There’s a long held belief that the anaerobic threshold is the governor of our fitness and form. Mate, that depends on how you view fitness.
Anaerobic threshold is the flashy sibling of sub threshold work, but make no mistake, it’s the sub threshold work that AT takes all the credit for. FTP has sold too many of us on the idea that threshold is the golden chalice. It is not!
I sometimes laugh at the whole 80/20 deal. We were rolling that back in the 90s and to me, not much has changed other than technology. But if you zoom out you’ll see 80/20 applies right through life, 80 percent foundational / 20 percent pushing for shift.
If you don’t do the work that’s required, then you won’t have the requirement when the shit is hitting the fan. With all the developing pro athletes that came through my program, I can tell you, straight up, it was the work we did at speed for low oxygen cost that manifested physical and mental success of that period.
That takes a shitload of patience, faith and trust. Looking back, I can see how fortunate I was to have had that trust.
It’s not as easy to find now…Like physical output, your development is 80 percent faith, trust and patience, but when you start to move really well at low oxygen cost for good speed, there’s no confidence like that.
That’s when your anaerobic work becomes truly effective and not before it.
Without an effective ability to maintain speed for low oxygen cost, your speed will be unreliable, you’ll be yo-yoing in races unable to sustain a pace, and yea, you’ll go looking for the answer in more intensity and dig a deeper form hole.
The upshot is- do your work!
Don’t shirk responsibility to yourself, leave the ego at home and work diligently at your under pinning strength.
Nothing has really changed that much.
Gilesy
