high cost. Lactate has not built up in the blood and therefore the metabolic cost is low, we can do more training hours here as essentially, we recover quicker.

When training above the 2nd threshold, we get a high amount of metabolic and muscular damage which comes with a cost of needing longer time to recover but also a benefit of adaptation. When exercising between the 1st and 2nd thresholds we get the cost of metabolic and muscular damage but not quite the same benefit of adaption we get when at or above the 2nd threshold.

This is why many coaches utilise the 80:20 rule.

Improve endurance performance with the 80:20 rule

If we want to increase our endurance performance, or ability to sustain pace, speed or watts over longer distances we should be very mindful of spending most of our time below our 1st threshold.

A great general rule of thumb (used by a lot of coaches) is the 80:20 rule. Simply put, 80% of time training is easy and 20% of the time training is very hard. There’s a lot of research that backs up this type of training, but let’s take a minute to understand why it works so well.

Exercising below the 1st threshold causes physiological adaptions without a high cost. Lactate has not built up in the blood and therefore the metabolic cost is low, so we can do more training hours here as we recover quicker.

When training above the 2nd threshold, we get a high amount of metabolic and muscular damage which comes with a cost of needing longer time to recover but also has the benefit of adaptation.

If you exercise between the 1st and 2nd thresholds, we get the cost of metabolic and muscular damage but not quite the same benefit of adaption we get when at or above the 2nd threshold.

The only exception to this rule is when doing event specific training, particularly for marathons or half Ironmans.

In these events a lot of time is going to be spent in zone 3, at or between the 1st and 2nd thresholds. It’s smart to train at that intensity to understand realistic paces and power – you definitely want to know what you’re up against! This block might only last for 6-8 weeks during a build up towards the race.

Outside of these events and thinking for an everyday amateur athlete, it’s important to understand where on the threshold scale your coach wants you to be. Ensure when your program requires you to be above the 2nd threshold you go hard and when below the 1st threshold you go easy!

Fun - Honesty - Simplicity - Smash Life - Mental Toughness - HARD WORK

Introduction

Mi tincidunt elit, id quisque ligula ac diam, amet. Vel etiam suspendisse morbi eleifend faucibus eget vestibulum felis. Dictum quis montes, sit sit. Tellus aliquam enim urna, etiam. Mauris posuere vulputate arcu amet, vitae nisi, tellus tincidunt. At feugiat sapien varius id.

Eget quis mi enim, leo lacinia pharetra, semper. Eget in volutpat mollis at volutpat lectus velit, sed auctor. Porttitor fames arcu quis fusce augue enim. Quis at habitant diam at. Suscipit tristique risus, at donec. In turpis vel et quam imperdiet. Ipsum molestie aliquet sodales id est ac volutpat.

Image caption goes here

Dolor enim eu tortor urna sed duis nulla

Elit nisi in eleifend sed nisi. Pulvinar at orci, proin imperdiet commodo consectetur convallis risus. Sed condimentum enim dignissim adipiscing faucibus consequat, urna. Viverra purus et erat auctor aliquam. Risus, volutpat vulputate posuere purus sit congue convallis aliquet. Arcu id augue ut feugiat donec porttitor neque. Mauris, neque ultricies eu vestibulum, bibendum quam lorem id. Dolor lacus, eget nunc lectus in tellus, pharetra, porttitor.

If you want to swim faster on race day, it’s no secret you’ve got to swim fast in training.

Tristique odio senectus nam posuere ornare leo metus, ultricies. Blandit duis ultricies vulputate morbi feugiat cras placerat elit. Aliquam tellus lorem sed ac. Montes, sed mattis pellentesque suscipit accumsan. Cursus viverra aenean magna risus elementum faucibus molestie pellentesque. Arcu ultricies sed mauris vestibulum.

Conclusion

Morbi sed imperdiet in ipsum, adipiscing elit dui lectus. Tellus id scelerisque est ultricies ultricies. Duis est sit sed leo nisl, blandit elit sagittis. Quisque tristique consequat quam sed. Nisl at scelerisque amet nulla purus habitasse.

Nunc sed faucibus bibendum feugiat sed interdum. Ipsum egestas condimentum mi massa. In tincidunt pharetra consectetur sed duis facilisis metus. Etiam egestas in nec sed et. Quis lobortis at sit dictum eget nibh tortor commodo cursus.

Odio felis sagittis, morbi feugiat tortor vitae feugiat fusce aliquet. Nam elementum urna nisi aliquet erat dolor enim. Ornare id morbi eget ipsum. Aliquam senectus neque ut id eget consectetur dictum. Donec posuere pharetra odio consequat scelerisque et, nunc tortor.
Nulla adipiscing erat a erat. Condimentum lorem posuere gravida enim posuere cursus diam.

Triathlon
Swimming
Race Prep
Make Threshold Training Work for You

Threshold training will often play a significant role in an athlete’s endurance program. A focussed threshold block, when properly implemented, can increase fitness levels in cyclists, runners and swimmers.

