THE RAW FACTS:

• When we exercise/perform work, we use a combination of fuel sources; deposited body fat and carbohydrates/sugars [muscle glycogen].
• Even the leanest of athletes has a minimum of thirty to forty thousand Kcals of fat available to them as fuel-an infinite fuel source.
• In comparison, we have around fifteen hundred Kcals of stored muscle glycogen we can use; about ninety minute's worth.
• As we progressively work harder we increase the amount of fat we use up to a maximal point referred to as one's 'fat bump'.
• Beyond this point our fuel increasingly comes from glycogen until, at our anaerobic threshold [and beyond], we are using exclusively glycogen and no fat at all.
• This scenario is true for all humans but the points at which these metabolic changes occur are as individual as a finger print and can only be measured.
• This information forms the basis of the training zones and exercise prescriptions used by the worlds top endurance athletes.

THE PROPOSITION:

Using gas exchange analysis I will provide you with the following information, unique to you and denoted by heart rate[s]:

• Fat-bump - where you should be doing your aerobic base training
• Lactate threshold - vital for optimal interval training and race pace calculations
• Anaerobic threshold - essential to know to avoid bonking/hitting the wall
• Max VE - the maximum amount of air you can process, lung capacity
• Max VO2 - the maximum amount of oxygen you can consume/use
• Max HR - your protocol specific maximum heart rate
• Kcal deficit - the number of calories you use at all recorded HR's and where they come from [fat and/or glycogen]

SUMMARY:

We can't all be Simon Lessing/Lance Armstrong but, equipped with this information you will truly be able to optimise your own potential. You will be able to train more intelligently, based on your individual metabolic response to exercise, and achieve maximum results in the most time efficient manner by removing all guesstimates.