We all know the feeling, whether it be a voluntary or involuntary break from training. How much of my hard-earned fitness am I loosing each day, each week – should I take that break, or will this illness knock me back months? Essentially what we are talking about here is detraining. More specifically we…
As endurance athletes we spend hours upon hours developing our cardiovascular system, preparing our bodies for the demands of competition, but, do we ever stop and consider the possibilities of training or minds? On such way of doing this is through the implementation of psychological skills training or PST. PST can be defined as consistent…
I felt the need to write this post because too often I see athletes fall into the trap of over exerting themselves during busy periods of stress. Trying to juggle study, exams, work, family and personal commitments while also trying to cram in their training is commonplace. Usually one of two things happen here,…
Over recent years there has been a mentality shift towards strength training within the endurance sport domain from one of reluctance to general acceptance as part of an “all-round” training programme. Yet, there remains some confusion within this area in reference to weight, number of repetitions, sets and what exactly the adaptations are that occur…
“Tony Ryan’s love of cycling started as a 16-year-old in 1956. Tony rode many a Ras in the 60’s and 70’s with the Tipperary team but his love of coaching started in the 1970’s when a group of young cyclists in Carrick-on-Suir needed guidance, the most notable of which a young Sean Kelly. Tony took…
It’s a common school of thought that there are differences in power production from one cycling position to another the most common of which from our relaxed position on the hoods to a more aggressive aerodynamic position. This study, full text here, aimed to identify whether there was in fact observable differences in key physiological…
Recovery, Aerobic, Anaerobic… what does it all mean and how does it apply to my training? Knowing what your power output, heart rate and perceived exertion should be for a given duration or event is key in ultimately making you go faster. At Premier Endurance we understand the minefield involved in navigating all of this…
In our first guest blog here at Premier Endurance we welcome Evan Lynch to guide us through how to fuel a typical week during your winter base period, read a little more about Evan below. Evan Lynch is an international racewalker, having represented Ireland at Euro and World level with over 20 National titles to…
At Premier Endurance we understand lab testing/ physiological testing isn’t always a viable option and while we recommend lactate profiling at least twice per year we take care to monitor training frequently with a multitude of field tests. The most common of which include, the 20-minute FTP test (which most will be familiar with), the power…
Stage 3 of this year’s Tour De l’Avenir took in some testing, rolling terrain from Le Lude to Châteaudun. With just two climbs noted on the roadbook, a Category 4 and 3 at 46 and 88 kilometres respectively a break would inevitably get up the road. Competition to get into this break was furious with…