by Cory Fagan After 25 years of testing athletes in our lab, I have a lot of stories of what makes each one of you unique. We have done just over 3000 VO2’s tests and all of them are very interesting which keeps me sharp and always learning. There have been some great improvements as […]
I am going to take you back to your Junior High Science class. What is a phenotype? “The term “phenotype” refers to the observable physical properties of an organism; these include the organism’s appearance, development, and behavior.” Whew! Think back to Junior High and what sports or activities did you like and participate in? Often, they […]
Let’s get in a good warm-up…what is that? Research has been done evaluating what the best way is to warm-up for a race or hard event. Typically, warm-ups consist of 10-15 min an aerobic effort with a couple short accelerations and then a cooldown. Wait a few minutes and then you’re off! The problem with […]
By Selina Campbell, PhD Let’s face it… we all have a lot going on in our lives so when we can get a workout in we want it to count – we want a ‘good’ workout. But what exactly constitutes a ‘good’ workout? One that gets you hot, sweaty and tired muscles, or one that […]
We started TCR in 2006. Back then, I was showing people how to use heart rate monitors and develop individual training zones. Where do you burn fat and where do you burn sugar? VO2 testing was our initial gateway to training with science. No more using formulas and guessing what heart rate was appropriate. People […]
By Mat Popovich and TCR Sport Lab Running, as a sport, has been gaining significant popularity over the past decade (Rizzo, 2021). Running dynamics can be analyzed using various metrics including ground contact time, vertical oscillation, stride length, and cadence (Adams et al., 2016). Running cadence is defined as the number of steps taken per […]
“What I don’t understand is how my conditioning can be this good when I don’t do hard workouts. Felt strong. Best ride I’ve had since I started my treatment in August 2020. Feels good!” – BM Not long ago, the road back from cancer or disease was limited to what you received in the hospital. […]
Flowy FTP“…your heart, blood and intuition are telling you what to do, listen in.” Cyclist or runner, most of us use a marker to judge the intensity of our workout. For example, “Today we are going to work at 90% of your FTP for 4 sets of 5 min…” The concept also applies to runners […]
What is your limiting factor? Think back to your last interval workout or long effort. What was most fatigued when you finished? Where your legs burning or where you out of breathe? Traditionally, most of the off-season training that we undergo is designed to increase your tolerance to pain. Lactate Tolerance is the official […]
By Selina Campbell, PhD Polarized model vs a Sweet-spot/threshold model I often get asked when it comes to training, which way is better – Polarized model or a Sweet-spot/threshold model.I know people want me to say the latter as the former involves 75-80% of Z1-2 time (boring!) whereas the latter involves going harder and working […]