Info from the Cycling world. The importance of lactate testing for rowing and indoor rowing.

PEZ Interviews: Pro Dr. Inigo San Millan
Tuesday, February 14, 2006 5:45:44 PM PT

by James Hewitt

At the Saunier Duval training camp in Murcia, we talked to Dr. Inigo San Millan of the medical team. He provided an interesting insight into what it means to be a doctor for a ProTour team today as well as revealing some of his thoughts on the future of cycling.

Inigo is one of four doctors working with the team and whilst he may be touted as “chief” of the medical staff, Inigo was keen to dispel this myth. “It’s a big team with a lot of riders and 250 days of competition. We are a team of four and this is necessary to divide the work. I’m more in charge of coordinating. I was traveling 120 to 140 days a year and I hope to be able to coordinate more of the work from home this season. It’s much easier to work with riders individually from home. At races there is too much going on and it’s not possible.”


The team has a staff of 4 medical personel to share the duties of keeping everyone healthy and properly trained.


But what does it mean to develop a training programme for a rider? “We work
in the most scientific way possible. We work with SRM systems and physiological tests to develop individual training programmes for the riders. We use the tests to see how the riders are absorbing the training load and to make sure they are not over trained. That [over training] happens on a lot of teams. Riders arrive at the races already fatigued. There are so many races in the calendar, for the last races of the season, many riders arrive just messed up.”

There are a number of parameters used to discern ‘over training’ and I was interested to find out what the Saunier Duval team was analysing. “We test for free radicals to determine the damage that is occurring. Free radicals cause a lot of damage. The life span of a red blood cell in a regular person is about 120 days. In a cyclist at this level it may only be 70-80. They destroy a lot more red cells than a regular person. Many cyclists diet too much, they have hypo caloric diets. It’s better that a rider has a better diet. I would prefer a rider to be 1 kg over weight with strength than underweight. Hypo caloric diets are fine during winter but during the middle of the season if your body fat percentage is ideal you need to eat a lot! Many cyclist are buying into the marketing of these new diets: 30-40-40, high protein, low carbohydrate and they are turning up to training camps with them. These might be fine for a regular person but the demands on a professional cyclists are much higher. This is clear from muscle biopsies on glycogen storage and in the battlefield. Riders with low carbohydrate diets show up at races empty.”’’


David Millar gets wired and recorded in the name of going faster.

“We try to organize training in the most scientific way possible. Lactate is the most important parameter for us. VO2 max. is significant, but it is more an indicator of cardiorespiratory adaptation. At this level, most riders will have developed this to its maximum capacity. Whereas lactate tells us more about what is going on inside the muscle cell, how efficient a rider is and provides a better parameter to prescribe appropriate training.” However, there are riders from the old school who have difficulty adapting to the ‘new cycling’. That’s why it is good to have a manager like Mauro who is committed to development with the new mentality, the testing, the wind tunnel... We are a very international team which is good because we have lots of new blood”.

It is clear that the past few years have seen a shift in the cycling super powers. With the “old” European dominance being superseded by nations such as Australia, the US and Nordic countries, a sentiment shared by Inigo. What did he think were the causes of this shift? “Here in the old Europe, there are not many top riders any more. In Italy there are thousands and thousands of riders so there will always be a few who rise to the top but the bottom has fallen out in some countries such as France. Spain hasn’t reached the bottom yet, but in a few years...”

So in this new age of cycling, I was eager to here his opinion concerning how much success is determined by training effectively, scientifically, as opposed to pure genetic gifting. “The more scientific the training and the preparation is, the more you can get out of cycling.” he noted succinctly. “The gifting has to be there but over the years I have seen many, many cyclists who had the genetics but were only getting 35% of their potential. With scientific training, it is possible for riders to get nearly 100% of there potential. This is what is happening in countries like Australia where they don’t have so many riders but the riders they do have are reaching their maximum potential because of the work they are doing with young riders.”

Saunier Duval is clearly committed to testing and developing their riders but do team doctors still have a traditional role in a sense that the general public may perceive? “Many conditions develop” he said “such as allergies. Riders have many problems related to allergies. In normal life it would not be a problem but when you are using your pulmonary capacity to the maximum, a small restriction caused by an allergy could severely limit your performance. Then of course there are the usual problems, broken clavicles (collar bone), tendonitis etc.”



