One of many hottest matters in endurance science the previous half decade or so is knowing sturdiness – the flexibility to nonetheless put out robust efforts regardless of a number of amassed fatigue.
Everyone knows the sensation. The primary interval (or hill) of a exercise or journey can really feel virtually easy. The identical effort in the course of the 10th interval can really feel absolute agony. The identical with a small rise on the finish of a century journey feeling like Alpe d’Huez.
This idea of fatigue resistance or sturdiness is commonly what separates even elite amateurs from the highest execs. Certain an elite beginner can generate a single laborious effort – usually when recent – as a professional. However can they replicate that effort with a number of fatigue within the system, on the finish of a mountain stage or within the third week of a Grand Tour?
Modeling of efficiency and coaching results has come a good distance up to now few many years, with ideas like essential energy, W’, acute and continual coaching hundreds, and completely different ideas of threshold energy and pressure scores.
What’s harder to mannequin and predict, nonetheless, is sturdiness. Scientists are nonetheless attempting to outline greatest practices to quantify it, not to mention develop fashions for it.
Voet et al. 2025
Including to this literature, my South African pal Rob Lamberts’s lab studied the impression of coaching on a lab-based sturdiness protocol (Voet et al. 2025). Particularly, their aim was to see whether or not there have been any variations in sturdiness over the course of 8 weeks of pure (i.e., riders have been free to do their very own coach-based coaching) coaching.
How was the examine achieved?
- Ten semi-pro male cyclists racing on the Continental degree. Their 10 min imply maximal energy (MMP) was 5.3 W/kg, and their first and second lactate thresholds have been 299 and 347 W, respectively.
- Testing within the lab was achieved earlier than and after 8 weeks of coaching that the contributors did on their very own, guided by their coach somewhat than the researchers. The testing interval was over the low season of 2021/22 with no racing scheduled.
- The general lab check day concerned a maximal incremental check, 120 min of relaxation, a primary check achieved whereas recent, a 180-min fatiguing journey achieved outside at about 3.2 W/kg, then a second check. General, earlier than the second “fatigued” check, riders accomplished about 38.6 kJ/kg of labor, or round 2740 kJ.
- The precise check concerned progressive warmup, a 1 min all-out, restoration, then a ten min all-out effort.
Key Findings
General, this was an observational examine, which by its nature didn’t allow the researchers to regulate or fluctuate the 8-weeks of coaching systematically. That is half and parcel of elite sport science, as the upper the extent of athlete, the more difficult it’s to recruit and retain them if too many restrictions or controls are requested.
On the identical time, an observational examine on solely ten comparatively homogenous riders makes it difficult to develop a robust correlational evaluation. On this case, all of the riders have been related in means by definition (they have been all on the Conti degree), so their general health and what they have been doing in the course of the 8 weeks wouldn’t be extensively different.
Regardless of these inherent limitations, what are some key findings?
- Not surprisingly, efficiency in each the 1 and 10 min efforts – whereas both recent or fatigued, elevated after 8 weeks.
- 10 min efforts (6.4-7.3%) improved greater than 1 min efforts (2.5-3.6%), in step with the concept that cardio efficiency has the next responsiveness. Alternately, this might be as a result of the next emphasis on cardio coaching in the course of the 8 weeks of low season coaching.
- Within the fatigued state, enhancements within the 10 min effort was solely reasonably associated to the 1 min effort. This means that sturdiness is a multi-dimensional phenomenon somewhat than a single unified response.
- No distinction in enchancment was discovered throughout the vary of 8-week coaching.
- No single measure of coaching load over the 8 weeks (e.g., session RPE, Coaching Stress Rating, and so forth.) had a robust predictive energy on sturdiness outcomes.
Abstract
What this examine suggests is that, whereas coaching does enhance sturdiness, we’re a good distance nonetheless from actually with the ability to mannequin or predict what sort of coaching does what to sturdiness. For now, it’s a type of ideas that’s extremely intuitive and one thing we will really feel, however not but one thing we have now a agency mannequin of.
Within the meantime, what are methods we will attempt to assess our personal sturdiness?
On the finish of lengthy rides, arrange your individual check effort within the closing a part of the journey. This may be just like what was achieved right here, doing a 1 min and a ten min effort. Or journey laborious up a hill close to residence. It’s also possible to simply goal a set time at a constant effort (e.g., 10 min at 250 W) The purpose is to be constant to be able to evaluate over time.
Then analyze your lengthy rides over time. For instance, set a filter to solely rides the place you’ve accomplished at the least X quantity of labor (e.g., 2,500 kJ). See what patterns you see in these laborious efforts you’ve laid out. For those who see optimistic or destructive adjustments, you may work backwards from these dates to then see what coaching might need contributed to the adjustments.
Experience quick for a very long time and have enjoyable!
References
Voet JG, Erp T van, Viribay A, et al (2025) Coaching Traits Associated to (the Adjustments in) Sturdiness in Semiprofessional Cyclists. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2024-0321
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