Training Benchmarks and Analysis Tools

Question 1

How can you assess an athlete’s intensity tolerance?

Answer 1

by performing a Talk Test and integrating RPE into it

Question 2

Answer 2

Question 3

List 6 factors affecting heart rate

Answer 3

Core temperature

Excitation/Nervousness

Elevation

Caffeine

Hydration

Fatigue

Question 4

What are 2 reasons for cardiac drift?

Answer 4

Increased body temperature raises heart rate

Decreased muscular efficiency due to fatigue

Question 5

What is cardiac drift?

Answer 5

a natural increase or upward “drift” in heart rate while the overall intensity (e.g., respiration rate, effort level, caloric burn) remains the same

Question 6

If an athlete experiences cardiac drift during training sessions that are based around heart rate, what will likely occur?

Answer 6

the individual will be underperforming during the training sessions

Question 7

What are two scenarios where heart rate can be an effective tool for ultrarunners?

Answer 7

resting heart rate

active/recovery heart rate under similar conditions

Question 8

A decrease in resting heart rate corresponds to an increase in

Answer 8

stroke volume

Question 9

What are 2 ways to use resting heart rate?

Answer 9

A decrease in resting heart rate indicates improved aerobic fitness

An abnormally low resting heart rate indicates an athlete is not recovered

Question 10

How can you use active and recovery heart rates to determine fatigue?

Answer 10

If an athlete’s heart rate doesn’t elevate to normal levels during exercise

If an athlete’s heart rate doesn’t drop to normal levels after exercise

Question 11

How can depressed heart rate affect heart rate based training?

Answer 11

the athlete will push to reach the prescribed heart rate resulting in overreaching their intensity

Question 12

How can elevated heart rate affect heart rate based training?

Answer 12

the athlete will slow down to stay within the prescribed heart rate range resulting in training below the correct intensity

Question 13

At what intensity will you burn the greatest total amount of fat?

Answer 13

65% VO2 max

Question 14

MCTs can be increased via , resulting in increased

Answer 14

training

lactate clearance

Question 15

What occurs to excess blood lactate?

Answer 15

it is sent to the liver where it is converted to pyruvate and then to glucose (Cori cycle)

Question 16

What is the best form of training to increase lactate clearing ability?

Answer 16

interval-based training

Question 17

List the 3 levels of the Talk Test

Answer 17

Comfortable (below threshold) - can speak without difficulty

Labored (at threshold) - can speak, but speech is labored to the point where only a sentence can be spoken before becoming out of breath

Uncomfortable (substantially above threshold) - can speak only with extreme difficulty or not at all

Question 18

List the 4 steps of the Talk Test

Answer 18

1. Warm up at an easy walk for 15 minutes
2. Set the treadmill speed at a pace the athlete feels they could walk or jog indefinitely. The starting gradient is 0.5%.
3. Every two minutes, increase the speed by 1 mph. During the last 30 seconds of each two-minute stage, a predetermined phrase is recited. At this point, record the athlete’s ability to recite the phrase given the exertion level and subject’s noted RPE.
4. The test should continue until the athlete has difficulty reciting the phrase, which is indicative of the individual having reached his or her lactate threshold.

Question 19

List the 3 most important metrics to track

Answer 19

Time-based volume

Volume of vertical gain/loss

Post-workout subjective feedback

Question 20

What are 2 flaws of GAP/NGP?

Answer 20

different surfaces

downhills

Question 21

When is it most practical to use GAP/NGP?

Answer 21

solely on the uphills by comparing climb to climb – so long as the surface of the trail is relatively consistent