The ProTour has also increased the number of days racing, but how has this affected the demands on the riders, I asked? “The level is higher, the riders are more prepared and there is a new wave of cyclists coming up. I was a cyclist myself and I have seen this evolution, how this cycling has changed. Riders now are so much more educated, they know how to use power, how to work with heart rate and also there are increased anti-doping measurements, that's really good. The level is higher now but it’s more pure. It’s very hard to cheat in cycling now. Some people might be adventurous to say it but cycling is one of the cleanest sports now. Cycling is one of the only sports that implicates the whole spectrum of doping measures. Some sports only use the basic tests”.

So if cycling is so clean, why does the sport seem to have a bad reputation and why are positive tests relatively common? Inigo replied with an interesting analogy. “If you always have the police at your house, your neighbours are going to think something is going on. It’s like this, if you were to test drivers for
alcohol at every traffic light in a particular city there would be many drivers caught. That city would have the highest index of drink drivers in the world. Other cities may only test at particular times or not at all. Now riders have no choice, they have to train better and eat better, they can not resort to prohibted means”.

So to finish off, I asked Inigo who were his top tips for the future. He pointed me to Arkaitz Duran, the team’s youngest rider and not yet 20 years old. “He went pretty much from junior to professional.” said Inigo. “He’s one for the future, a super hard worker and will do everything you teach him to. Riders like him may only come along every 10 years, he’s very gifted. He could go to the very top of the sport.”

I thanked Inigo for his valuable time and left him to continue the physiological testing which was absorbing his days.
LINK to Article http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=3789

Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.

This is a test and has absolutely NOTHING to do with Indoor Rowing

At the end of this message, you are asked a question.

Answer it immediately. Don't stop and think about it.


Just say the first thing that pops into your mind.


This is a fun "test"... AND kind of spooky at the same time! Give it a try, then e-mail it around (including back to me) and you'll see how many people you know fall into the same percentage as you. Be sure to put in the subject line if you are among the 98% or the 2%. You'll understand what that means after you finish taking the test".


Now. just follow the instructions as quickly as possible.



Do not go to the next calculation before you have finished the previous one..



You do not ever need to write or remember the answers, just do it using your mind.


You'll be surprised.



Start:


How much is:


15 + 6

























3 + 56



























89 + 2

























12 + 53





































75 + 26



































25 + 52





























63 + 32

































I know! Calculations are hard work, but it's nearly over..


Come on, one more!




























123 + 5























































QUICK! THINK ABOUT A COLOR AND A TOOL!










































Scroll further ! to the bottom....












































A bit more...




















You just thought about a red hammer! , didn't you?



If this is not your answer, you are among 2% of people who have a different, if not abnormal, mind.

98% of the folks would answer a red hammer while doing this exercise.

If you do not believe this, pass it around and you'll see.

Be sure to put in the subject line if you are among the 98% or the 2%

Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.

Training Program: 29 minute Indoor rowing workout for any fitness level.

Good morning team!

Here is a workout that shall keep your interest up and make the time fly by fast.
This workout is in form of a pyramid. In order to make this workout accessible to different fitness levels here is how you manipulate it.

100% load of this pyramid is 29 minutes total. The minutes sequence is 5'4'3'2'1'2'3'4'5' and the stroke rates change by 2 strokes each time. In this case the rate change is 18-20-22-24-26-24-22-20-18. These stroke rates are for more experienced rowers. Lower stroke rates work well since the torque per stroke is superiors in more experienced athletes. The goal is to increase the speed each time the stroke rate goes up. When the rate comes back down, the goal is to maintain a similar stroke efficiency similar to the ascent of the pyramid. You can repeat this same workout again or add on a slightly altered pyramid like the one explained below.

In order to cater to different fitness levels you have two choices. You can either manipulate the stroke rates, or the total time rowed at each rate. The longer time rowed at slower stroke rates builds the aerobic capacity which is the foundation to great stamina. If you are strapped for time to workout you can cut the pyramid down by 50% and increase your stroke rates by 6 at each change. The minute changes would look like this: 2.5' 2' 1.5' 1' 0.5' 1' 1.5' 2' 2.5' at stroke rates 24-26-28-30-32-30-28-26-24. Even though the workout cycle is shorter, the anaerobic engine is worked harder, which burns a good amount of calories.

It is your choice if you want to work harder or lighter, while keeping your mind busy working on rate changes.

