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What is? – Conditioning…?

One word that means everything and nothing to so many, whether in the “fitness” industry or not. From rider to racer and everyone else involved “conditioning” is a word that most often in most peoples unsaid, unwritten definition overlaps with the word “fitness”.

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Fitness for the lay man, conditioning for the “professional”? Who cares, as it likely does not matter once solitary gram. What we mean is the ability for your body (brain included, they cannot be separated) to deliver & use adequate amounts of energy so you can successfully complete what your sport demands at any given instance. The energetics of movement maybe? Attempts to break that down into measures of ones ability to transport and use oxygen, burn substrates, use enzymes, contract, relax and control muscle, make decisions or pin point percentage substrate usage are all worthwhile uses of scientific investigation…helping further the body of knowledge coaches use and abuse in helping athlete’s prepare.

The “problem” as it stands now though is two fold and caused in no small part by many peoples perception of the above scientific investigations being the zenith of human investigation into sports performance…simply, the view held by many that scientific investigation has all the answers. As a result, depending on your sports culture, the training process can be largely dominated by percentage based systems, classifications of physiological metrics. On the surface this seems to make sense for our “conditioning” but it has in no small part contributed to blinkered views of what conditioning is and how to achieve it. To the detrement of thousands of athletes once they face the heat of true competition.

Instead of subscribing to a system created by others for the masses, the best approach, to date, in my attempts to help others achieve “fitness” and to condition athletes is to be a scavenger. While not as glamorous as a hunter metaphor, there are few scavenger species close to extinction. Basing near all decisions on a singular training model like % of FTP, % of 1 repetition max, velocity, % of V02max etc… is utter madness! What’s even worse is your foolhardy gym warrior approach of doing what’s “hot” right now – that being as I type, still, somehow, Tabata timing – 20″ of work 10″ of rest for 8 reps!

Kaos Seagrave at Redbull Hardline, UK September 2017.
PC – Red Bull Content Pool

 

If we back pedal to the start – What is conditioning? The ability to deliver, use and exceed the energy requirements of meeting your sports demands for every last second of competition, from pre-practice to race run. For the Enduro racer this is everything from track-walks, practice, race stages, post stage recovery, pre-stage prep and doing it the week after or day after if demanded by the calendar. By definition it is “fitness” – suitability for a task.

So a narrow definition of “condition” will very like get you beaten, or killed! Why? Because performance cannot be categorized by physiology alone. A solution to this problem is to become a blood-thirsty scavenger.

Take what you need from any models avaialbe, use, modify, abuse & discard. Remember that all models are wrong but many are useful. The next time your on the bike, in the gym or planning your or some other persons training you may think of this post…..with that in mind below are some conditioning buckets we try to use when planning training so as no matter how big the fire you encounter at a race you will have enough in reserve to dampen the flames, a buffer if you will, not a physiological one, but a performance buffer.

table con blog
Some of the ways we try to design training sessions to improve conditioning….am attempt to control the interaction between the many layers that make up “condition” without solely reducing them to their supposed component parts.

 

The above are just some examples – methods and means can be best guided by the application of a varied but effective and evolving ecosystems of training. The ecosystem you create by how you organise and categorize your training sessions and their desired & undesired outcomes is what allows you to build a plan that has some semblance of order that allows you to help deliver a prepared and conditioned athlete for competition. In an ideal world the above table would actually be some sort of beautiful chart where the possible relationship and connection between each approach to conditioning is explored……but I just don’t have the time or skills for that.

The above holistic approach to designing the conditioning focused elements of a plan allow for a more complete understanding of training load also. Providing a handy port of departure away from classic, linear, input//output metrics like Training Stress Score, TRIMP, distance, time etc… training load and stress can only be understood when the emotional and subsequent autonomic state that it occurred during is understood and as an extension of that the “outcome state” each session creates too. As a recent study found, perceived success or failure of a session, the emotional impact a session has and the location & result all effected rating of exertion – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29502448

Wyn Pump
PC – Red Bull Content Pool

 

The simplest measure of preparedness, conditioning and fitness will NEVER be found in a lab or quantified with numbers, being conditioned for your event/sport means meeting or exceeding demands at all moments and that requires the confidence to know you can do it for it to actually happen. So even if you have the physiological systems conditioned to deliver, use and express the use of energy as movement you are not conditioned unless that can be expressed under the global demands of competition, whether that’s a large crowd, a fresh opponent, a different air temperature or a changing surface. Conditioning = Fitness and Fitness = ability to complete a task. No caveats, no excuses.

P.S. – I’ve probably done a poor job at articulating my views on what conditioning is and how to achieve it…..but a blog is pretty much nothing more than a place one attempts to organise thoughts…..and that is all I did

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Top Tip Thursday: Winter Weather Wet Riding

Time to stop giving Facebook so much free content love so here’s this week’s Top tip Thursday on the site for you! January has been kind to some and alot less kind to others – but it is a perfect time to work on improving your wet weather shredding with some of these mud riding tips below!

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These tips where actually something that came up in a discussion with an Enduro racer I coach looking to “solidify” key approaches to winning when muddy!

wet weather top tips

While there is plenty more to riding in the wet and mud – especially in different soils of different gradients – the above is a nice place to start!
Questions welcome.

