Two swimmers test their blood lactate and they are at the same level. One swimmer holds a 60 sec/100 pace and the other holds 75 sec/100 pace, is it fair to say swimmer one is swimming more efficiently, or are there other factors such as physiology at play? Can the swimmer with higher lactate still actually be swimming more efficiently, yet be generating the higher lactate numbers?
How do you pinpoint where a swimmer's physiology is limiting their performance and not their technique?
You're close - many of them probably do try to ride and run at the same heart rate all the time. To complete an Ironman, a popular strategy is to try to remain at the target heart rate (for most people, 140 to 150 bpm) for pretty much the entire race, aside from hill climbs and (hopefully) a sprint to the finish. And a common method for creating a training base for running is to spend three months running at a low heart rate (maybe 120 to 130 bpm; over time, running speed at that heart rate will increase). This is why many endurance athletes are slaves to their HRM's, and will even wear them in the pool, regardless of how ridiculous they look or how often the HRM's slip off in the water. You're quite right to challenge them to swim faster, because while the steady-eddie training approach will indeed get them to the finish line of a challenging event, they need to mix things up in all 3 disciplines if they want to improve.
The problem with that type of thinking/strategy is that it doesn't factor in the need to "shift gears". I've coached and trained these folks and have repeatedly asked them if they ever have to climb, pass or sprint to the finish of a race...all of which throws this "comfort zone" strategy out the window if you have not done LT training...everything is about "speed" regardless of the distance even for people only interested in fitness and fail to reconize that the body adpapts rapidly to routine.
You're close - many of them probably do try to ride and run at the same heart rate all the time. To complete an Ironman, a popular strategy is to try to remain at the target heart rate (for most people, 140 to 150 bpm) for pretty much the entire race, aside from hill climbs and (hopefully) a sprint to the finish. And a common method for creating a training base for running is to spend three months running at a low heart rate (maybe 120 to 130 bpm; over time, running speed at that heart rate will increase). This is why many endurance athletes are slaves to their HRM's, and will even wear them in the pool, regardless of how ridiculous they look or how often the HRM's slip off in the water. You're quite right to challenge them to swim faster, because while the steady-eddie training approach will indeed get them to the finish line of a challenging event, they need to mix things up in all 3 disciplines if they want to improve.
The problem with that type of thinking/strategy is that it doesn't factor in the need to "shift gears". I've coached and trained these folks and have repeatedly asked them if they ever have to climb, pass or sprint to the finish of a race...all of which throws this "comfort zone" strategy out the window if you have not done LT training...everything is about "speed" regardless of the distance even for people only interested in fitness and fail to reconize that the body adpapts rapidly to routine.
