Come join SparksIntoLife on Zwift https://t.co/AIQcTNIprY
Weekly training sessions in addition to regular INSCYD test days. Complete the test protocol with my guidance. Should you want to receive the INSCYD metabolic report you can contact me to schedule a consultation.
30 years ago I was working with elite athletes and drawing training zones on paper based on blood lactate curves.
No substrate data. No indirect calorimetry. Just the conviction that something metabolically distinct was happening at each intensity — and that Zone 2 was where the most important adaptation was taking place.
In 2005 I began adding fat and carbohydrate oxidation rates to the picture, and what the substrate data revealed confirmed what the lactate curves had been suggesting all along: each intensity represents a distinct metabolic state, not just a point on a continuum of effort.
That work became the Metabolic Map in 2013. Then the metabolic flexibility paper with George Brooks in 2018. And now the updated 2026 framework, which maps four metabolic states onto classical threshold models and asks a question the older models never quite posed:
Is the system in optimal metabolic balance, or is it drifting away from it?
Lactate turns out to be the best real-time proxy we have for answering that question. It tracks metabolic equilibrium, the onset of drift, and the progression toward overload better than any other single variable we can measure in the field.
Thirty years of work. One molecule. One central question.
My last substack article
https://t.co/hvNuIVnH6b
When does resistance exercise become endurance exercise? 🏋️↔️🏃
It might depend on the critical occluding tension in our muscles 💪🩸
🧵/ 📚link👇
A Critical Occluding Tension Phase Transition Occurs Between 30-40% 1RM in Dynamic Knee Extension Exercise
OPEN ACCESS! Mechanistic influence of the torque cadence relationship on power output duringexhaustive all-out field tests in professional cyclists
With @peter__leo@bmgsport@AndreaGiorgiDoc
https://t.co/HGlaIruC6S
Simplicity is the key to successful coaching, believe it or not. Simplicity doesn't mean that you don't give attention to details but that you are capable of breaking complex input down into what truly matters in the end.
In our recent meta-analysis we found:
🔴Higher level competitive athletes improved VO2max modestly more with Polarised training
🔷Lower level recreational athletes modestly more with Pyramidal training
This is what those differences looks like 👇
But is this meaningful? 🤔1/🧵
Tom's Weekend Warrior study is out! Training either 4x (short) or 2x (long) weekly resulted in the same adaptations, when overall volume and content of training was fixed.
Performance, thresholds, efficiency, Hbmass, and ox cap ↑ equally in both groups.
@MartinMacInnis
Polarised🆚Pyramidal🆚Threshold
Which training model is best?🏆
It might matter how trained you are🤔
Our new meta-analysis tries to answer which training intervention produces the greatest improvements in endurance performance in trained athletes
Thread🧵 & 🔗links below👇
Can fasting make or break your performance?
A new study reveals 7 days of fasting:
⚡ Maintains muscle strength
🔥 Doubles fat oxidation
📉 Reduces VO₂ max by 13%
Fasting boosts fat metabolism but limits high-intensity efforts. Read more here: 🏃♂️🚴♀️https://t.co/LhTiwk9fk0
🔥 Don't miss out on our Black Friday Exclusive offer! Use code BFKIT at checkout and get 50% off on all branded cycle clothing 🚴♂️ Upgrade your cycling gear now at https://t.co/GxrxPCagcR #BlackFridayDeals#Cycling#LimitedTimeOffer
🔥 Hurry, the clock is ticking! Use code BFKIT to unlock 50% off on the entire range of Sparks Into Life kit whilst stock lasts. Visit https://t.co/Ri8wntPg7h and grab the best deals before they vanish! 💥 #Discount#MustHaves#Cycling#Promo#Deal