The Training Intensity Distribution of Marathon Runners Across Performance Levels.

Background: The training characteristics and training intensity distribution (TID) of elite athletes have been extensively studied, but a comprehensive analysis of the TID across runners from different performance levels is lacking.

Methods: Training sessions from the 16 weeks preceding 151,813 marathons completed by 119,452 runners were analysed. The TID was quantified using a three-zone approach (Z1, Z2 and Z3), where critical speed defined the boundary between Z2 and Z3, and the transition between Z1 and Z2 was assumed to occur at 82.

Changes in Cardiorespiratory Fitness Following Exercise Training Prescribed Relative to Traditional Intensity Anchors and Physiological Thresholds: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis of Individual Participant Data.

Background: It is unknown whether there are differences in maximal oxygen uptake ( O) response when prescribing intensity relative to traditional (TRAD) anchors or to physiological thresholds (THR).

Objectives: The present meta-analysis sought to compare: (a) mean change in O, (b) proportion of individuals increasing O beyond a minimum important difference (MID) and (c) response variability in O between TRAD and THR.

Methods: Electronic databases were searched, yielding data for 1544 individuals from 42 studies.

The Relationship Between the Moderate-Heavy Boundary and Critical Speed in Running.

Purpose: Training characteristics such as duration, frequency, and intensity can be manipulated to optimize endurance performance, with an enduring interest in the role of training-intensity distribution to enhance training adaptations. Training intensity is typically separated into 3 zones, which align with the moderate-, heavy-, and severe-intensity domains. While estimates of the heavy- and severe-intensity boundary, that is, the critical speed (CS), can be derived from habitual training, determining the moderate-heavy boundary or first threshold (T1) requires testing, which can be costly and time-consuming.

Remote Determination of Critical Speed and Critical Power in Recreational Runners.

Purpose: This study aimed to compare estimations of critical speed (CS) and work completed above CS (D'), and their analogies for running power (critical power [CP] and W'), derived from raw data obtained from habitual training (HAB) and intentional maximal efforts in the form of time trials (TTs) and 3-minute all-out tests (3MTs) in recreational runners. The test-retest reliability of the 3MT was further analyzed.

Methods: Twenty-three recreational runners (4 female) used a foot pod to record speed, altitude, and power output for 8 consecutive weeks.

The Application of non-linear methods to quantify changes to movement dynamics during running: A scoping review.

The aim of this scoping review was to evaluate research approaches that quantify changes to non-linear movement dynamics during running in response to fatigue, different speeds, and fitness levels. PubMed and Scopus were used to identify appropriate research articles. After the selection of eligible studies, study details and participant characteristics were extracted and tabulated to identify methodologies and findings.

Variability in exercise tolerance and physiological responses to exercise prescribed relative to physiological thresholds and to maximum oxygen uptake.

New Findings: What is the central question of this study? Does prescribing exercise intensity using physiological thresholds create a more homogeneous exercise stimulus than using traditional intensity anchors? What is the main finding and its importance? Prescribing exercise using physiological thresholds, notably critical power, reduced the variability in exercise tolerance and acute metabolic responses. At higher intensities, approaching or exceeding the transition from heavy to severe intensity exercise, the imprecision of using fixed %  as an intensity anchor becomes amplified.

Abstract: The objective of this study was to determine whether the variability in exercise tolerance and physiological responses is lower when exercise is prescribed relative to physiological thresholds (THR) compared to traditional intensity anchors (TRAD).

Decoupling of Internal and External Workload During a Marathon: An Analysis of Durability in 82,303 Recreational Runners.

Aim: This study characterised the decoupling of internal-to-external workload in marathon running and investigated whether decoupling magnitude and onset could improve predictions of marathon performance.

Methods: The decoupling of internal-to-external workload was calculated in 82,303 marathon runners (13,125 female). Internal workload was determined as a percentage of maximum heart rate, and external workload as speed relative to estimated critical speed (CS).

Biological and methodological factors affecting response variability to endurance training and the influence of exercise intensity prescription.

New Findings: What is the topic of this review? Biological and methodological factors associated with the variable changes in cardiorespiratory fitness in response to endurance training. What advances does it highlight? Several biological and methodological factors exist that each contribute, to a given extent, to response variability. Notably, prescribing exercise intensity relative to physiological thresholds reportedly increases cardiorespiratory fitness response rates compared to when prescribed relative to maximum physiological values.

