Is ADS always when AeT is outside 10% of LT?

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February 7, 2021 at 11:51 pm #50565

gabreal001
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Hi!

I’m wondering if it is always necessary to bring your AeT within 10% of your LT before switching out of your aerobic base training mode? I was thinking about how two athletes who start training with the same AeT and same starting volume but different LT (by say 20 bps) might be prescribed to train differently (i.e. Z3 runs) after a certain time just because one athlete gets their AeT within 10% of their LT sooner, assuming both athletes increase their AeT at the same rate within the training window of both being outside 10%. I’m wondering if introducing different training stimuli should be based on certain AeT values, at a certain pace, or something else instead of proximity to LT?

I’m an ex crossfit athlete with a 190 LT and I’ve built my AeT to 160 bpm so far. I’m wondering if I should continue with long Z1 and Z2 or if I should begin Z1 and some Z3 in my efforts to most efficiently reach higher AeT values.

Thanks so much in advance!
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Posted In: General Training Discussion

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Dada on February 8, 2021 at 9:15 am #50576

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Alex on February 8, 2021 at 12:02 pm #50586

The way I understand it is that the higher your AeT, the faster you’re able to move by burning fats. If your AeT isn’t within 10% of your AnT then it means there are still more aerobic gains to be made (you can move even faster by burning fats). When you get to the point where aerobic gains become harder and harder to achieve (you’re very well fat adapted), then you can get that extra push from a well trained anaerobic system.

Since we only store about 2000 calories of glycogen in our muscles, it’s best to save them as much as possible.

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Rachel on February 8, 2021 at 3:59 pm #50598

I would say yes, Uphill Athlete defines ADS as when HR or paces at AeT and AnT are more than 10% different.

Here’s an excerpt from this article on Aerobic Deficiency Syndrome:

There is a good case to be made for including some high-intensity training for endurance athletes. But high-intensity and low-intensity training cause very different endurance adaptations, and you need the right doses of each to maximally improve endurance. Overemphasizing the high-intensity work for too long will leave an athlete with ADS. Correcting this deficit will take months of a high volume of low-to-moderate-intensity work. There is no shortcut. So if you have been drinking the high-intensity Kool-Aid, you’d better be ready for the hangover it produces.

Participant

sgw on February 9, 2021 at 12:44 am #50620

by the way: where do these 10% come from? Is that a statistical number, is it a rule of thumb, or … ?

Inactive

Anonymous on February 19, 2021 at 5:53 am #51007

@sgw: Rule of thumb

@gabreal001: Definitely continue.

I’m an ex crossfit athlete with a 190 LT and I’ve built my AeT to 160 bpm so far. I’m wondering if I should continue with long Z1 and Z2 or if I should begin Z1 and some Z3 in my efforts to most efficiently reach higher AeT values.

Crossfit has put you here. You need to fix it.

Just be patient. I was where you are, doing a lot of Crossfit in the early-2000s. Then I wised up, fixed my aerobic system, and now I’m much faster than I was in my 20s and 30s. (I’m 47.)

It’ll happen. Just give it time.

Inactive

Anonymous on February 19, 2021 at 5:55 am #51008

Also, Z3 does not “most efficiently reach higher AeT values.” That’s a HIIT philosophy myth. It does the opposite.

Sandcastles: A Model of Endurance Training

Participant

gabreal001 on February 22, 2021 at 7:54 pm #51128

Thanks so much everyone for your replies. That helps much