We developed two concepts for a unique training approach
Creating an effective interval training program is the biggest challenge for the coach because the number of possible combinations of intensity and duration of both effort and rest is enormous.
As a result, in all existing models much - too much - guesswork is involved.
On the other hand, knowing your individual training zones is not enough to create the perfect workout because training zones and training intensities are not synonymous!
Finally, the factors that cause the anaerobic energy reserve to replenish faster or slower during rest are complex and highly individual. IRI, the Individual Recovery Index should be considered the fixed reference value that reflects your personal recovery.
A new training concept is therefore necessary
This groundbreaking concept is part of the “Training and Analysis Module”
The first concept we developed is the simulation tool
This tool takes all of the above considerations into account and can safely be called unique in its kind.
As soon as IRI, the intensity of the single effort (to be chosen by the user according to the goal), the duration of that effort, the intensity and duration of the recuperation period and the number of repetitions is entered, the tool creates a graph simulating the course of the exhaustion - recovery of your anaerobic energy reserve (W’bal) for the chosen interval format.
Because a training session usually contains multiple series, the tool also allows the coach to enter up to 5 series.
Playing with the format of the interval training results in
the PREDICTION of W'bal and other essential variables.
The second concept relies on the ability to monitor
the anaerobic reserve "in the action".
This is particularly interesting for specific interval tasks as with the
High Intensity Decreasing Interval Training (HIDIT).
Since the anaerobic widget in the SuperCycle app allows the performance to be monitored "in the action," it is possible to control the format of an interval training via the anaerobic energy balance and not via the classic exercise- and recovery duration.
A decreasing interval training could look like this:
1° repetition: lower the balance up to 30 %
2° repetition: lower the balance up to 40 %
3° repetition: lower the balance up to 50 %
And all further efforts up to 60 %
After each effort, W' should be replenished to, say, 80 or … %.
No perfect training session without the knowledge of
your individual metabolic profile
The training module therefore provides an input field from which those necessary data are calculated. It requires the 5 basic tests and, if required, additionally a sprint test and a 30" test. The sprint test is necessary to calculate the ideal lead-out, the 30" test to display the rate at which you use up your anaerobic capacity.
In other words your anaerobic power or your VLamax .
From the individual profile we can now compute training zones. They represent the energy system that is dominant,
it does not mean that a certain zone exclusively uses this energy system!
The % VO2max widget for endurance training
SuperCycle features the % VO2max widget that allows the rider to monitor oxygen consumption in real time.
Please note: this is an averaging, so it assumes that the effort is constant!
Efforts below the Recovery Threshold are purely aerobic and are mostly performed as
endurance training in steady state conditions.
In this case the % VO2max widget is very useful.
Efforts in the SD zone, above RT but still below SCP, are usually performed as an interval session,
so it is not always easy to use the widget correctly.
However, we can generally accept that oxygen consumption in this zone fluctuates between 90% and 100%.
For the SD zone as well as for the FD zone it is more important to use the % anaerobic contribution to guide the training.