What is threshold training?

To most people, any type of ‘threshold training’ involves the maximum intensity someone is able to hold for up to 1 hour (if they’re cyclists or runners) or1-1.5K in the pool. However, we actually have two different thresholds and they’re both really important to understand.

The difference between lactate thresholds and ventilatory thresholds

You may have heard about the 1st threshold and 2nd threshold, or LT1/VT1 and LT2/VT2… these terms have become a lot more popular recently thanks to distance athletes using lactate measuring devices on YouTube.

LT simply means lactate threshold or turn point and VT means ventilatory threshold or turn point.

The first threshold comes around when exercise intensity initiates a disturbance in physiological homeostasis, intake of oxygen (O2) increases as does amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) exhaled. This usually coincides with the lactate concentration in the blood rising above normal resting levels.

Once this turn point is reached, we can simply define the exercise intensity as moderate. If you continue to exercise moderately or increase effort, you will soon find yourself closer to or at a vigorous intensity.

At this point, you’re working above the disturbance line of physiological homeostasis and on your way to reaching the 2nd threshold or the top end of vigorous activity.

Here we begin to breath in greater amounts of O2 but we stop being able to exhale the same volume of CO2 - this is called your maximum tidal volume. Lactate in the blood stream also rises and will continue to rise above 4mmol/L (depending on definition). If intensity remains the same at this stage you are unable to clear as much lactate as is being made and eventually exercise will cease.

Threshold training example for distance running

Let’s break this down into a simple example.

Think of the 1st threshold as your marathon or Ironman 70.3 distance intensity (Ironman distance for the extremely trained person), a fit person can hold intensity at or close to the 1st threshold for 3-4 hours without a drop in performance.

If using a zoning system think of this as the top of your zone 2 or bottom half of zone 3, you may also hear it referred to as ‘tempo’.

The 2nd turn point is what most people understand to be ‘threshold intensity’ or 10k run pace, sprint distance triathlon or a 40km cycling time trail. A fit person can exercise at or close to the 2nd threshold for 40 – 60mins. This intensity can also be referred to as zone 4.

How to implement threshold training

Hopefully the different thresholds make a bit more sense now... but how can we use threshold training to help us exercise more effectively?

Coaches often prescribe training zones or intensities for sessions, using power meters, heart rate, speed or pace to determine an athlete’s threshold. Each method has their own benefits and limitations, though they all share one thing in common – they are predicting and not measuring.


The only true way to calculate lactate threshold or ventilatory threshold is with a lactate meter or ventilation device.

Should you exercise above or below your lactate threshold?

When exercising below the 1st threshold we get physiological adaptions without a high cost. Lactate has not built up in the blood and therefore the metabolic cost is low, we can do more training hours here as essentially, we recover quicker.

When training above the 2nd threshold, we get a high amount of metabolic and muscular damage which comes with a cost of needing longer time to recover but also a benefit of adaptation. When exercising between the 1st and 2nd thresholds we get the cost of metabolic and muscular damage but not quite the same benefit of adaption we get when at or above the 2nd threshold.

This is why many coaches utilise the 80:20 rule.

Improve endurance performance with the 80:20 rule

If we want to increase our endurance performance, or ability to sustain pace, speed or watts over longer distances we should be very mindful of spending most of our time below our 1st threshold.

A great general rule of thumb (used by a lot of coaches) is the 80:20 rule. Simply put, 80% of time training is easy and 20% of the time training is very hard. There’s a lot of research that backs up this type of training, but let’s take a minute to understand why it works so well.

Exercising below the 1st threshold causes physiological adaptions without a high cost. Lactate has not built up in the blood and therefore the metabolic cost is low, so we can do more training hours here as we recover quicker.

When training above the 2nd threshold, we get a high amount of metabolic and muscular damage which comes with a cost of needing longer time to recover but also has the benefit of adaptation.

If you exercise between the 1st and 2nd thresholds, we get the cost of metabolic and muscular damage but not quite the same benefit of adaption we get when at or above the 2nd threshold.

The only exception to this rule is when doing event specific training, particularly for marathons or half Ironmans.

In these events a lot of time is going to be spent in zone 3, at or between the 1st and 2nd thresholds. It’s smart to train at that intensity to understand realistic paces and power – you definitely want to know what you’re up against! This block might only last for 6-8 weeks during a build up towards the race.

Outside of these events and thinking for an everyday amateur athlete, it’s important to understand where on the threshold scale your coach wants you to be. Ensure when your program requires you to be above the 2nd threshold you go hard and when below the 1st threshold you go easy!

Fun - Honesty - Simplicity - Smash Life - Mental Toughness - HARD WORK

Introduction

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If you want to swim faster on race day, it’s no secret you’ve got to swim fast in training.

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Conclusion

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Triathlon
Swimming
Race Prep

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