Hi, I’ve been reading a bit recently about the lactate shuttle, and workouts which train this energy pathway (e.g. here and here). This prompted a question about which Sufferfest workouts could help with this kind of training. I’ve seen a few suggestions that over/under workouts are good (1 or 2 minutes @105-110% FTP / @80-85% FTP). I’m very familiar with the Sufferfest FTP over/under session, but for me the “unders” are not quite under enough; at 95% FTP I’m always at or over threshold HR during a block. Is this something other people have thought about? Any suggestions for suitable workouts? Thanks,
I wouldn’t really worry about threshold HR, it’s not going to be that precise particularly as the workout drags on. I’m sure it’s useful but i don’t think you’d use it for pacing or expect that it would drop under at 95%.
Rather, approach it as, if you’re able to complete the workout and hit the over targets, then the unders were low enough
The other thing that is generally considered good training for the buffering and shuttling is microburst interval workouts. So something along the lines of 30/15s, 30/30s, etc.
The final thing to remember is, even though these workouts can make you much faster, it’s more like the spice in soup or icing on the cake. Generally building the aerobic engine is still the thing that should happen first, because you can generate more power aerobically in the first place before you need to even start tapping into lactate as a source. You may see it that way already but i alwasy mention this for completeness.
