bubsy said:I think if you go back to page 1 you'll see a table explaining that the best addaptions that increse aerobic capacity and lactate threshhold occur more at L 4/5, except glycogen storage which while important it is not not going to be the limiting factor for increasing aerobic capacity,
how much L 4/5 each athlete can handle is going to depend on a whole range of things but l can tell you that l do zero focussed L2 and almost no focussed L3 below 85% of FTP except for a tiny bit of lower L3 when doing loads of L 5/6 before an A race and l have not yet seen a plato in aerobic capacity/power in the last ~3yrs and the biggest gains came in the last 18mths when l completly gave away all focused L 2/3 training, so perhaps you may need to do some more research?
I am well aware of the table from page 1. The table implies that adaptations occur the quickest from L4 work, it doesn't imply that greatest adaptations occur from L4. Which makes great adaptations in Aerobic Capacity 1hr at L4 or 4hrs at L2? The answer, it depends.
Your basing your opinion on your own experience which is definitely of value. But generally we don't do the best job of examining our own training.
I coach 7 elite athletes every one of them has at a minimum has been a Provincial champion. They are all very talented and have had success because or despite my programs. Over the past five years I have experimented with a vast array of training strategies with them. With that very limited sample size I have found a couple things:
1. Throwing out L3 and below makes someone fast really quick. Unfortunately they quickly reach a plateau that I at least have been unable to get them to break through.
2. One or two cycles have mainly L2 and L3 training leads to a slow build up of form but allows the athlete to progress to a higher peak fitness in the season.
A simple example of how effective L2 work can be. With all my athletes right now I am doing a big L2 block. All of them have experienced a significant increase in threshold power during the block. I have seen on average a 6% gain in threshold power. This is with limit intensity work.
During the next block I will add more intensity (L4 and some L5) to their training. The stress will be different and they will adapt to it quickly and continue to improve.
These are elite athletes their time, talent and training dedication is vastly different then most peoples. For them L2 work is a critical part of their season. The years where I did limited L2 work with them were quite disappointing.