And also, don't forget you can also adjust your resistance on the flywheel. If you rate lower, increase the resistance. In the contrary if you rate higher lower the resistance.

Enjoy the workout!

XENO

Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.

Indoor Rowing and training when you workout by yourself

In the next couple of days I am going to put together a program that makes it interesting for anyone to workout. The goal is to bring variety into a training routine that encompasses endurance with strength training. Muscle gain and fat loss is a guarantee, so stay tuned, I am looking forward to this one.
XENO

Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.

Another article about the importance of endurance training that can be directly used for indoor rowing:

Above, large men running in the Decathlon. They need aerobic as well as unaerobic capcity, truely the most complete athletes, I must say.

Hi,
What this article does not talk about is why the aerobic base is important for 7 minute efforts.
The aerobic cycle needs lactic acid to complete itself thus slowing down the acid accumulation during a 2k effort.
XENO


Pace yourself for marathon success

By Bill Shaw
The Facts
Published February 6, 2006

What gives you the aerobic base to finish a 5K or a 10K strong, or to endure those grueling 13.1 miles of a half-marathon or 26.2 miles of a marathon?

The slow, long-distance run.

“Long runs develop cardiovascular efficiency to its maximum,” writes Jeff Galloway in “Book on Running” (2nd ed., Shelter Publications, 2002). “They are the single most important element in your program.”

“Your aerobic base is only as good as its parts that are slowest to develop,” says Marty Jerome in “February: Fundamentals,” the month’s essay in “The Complete Runner’s Day-by-Day Log and Calendar 2006” (Random House).

You run aerobically, according to Galloway, when you “do not exceed the pace or distance for which you have trained.” You run anaerobically when you exceed the speed and/or distance for which you have trained; you push muscles beyond their capacity, and they need more oxygen than the body can supply.”

To perform your best in a shorter or a longer run, it is not enough to train short distances at maximum speed. If your goal is a 5K or 10K, for example, you need to build up a running base of a long-distance run of a greater distance, e.g., a weekly, slower run of five to 10 miles. Increase the distance proportionally as the distance of your race goal increases.

“The sustained pumping of the heart helps the heart, arteries and veins become more efficient in transporting the blood and allows the lungs to absorb oxygen more efficiently,” Galloway says. “When the muscles are pushed to their limits (as in a regularly scheduled, gradually increasingly long run), they will respond better and work longer because of this strengthening of the circulation system.”

Slower, long-distance runs also help to increase your lactic threshold, the point at which the waste product of burned glycogen or sugar fills up the muscles and slows them down and decreases their efficiency.

The longer the race, the higher lactic threshold you need.

According to Bob and Shelly-lynn Florence Glover in “The Competitive Runner’s Handbook” (2nd rev. ed., Penguin 1999), “a 100-yard sprint is 92 percent anaerobic, 8 percent aerobic; an all-out mile is 75 percent anaerobic, 25 percent aerobic; a 5K race is 7 percent anaerobic, 93 percent aerobic; a 10K race is 3 percent anaerobic, 97 percent aerobic; and a marathon is 1 percent anaerobic, 99 percent aerobic.”

You must include the long, slow run as part of your running regimen because, Jerome emphasizes, “you’re ultimately only as fit as your aerobic base.”

Building a strong aerobic base is important for both younger and older runners. A strong aerobic base makes younger runners faster and older runners stronger in the later stages of a race.

As an older runner, I am able to push my pace up a notch in the last mile of a 5K. As a triathlete, I am able to gain on those who beat me in the pool and on the bicycle.

I am one of the last swimmers out of the pool; in fact, I have been last out of the pool more than once. I overtake some triathletes on the cycle route.

My aerobic training gives me the strength to pass younger runners in the run segment. (Our ages are body-marked on our calves, so I know when I pass someone younger than I am.)

So I’m out at least once a week for a six- to eight-miler. The slow, long-distance run builds aerobic strength and character.

Running footnote: My apologies to Jason Culverhouse, 32, of West Columbia, the fastest Southern Brazoria male marathoner, whom I overlooked in my last column. Culverhouse finished in 3:09:30, a 7:13 pace. He was 195 overall and 172 in his gender.

Here is the link:
http://thefacts.com/story.lasso?ewcd=c4f1a87746f8d7b1

Xeno Muller, Olympic gold and silver medalist, indoor rowing, rowing technique.