Peak Performance

[Fly on the Wall]

There have been many references in various posts to riders who are peaking, or riders who have not peaked yet.

Specifically, what does a professional rider do training-wise to control when he or she will peak, say for a race such as the TdF ?

 

[Alex III]

In most sports and training programs, you have a structured training pattern (often organized into weeks but not always) that progressively gets more difficult and intense, followed by a short, less intense recovery period. The cycle is repeated, usually with an increase in work. For example, a cycle could be 4 weeks, the first three getting progressively more difficult with the fourth as a lighter, recovery week. The hardest week could for example be used as a short stage race (tour de Suisse?).

As you draw closer to your primary competition, these cycles get more intense and is followed by what is called a taper period. A taper period is generally described as higher intensity and lower volume work that avoids the long muscle tearing work of say, in cycling, hill training. In other sports, in this period you would cease weight or strength training, etc.

If an athlete is focussing on ONE competition only, the major taper is usually several weeks (3 or so), but most athletes can handle two tapers and peak cycles per season (which would be shorter if doing multiple). Any more than that, the peak will be less effective.

The idea is to have the rider at optimal performance at the end of their major taper period for their main or focus race.

As a result, races or competitions are often used as training tools, so, if a race happens to fall (and is often used for this purpose) in the hardest, most intense part of their program or a training cycle, they will certainly be performing less than optimally at that point.

Sometimes even just one week can make all the difference, an athlete (although working at 100%) can be performing at only 75% one week because they haven't recovered from their training, and a week or two later be performing at 100%.

I will admit that I am not involved in cycling at this level (I am however a performance rowing coach), but I have studied elite sport and training more generally, and can tell you that this is how it works in rowing and speed skating, among other sports. Cycling will have it's own specifities and unique requirements, but should follow the same theory and practice.

As mentioned earlier, physiologically the Tour de Suisse, ending about two weeks before the TdF, could be a perfect training tool for those wishing to peak for the TdF. The Tour de Suisse could theoretically be their final hard chunk of training, followed by a taper into the TdF.

 

[Fly on the Wall]

Very Insightful. Exactly what I was looking for.

Thank you

 

[eljimberino]

OK, but how do you extend the 100%?

Is it possible to extend the point of exhaustion in training? If so how? Does pushing yourself to 100% a few times a week or two before the race help? Or do you aim to only push yourself to 100% during the targeted race?

How do you know you will be able to go to 100%?

Or am I missing something? Do you never really hit %100? What used to be 100% is now 90% and so on?

 

[Alex III]

OK, but how do you extend the 100%?

Is it possible to extend the point of exhaustion in training? If so how? Does pushing yourself to 100% a few times a week or two before the race help? Or do you aim to only push yourself to 100% during the targeted race?

How do you know you will be able to go to 100%?

Or am I missing something? Do you never really hit %100? What used to be 100% is now 90% and so on?

Measuring performance by percentages is always difficult and tricky, I used them as an example of 100% being the athletes optimal performance but of course that will increase as the season increases, and hopefully will increase year-to-year as an athlete matures.

An athlete will always do training at 100%, often measured by heart-rate in lots of sports, but measuring it is different in every sport. In rowing we use ergometers (rowing machines), or raw times on the water, sports like speed skating are the same. There are many more variables in cycling, thats why information such as max heart rate and accurate measurements of V02 Max (maximal oxygen consumption, which can be accurately measured in labs) are so crucial for training purposes. It's also important to establish what the 100% is measured by. For example, in rowing 100% is measured by your fastest over 2,000m, so obviously it's not too difficult to work at that intensity over, say, 500m. 100% can also be meaured by an absolute peak, such as a V02Max measurement.

It's important for athletes to do certain amounts of training at, or above their target performance. Training at V02 Max peak, for example, is one of the best ways to INCREASE V02Max. As it increases, performance increases. So it's important to train at 100% or higher so that athletes and coaches are aware of their limits, and are able to increase them. Frequent testing is also crucial, if the resources are available for it.

A huge amount of performing at your peak is an awareness by the athletes and coaches of what peak is! In the case of the TdF or any other long stage race, it's not so much an athlete performing at their absolute peak as it is performing as best as possible, consistently, day in and day out. Sometimes (ok, most of the time) its very difficult to gauge that.

Road cycling, I must say, is probably one of the most trickiest sports to be aware of and to achieve peak performance as races are so varied in length, difficulty, and spread throughout the season. Most sports, such as rowing where it's all gauged over 2,000m as that's the race distance, or speed skating or velodrome cycling where you train a few certain distances, you have much, much more concrete information to work with.

At the end of the day, it's all about athletes programs geared towards being as fit and as strong as possible for their focus race. Being at that level can't be maintained for an entire season, thats why a feat like winning (or not even winning, just performing well in!) 2, or, even all 3 Grand Tours is just so utterly insane to even fathom!