What do we learn from testing and how do we adjust?
By Andy Newell
We just wrapped up our late fall testing week and now is a great time to for athletes to individually evaluate their fitness and actually adjust their training moving forward. After all, what is the point of testing if we don’t use the results to modify our approach? We are currently week 30 of the training year which gives us approximately 2 weeks before the elite racing season starts and 4-6 weeks before the Junior season really gets underway, plenty of time to make a physiological adaptation. (see Sarah Willis’ article Importance of Training at Both Low and High Intensities)
For the sake of this article we will focus primarily on aerobic tests: uphill run, Skierg, and DP tests. Obtaining usable data from tests is great, setting personal bests is a bonus, but it’s important that skiers think about how they felt during these tests too. Were they able to push themselves hard? Did they feel comfortable sub-threshold and uncomfortable above? Or vice versa? Did they struggle with pacing? Did their legs feel fresh or heavy? This is what we call compiling objective and subjective data from test and is crucial in a sport like skiing.
Once an athlete has written down some of their ‘feelings’ from their hard efforts this is also a good time to reference their training log. For skiers who race full competitive calendars, (college, professional, World Cup) the training they log during the first 30 weeks of the training year can set the tone for their entire season. The first 30 weeks is what I call the Prep Period and is when skiers can make the most substantial adaptations and fitness gains before the season starts.
One of the biggest things I look for is total on-time trained in both L3 and L4 and whether these numbers might have affected their testing results and feelings during these max efforts. Let’s use an example of a high-level skier training approximately 750 hours per year. By week 30 of the training year it’s likely they will have trained around 500 hours already.
General benchmarks based of 750hr per year plan
Total hours by week 30: approx. 500 hours
Total L3 by week 30: 15 – 25 hours (3-5%)
Total L4 by week 30: 10 – 15 hours (2-3%)
These are just guidelines, but you would be surprised at how many elite level skiers would fall into these hour windows. More than 25 hours trained in L3 by week 30 would be on the high end, just 15 hours would be near the low end. Identifying where in this window an athlete lies and combining that information with their subjective feelings can offer a clear path forward when planning training in the next 4-6 weeks.
Examples:
- If an athlete is very high in their L3 percentage but low in their L4 it can explain how they might feel efficient in their tests and TT’s but struggle to push themselves to the max, or feel very uncomfortable above threshold. They still have some capacity for building their Vo2max before the season starts.
- If an athlete is crushing their Fall tests and TT’s look to see if they are high in the L4 window but lower on L3 numbers. Typically, by week 30 I like to see an athlete’s L4 total at about half of their L3. For example, with 20 hours of L3 a solid but conservative L4 total would be 10 hours. Adding in some more threshold training before the season could help their resiliency during the winter.
OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER:
- If an athlete felt sluggish or failed to achieve a high heart rate. This could be not from a lack of fitness but from overreaching or residual fatigue. (see dealing with suppressed heart rates)
- Did an athlete feel strong and fit, but slow? This could point to the need for more higher speed intervals especially for skiers at altitude. Consider planning short 30 – 1 minute intervals on faster terrain during L4 sessions.
