On Fri, 23 Apr 2010 20:26:20 +0200
Terje Mathisen "terje.mathisen at tmsw.no" wrote:

wrote:
The Norwegian Olympic Committee's Top Performance Group put out a
book about endurance training several years ago. I have a couple
of PDFs that Torbjorn Karlsen circulated summarizing it, one of
which has a table showing workout levels 1-8 (yes 8, 6-8 being
purely anaerobic and of short total duration, and primarily used in
other sports). Here's a sample - and remember these are for elite
or developing elite younger athletes in athletic training schools
(and individuals will vary a bit):

Level % of VO2max % of max HR Lactate (mmol/l) Total Duration
5 94-100 92-97 6.0-10.0 15-30 min
4 85-94 87-92 4.0-6.0 30-50 min
3 80-87 82-97 2.5-4.0 50-90 min
2 65-80 72-82 1.5-2.5 1-3 hrs
1 45-65 55-72 0.8-1.5 1-6 hrs


I don't know exactly why, but there's obviously some sort of
(strong!) training effect he

The norwegian international/world cup orienteering team can typically
run for an hour in the forest at 90-93% of Max HR, i.e. the top end
of level 4 above.

Personally I have done 80-minute competitions at 90% of max, and
25-30 min at 93-94%, but only while orienteering, which I've been
doing competitively for 40+ years.

Plain running or skiing results in a significantly lower average
heart rate at the same psychological effort level, i.e. "run or ski
as fast as I can for as long as possible".

With training, the HR at which 4.0 mmol/l is reached rises and the
HR/lactate curve beyond that becomes less steep. That allows greater
time to be spent at level 4. I have a ~60 yr old friend, definitely a
middle of the packer or further back, who trains a lot and skis long
races in the low 90%s, while me, with an "Olympic level" VO2max (age
adjusted), average more in the mid to upper 80%s. There definitely
seems to be genetic/metabolic differences that way, in addition to
differences by training and type of activity, as you mention.

Gene