A non-linear analysis of running in the heavy and severe intensity domains.

Purpose: Altered movement complexity, indicative of system dysfunction, has been demonstrated with increased running velocity and neuromuscular fatigue. The critical velocity (CV) denotes a metabolic and neuromuscular fatigue threshold. It remains unclear whether changes to complexity during running are coupled with the exercise intensity domain in which it is performed.

Calculation of Critical Speed from Raw Training Data in Recreational Marathon Runners.

Introduction: Critical speed (CS) represents the highest intensity at which a physiological steady state may be reached. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether estimations of CS obtained from raw training data can predict performance and pacing in marathons.

Methods: We investigated running activities logged into an online fitness platform by >25,000 recreational athletes before big-city marathons.

Methodological Approaches and Related Challenges Associated With the Determination of Critical Power and Curvature Constant.

Muniz-Pumares, D, Karsten, B, Triska, C, and Glaister, M. Methodological approaches and related challenges associated with the determination of critical power and W'. J Strength Cond Res 33(2): 584-596, 2019-The relationship between exercise intensity and time to task failure (P-T relationship) is hyperbolic, and characterized by its asymptote (critical power [CP]) and curvature constant (W').

Caffeine and Sprint Cycling Performance: Effects of Torque Factor and Sprint Duration.

Purpose: To investigate the influence of torque factor and sprint duration on the effects of caffeine on sprint cycling performance.

Methods: Using a counterbalanced, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design, 13 men completed 9 trials. In trial 1, participants completed a series of 6-s sprints at increasing torque factors to determine the torque factor, for each individual, that elicited the highest (T) peak power output (PPO).

A comparison of methods to estimate anaerobic capacity: Accumulated oxygen deficit and W' during constant and all-out work-rate profiles.

This study investigated (i) whether the accumulated oxygen deficit (AOD) and curvature constant of the power-duration relationship (W') are different during constant work-rate to exhaustion (CWR) and 3-min all-out (3MT) tests and (ii) the relationship between AOD and W' during CWR and 3MT. Twenty-one male cyclists (age: 40 ± 6 years; maximal oxygen uptake [V̇O]: 58 ± 7 ml · kg · min) completed preliminary tests to determine the V̇O-power output relationship and V̇O. Subsequently, AOD and W' were determined as the difference between oxygen demand and oxygen uptake and work completed above critical power, respectively, in CWR and 3MT.

The Effects of Caffeine Supplementation on Physiological Responses to Submaximal Exercise in Endurance-Trained Men.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of caffeine on physiological responses to submaximal exercise, with a focus on blood lactate concentration ([BLa]).

Methods: Using a randomised, single-blind, crossover design; 16 endurance-trained, male cyclists (age: 38 ± 8 years; height: 1.80 ± 0.

Accumulated Oxygen Deficit During Exercise to Exhaustion Determined at Different Supramaximal Work Rates.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to determine the effect of supramaximal exercise intensity during constant work-rate cycling to exhaustion on the accumulated oxygen deficit (AOD) and to determine the test-retest reliability of AOD.

Methods: Twenty-one trained male cyclists and triathletes (mean ± SD for age and maximal oxygen uptake [V̇Omax] were 41 ± 7 y and 4.53 ± 0.

The effect of the oxygen uptake-power output relationship on the prediction of supramaximal oxygen demands.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between oxygen uptake (V̇O2) and power output at intensities below and above the lactate threshold (LT) in cyclists; and to determine the reliability of supramaximal power outputs linearly projected from these relationships.

Methods: Nine male cyclists (mean±standard deviation age: 41±8 years; mass: 77±6 kg, height: 1.79±0.

Caffeine supplementation and peak anaerobic power output.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of caffeine supplementation on peak anaerobic power output (Wmax). Using a counterbalanced, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled design, 14 well-trained men completed three trials of a protocol consisting of a series of 6-s cycle ergometer sprints, separated by 5-min passive recovery periods. Sprints were performed at progressively increasing torque factors to determine the peak power/torque relationship and Wmax.

Effects of dietary nitrate, caffeine, and their combination on 20-km cycling time trial performance.

The aim of this study was to examine the acute supplementation effects of dietary nitrate, caffeine, and their combination on 20-km cycling time trial performance. Using a randomized, counterbalanced, double-blind Latin-square design, 14 competitive female cyclists (age: 31 ± 7 years; height: 1.69 ± 0.