Before and After

Early this morning, I cycled down to Hampton to get my physiological retests from Dr Garry Palmer.

I first went to see him in March, and you can read the details of the methodology and see the amusing photos here.

Obviously, the idea was to see if all the work I've put in has actually had a measurable effect on my fitness. I was actually pretty nervous about what the results would be, because it's all very well if you haven't done the work and you don't improve much - because then you get what you 'deserve'. However, I've put in hours and hours on the bike - some of it fun, but lots of it hard and painful - and to have not seen any improvements would have been very disheartening.

The one area where I knew I'd done well was in my weight loss, and that's what Garry went through first.

In March, I was 74.8kg with a measured body fat of 14.1%.

While this was 'ideal' for the normal population, Garry had said that in order to be able to take on the Etape in relative comfort, I needed to be working towards the levels expected of a 'trained athlete'.

Therefore, he'd set me the target of reducing my weight to 71.7kg and a target body fat of 10% - ideally I would get down towards 8%.

Today, Garry weighed me at 68.4kg, with a body fat of 8.6% - both comfortably below my targets.

Perhaps the most dramatic stat is that in March I had a fat mass of 10.6kg, today my fat mass is down to just 5.9kg, which sounds - and feels - really good.

From the 'sub-maximal efficiency' tests (explained more fully in the original post), my efficiency has actually remained pretty much constant - although it was at a fairly healthy level anyway.

What has improved, is that at my first test, I went 'anaerobic' during this test, so that I would have been using more carbohydrate than fat as energy - something that I'll want to be avoiding on the Etape, because carbohydrate stores are more limited. Today, I went nowhere near being anaerobic, which means I can work harder/cycle faster before eating into my carbohydrate stores.

From the 'maximal exercise tests' - in March, my maximum power was 277 watts. Garry had said I should be looking at something nearer 300. Today, my maximum power was 307 - a 10% increase and again above my target.

My maximum heart rate in March was 183. Today, that had increased to 187.

A crucial measure for me, for the Etape - and for cycling in general - is the Maximum Power/Weight Ratio, as this is what actually gets you up hills.

In March, my power/weight ratio was 3.71 watts/kg, with a target of 4-4.5 watts/kg. Today, my increase in maximum power, coupled with significant loss of weight meant my power/weight ratio is up to 4.49 watts/kg - right at the top of my target range.

Again, crucial for cycling is the VO2 max measurement. It's kinda difficult to explain (ie. I don't really understand it), but apparently it's defined as 'the highest rate of oxygen consumption attainable during maximal or exhaustive exercise'. 'It is generally considered the best indicator of cardiorespiratory endurance and aerobic fitness'.

In March this was already at quite a high level 50.3. However, today that's improved to 63.6 - a 20% plus improvement, which again feels great. In my age range, anything greater than 50ish is regarded as 'excellent', and in fact only around 3% of the population are in this range. On one of the charts I looked at, a VO2 max of above 65 is regarded as 'Olympic'! I'm very much NOT 'Olympic', but it's kinda encouraging that at least on one measure I appear reasonably fit.

Obviously, I'm pleased with that, although if it doesn't translate to speed on the road, then it's not much use to me. I think it may be best to regard my VO2 max as my 'potential' fitness, that I might be able to tap into with more training.

On a practical level, I wanted to know from Garry how I need to pace myself for the Etape. I've been using my heart rate to judge how hard I should be going - generally trying to keep myself in the 'Endurance' Zone, with occasional forays into the 'Threshold' Zone when sprinting to catch a group or climbing.

The sum total of my training improvements is that my anaerobic threshold has risen, so that my heart rate zones have moved.

My endurance zone (which was 142-152 bpm) has now increased to 151-161. My threshold zone (which was 162-172) has now changed to 171-181. That leaves 182-187 as my Speed and Power Zone.

As suggested above, that indicates that I should be riding the majority of the Etape at heart rates up to 171, but during the climbs, it'll be acceptable to be working up to heart rates of 181.

Where possible of course, I should be trying to keep to the lower ends of these zones, rather than the upper extremities.

So overall - the results were about as positive as I could reasonably have hoped. It was almost worth the money just to have the psychological encouragement, and Garry was very reassuring about my chances for the Etape, which is exactly what I need right now.