Just 'cause you was, doesn't mean you is...

Greetings and salutations faithful IMFIT followers. I hope everyone has been having an awesome summer so far. I just got back from an awesome week in Lake Placid checking out the Ironman event. Always, always a very inspiring day. I had the chance to put some time in on the bike on some truly amazing and scenic roads. Time that also served to show me just how much bike specific fitness I've lost in the last couple of years spent with a greater focus on my clients fitness than my own. It was at that point that I decided it was truly time to get my own butt back in the kind of shape it used to be. I know how to do it...I've got countless client PB's, podiums and improved test results to show that I've created a training formula that truly works, and that is completely adaptable to each clients needs. Time to put that to work for me!

All I needed was a starting point. That starting point was some Metabolic Testing to figure out what my current heart rate zones are, where my Threshold is and how strong (or not) my aerobic system is.
Well! That was a humbling morning. A little physical history on little 'ol moi. At my peak about four years ago I had a Peak VO2 of 63ml/kg/min. My max heart rate was 198, Anaerobic Threshold was 172 and my Aerobic Endurance Threshold or Aerobic Base was 155 and I was burning 55% fat calories.


Ya. Not any more. Current data as of this past Thursday has me at a Peak VO2 of 36ml/kg/min, peak heart rate of 140, AT of 132 and AeT/AB of 114. In short, I'm couch potato fit! And yes, I'm trying to maintain a sense of humour about this. That's my bike fitness. My run fitness is slightly better. VO2 isn't much better, but my AT is in the 140's and my AB is at 131.

I am not the man I used to be. But here's the thing. Because I spent so long training at those levels back in the day, my body and my brain are both conditioned to feel that effort level. My brain especially is conditioned to look down at my heart rate monitor and see certain numbers and that is part of my problem. Up until I tested myself last week, I had been riding and running to feel. Problem is, that feel was all wrong. I know now (and new deep down at the time) that I was pushing too hard.

How could I tell? I was too tired after my rides and runs, recovery was taking too long. I was super hungry and craving bad things. I was sore a lot, more sore than I should have been for what I wanted to be doing with my training. And most importantly, I wasn't losing any weight. All of those things add up to tell me as a coach that the training is too intense, too anaerobic in nature. As a coach it's very easy for me to see that in one of my athletes. As the athlete, it's harder to admit that I need to go easier than I used to be able to. But now that I have the cold hard test results staring at me, there's no more denying it. No more doing what I used to do just cause it's what I used to do. My body has changed. My training sweet spot has changed. If I want to see the kind of improvement in myself that I get out of so many of my clients then I have to drop the pride, accept and believe in the results and train smart.

And that's what I've been doing for the past week since doing the testing. Result? I've already dropped two pounds with no change to diet. I'm not as tired after my training sessions, I'm not as hungry through the day and I don't have the cravings post workout that I was getting before.

Believe me, it's tough to spin easy enough around Halton Hills to keep my heart rate under 120. Really hard. I'm spending a lot of time doing loops around the neighbourhoods to avoid the bigger hills right now. It is incredibly humbling but I have a goal and I have a plan to get there. I don't want to waste any time in getting there either so I've made the same commitment to my training that I ask of my clients. Don't waste any time. No garbage miles. I've got the results, I know where my sweet spots are. I know that every minute I spend going easy right now will equal awesome minutes going hard in a few months time. I just need patience and focus right now.

I'll be testing every four weeks or so for the next few months as I expect my body will respond quickly to the proper training and I don't want to waste any time with fitness plateaus. As I continue following up on my fitness I will continue to post here to let you all know how it's going.

As always, thanks for reading and happy training!