Our Tests - taking our the guess work to your training

As you may know, middle-distance running / cycling requires a high degree of anaerobic muscle power and of course, cardio-respiratory fitness and fatigue resistance. Research in long-distance endurance athletes has consistently shown there are three main physiological components of performance. They are predominantly related to the body’s ability to use oxygen and are:

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1. having a high maximal oxygen uptake (high V!O2max);

2. being able to sustain a high percentage of your V!O2max without accumulating lactate (high lactate threshold and maximal lactate steady state);

3. being efficient in converting this aerobic capacity into power / velocity with little wasted energy (good efficiency).

Of all the physiological components of endurance fitness the three on the list above have been very well researched with the evidence indicating they can explain a very large proportion (perhaps more than 95%) of the differences in longer-distance endurance performance between individuals. In fact, even in middle-distance events, where the capacity for anaerobic metabolism is also an important factor, it is actually the fitness of the aerobic system that will determine whether your body can deal with the fatigue caused by anaerobic metabolism or not; and all other things being equal, the more aerobically fit the athlete, the faster they will cycle. So, most of the measures we take in the laboratory are focused on the body’s ability to use oxygen (i.e. numbers 1 to 3 above). During your visit, we assess your maximum oxygen uptake ( max) and metabolic responses to incremental exercise.