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Saturday 31 December 2011

Let's Not Be Too Base-ic



Don’t Let it get Too Base-ic

Case Study One – Joe Slow.

Joe Slow was a fit endurance athlete.  He had been completing events for a number of years but still hadn’t met his time goals.

“I need to do more base work – if I can get fitter then I will go fast”

And so Joe increased his long ride and run and added an extra run in each week to build up his base.

And the next year his time was virtually the same

“I need to do more base work – if I can get fitter then I will go fast”

And so Joe increased his long ride and run and added an extra run in each week to build up his base.

And the next year his time was virtually the same

Joe increased his volume again.  But now he was starting to get sick of all the sessions, his family weren’t too impressed and a nagging ankle injury kept flaring up.

Joe eventually quit having never reached his goal.

Joe made the classic mistake that equates base fitness to speed.  For new athletes, or those athletes looking to complete a longer event then base is crucial.  For experienced athletes, excess base can actually be a disadvantage for the reasons Joe experienced.

  • Excess stress on the body    
  • Lack of motivation
  • External pressures (work, family).


The pressures may not sound significant but at a hormonal level can have a negative impact by way of Cortisol.  As importantly, base training teaches the body to move efficiently at an often low aerobic pace – in short it is teaching the athlete to race slowly.

Within exercise physiology there is the concept of S.A.I.L – Specific Adaptation to Implied Load.  What this means is the body becomes more efficient at the same level of intensity.  The number of fibers recruited to perform a task decreases, the amount of oxygen required by the muscle (and therefore transported to it) decreases.

To use a car analogy imagine a car that only switched on the cylinders it needs for a given speed.  Imagine if it drove everywhere at 60kph – it may only need 2 cylinders.  If it drove at this speed for a year what would happen to the remaining cylinders ?  Eventually they would fill with gunk and stop working.  If the car suddenly wanted to accelerate to 100kph what would happen ?  The two cylinders would over work.  The same concept applies to endurance sports.  If you look at the legs of an athlete like Michael Raelert they are extremely skinny yet his speed on the bike and the run are incredible – because he has such a high percentage of fiber recruitment

Case Study Two – Mind versus Machine

I watched with interest the 2011 Hawaiian Ironman.  Two people I know were competing – both about the same age.  One has been racing for 20 years and trains approximately 35 hours a week.  He had a great performance and came in in 9:34:55.

The other has been in the sport for 4 years and has no endurance background.  He trains 12 hours a week and came in at 9:36:53

The second athlete spent time developing his base when he first started but now maintains his base and focuses on his speed and fiber recruitment

The second athlete is turning Pro next year – the first one is retiring as he doesn’t have time for “all that training”

I am sure we all know a Joe Slow.  I even know coaches who are Joe Slows – who’s times never improve and then they pass on their ‘learnings’ to their clients.

Again – Base Training is important BUT for athletes that have been in the sport for 3+ years, who can complete the distance but want to get faster the focus should be on maintaining base and developing speed.  And let’s not forget that High Intensity Training has been shown to have similar metabolic impacts on fitness markers as long aerobic training and a greated impact on Fat Loss due to EPOC (Exercise Post Oxygen Consumption)

If someone tells you they rode some exorbitant number of kilometers last week ask them how much their times have improved year on year.  You may be talking to Joe…..

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