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Quick Fire 5 – Scotty Laughland

Our second round of quick fire 5 questions is with another Scot, Scotty Laughland. One of the newest athletes on the Point1 roster of weapons; he’s just come off his best ever EWS result (33rd) at Tweedlove.
Mature in word,  fresh in the face, downhiller turned Enduro shredder Scotty Laughland has, at 25 years young, bags of experience on a push bike, an undergraduate degree in Engineering and some serious coconut sugar based baking skills!
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© – Claus Wachsmann
1) Favourite meal after a tough day of training gainzzz
Quick and easy soy sauce stir-fry with chicken or beef, rice and veg
2) The training sessions you are most and least happy to see on the weekly plan?
Most: 4 hour epic enduro session
Least: none – It’all about the gainzzz and process
3) Favourite race track/s? 
Finale. Nevados de Chilean and Peebles
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© – Claus Wachsmann
4) Number 1 interest away from the world of bike riding and racing?
Travel and exploration
5) Happiest when…….?
Sat at the top of a rad, loamy 1000m + descent, froth fest!!!
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© – Scotty himself!
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Point1 Ride-Cake™

Performance Bread, Perf Cake…I wasn’t really sure what to call this creation but once I tasted it I knew it was more cake than bread and overall as it’s packed FULL of nutrients, vitamins and minerals it’s really a perfect mid-Ride snack, but too calorie dense to just snack on all day everyday! So Point1 Ride-Cake™ it has become!

Based on a Point1 Athlete only bread I call Bulk-Bread™ this cake is easy to make, requires 2 bowls only and one cake tin. One of the main ingredients is almond flour/meal so while very high in fat the mineral content is high and as such a perfect snack item to have for rides or epic trips that are going over the 2hr mark. It has a soft tasty texture, provides a variety of multi-transportable sugars/carbohydrates, is high in magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and has small amounts of sodium! All very important for muscle function and contraction. Due to the eggs protein content is high too so in theory and based on some limited research it may help you recover quicker and lead to less muscle soreness post ride, but that is debatable for now!

So here it goes:

 

Dry Ingredients

1 Cup Almond flour/meal (blanched or not your choice)

Half cup of buckwheat flour, Quarter cup wholewheat flour(ahh gluten), 3-4 tbps cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder or bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp cinnamon (ground

Wet Ingredients

4 eggs (free-range) lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla essence

6 or more tbps honey (melted)

50g-75g  70%+ dark chocolate (melted)

1 very-ripe banana

 

Combine all wet ingredients in a bowl, until well mixed. In a large, separate bowl combine all dry ingredients until you get a nice smooth “flour”. Add wet to dry, mix well but not overly well.

Transfer everything to a baking paper lined “cake-tin”, through it in an pre-heated oven at 180c for 31mins. Take it out, cool, enjoy!

 

Ride-Cake™

 

Top Tips:

If you are eating this while riding you must sip plenty of water. This is a “real-food” snack for riding so ideally only consumed after the 2hr 30min mark. Over consumption will lead to bad things mainly due to osmolity issues and subsequent stomach cramps. So be smart. 2 thickish slices with a small amount of jam between is perfect. Especially if you have had a gel, chew, fruit or other simpler carbohydrate source at the 1hr + mark into your ride.

Finally after a big days training or riding if you are searching for a simple dessert than Ride-Cake™ covered in Natural or Greek yogurt with some seeds and fruit is amazing!

And finally, finally – Feel free to remove the Wheat flour and replace with a gluten free alternative or just 1 full cup of buckwheat flour. The cocoa and half the flours could easily be replaced with your favorite protein powder to increase protein content. The cake would then become less “Ride” focused though. Likewise playing with extra honey, bananas or adding in a maltodextrin powder or other carbohydrate source to increase it’s “energy” content is fine. Possibilities are endless so go get animal in the kitchen.

 

 

 

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Point1 – Power Pancakes

I do alot of cooking/baking and all-around tasty performance eating. Just because something is supremely healthful and conducive to performance doesn’t mean it has to taste bad!

These pancakes are a perfect example. Packed with protein, a variety of carbohydrates and a small dose of tasty fats. They make a perfect afternoon snack, a pre-training meal about 1 hr out or even better with loads of yogurt and/or fresh fruit at breakfast!

Ingredients:

Half cup of buckwheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2-3 Tbs of ground flax seed – (I used a ground flax/sunflower seed mix)

1 egg lightly beaten

2 ripe and mushy bananas

Half a cup of your milk of choice (cow’s, almond, rice etc…)

Water as needed to get desired thick but runny texture

Optional extras: Vanilla extract or 1 scoop of protein powder to replace flax for added Protein but less taste!

Real simple to make, mix all the dry ingredients well. Combine, in a separate bowl, all of the wet ingredients then add the two together until a good mixture is obtained. It will be quite thick so add a little water until you are happy with the consistency! Trial and error at first for those not used to making pancakes. I used full-fat cow’s milk as it’s awesome stuff if you are not intolerant, it makes the tastiest pancakes but vanilla or plain rice or almond milk works perfectly also.

Wet and Dry

Cook on a hot pan, no need for oil or butter, just patience! They take a few minutes to brown each side and it’s better if you pour them thin as they rise and in general are quite moist. The finished product should have a nutty banana flavour, be real light and fluffy and literally melt in your mouth. – Savage!

Mancake

I’ve not broken down the Macro nutritional content yet, but it’s all health and all amazing although they do pack some calories in a small space so if you are trying to loose body fat for performance then don’t go too wild!

Small Stack

 

Top tip for cooking these is let the first side brown totally before you try and flip, there’s no silly wheat or other grass in here so they take patience to cook! You can also easily mix and match ingredients to suit. Apple sauce instead of bananas, tapioca flour or some almond meal instead of half or all of the buckwheat flour, more eggs for a heavier cake. Just play with it. Although be warned there ain’t nothing as awesome as Buckwheat in my opinion.

I think next-up in the cooking series is the Point1 Badass grain-free Brownies!

Feel free to ask any questions! Keep ‘er lit and #eatreal