Anybody can be a Kona qualifier: genetics is not your limiter with Alan Couzens | EP#186

That Triathlon Show

Mikael Eriksson

Health, Swimming, Endurancesports, Run, Cycling, Health & Fitness, Fitness, Ironman, Swim, Bike, Sports, Running, Sportscience, Triathlon

4.9 • 596 Ratings

🗓️ 17 June 2019

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Alan Couzens is a coach and exercise physiologist in Boulder, Colorado. Through his laboratory testing of a large number of athletes over a long time period he has found that triathlon and endurance sports potential (specifically VO2max) is far more trainable and less limited by genetics than what most textbooks and university courses would have us believe. In fact, most triathletes may actually have the potential to qualify for Kona - with the right training. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT: -How trainable is VO2max really? -Why do most athletes fail to reach their athletic potential even though they are putting in a lot of hard work? -What is the right way to train to reach your athletic potential? -The importance of training at the first lactate/ventilatory threshold (aerobic threshold) -The importance of proper testing so you can do the right testing for you -When to use heart rate vs. pace/power in training SHOWNOTES: https://scientifictriathlon.com/tts186/ THAT TRIATHLON SHOW HOMEPAGE: www.thattriathlonshow.com SPONSORS: Precision Hydration - One-size doesn't fit all when it comes to hydration. Take Precision Hydration's FREE sweat test and learn how you should hydrate. Use the discount code THATTRIATHLONSHOW and get your first box for free! ROKA - The finest triathlon wetsuits, apparel, equipment, and eyewear on the planet. Trusted by Javier Gómez, Gwen Jorgensen, Flora Duffy, Mario Mola, Lucy Charles and others. Get 20% off your entire order with the discount code TTS. LINKS AND RESOURCES: To lab test or not to lab test with Alan Couzens | EP#79 Polarised training with Stephen Seiler, PhD | EP#177 RATE AND REVIEW: If you enjoy the show, please help me out by subscribing, rating and reviewing: www.scientifictriathlon.com/rate/ CONTACT: Want to send feedback, questions or just chat? Email me at mikael@scientifictriathlon.com or connect on Twitter - my handle is @SciTriat.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Most athletes physiologically have the ability to get to Kona qualifying fitness.
0:07.2	You know, that's sort of a central core belief that I have after working with athletes over a long period of time that, well, you know, pro-level fitness might be a different thing and there might be some, you know, pro-level fitness might be, might be a different thing,
0:21.3	and there might be some, you know, genetic lottery aspects to getting to that level of fitness.
0:28.1	Given the right training over a sufficient period of time, you know,
0:33.0	most athletes are able to hit that 65 to 70 mils per kilo.
0:38.9	That triathlon,, 186.
1:03.7	Hey, what's up, everybody, and welcome back to another episode of that triathlon show, the podcast presented by scientific triathlon.com.
1:08.5	I'm your host Michael, and on today's episode, I interview coach Alan Cousins.
1:16.0	Alan was on as a guest previously in episode 79, so more than 100 episodes ago.
1:22.5	And in that episode, we talked about lactate testing and metabolic testing, how it works,
1:23.5	why it's beneficial.
1:29.7	We discussed thresholds that you hear us referencing time and time again. So it is a great intro to the physiology behind training and training zones. However, you do not need to listen to
1:34.9	that episode. Before you listen to this episode, I would just carry on with this episode and then
1:39.7	go back and listen to episode 79. In today's interview, we V-O-2-Max or aerobic capacity and also
1:47.8	just athletic potential in general. But since V-O-2 Max is such an important determinant of endurance performance,
1:56.3	whether it's a very short or a very long endurance event, this means that traditionally, since we have thought that V-O-2-Max changes and improvements
2:05.3	are quite limited by genetics, it means that also our endurance performance improvements
2:11.1	are relatively limited by genetics.
2:14.5	However, Alan has a ton of test data from his athletes that he's coached and athletes
2:19.3	that he's tested over the years. He lives in Boulder, Colorado, so he has got a lot of
2:24.3	athletes over there, of course, to test. And he has shown that this is not really the case.
2:29.5	We can actually improve our VO2 max and our endurance performance a lot more than what the common
	...

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