Sine Labore Nihil
"Nothing without work"
Literally.
If you want success as an endurance athlete, you must put in the kcal of work. Every. Day.
Set yourself a kcal target and stick to it.
In the beginning, it doesn't matter how long the work takes. Just get it done.
Unpopular opinion o' the day:
Most athletes should use hrTSS as their default Training Stress metric.
Most don't test frequently enough (or long enough) for power or pace based TSS to be accurate.
"I really believe that walking, coupled with 12, 15 minutes of mobility every day and one to four sessions of strength each week will give you all you need in life."
- Inaki De La Parra
Full podcast NOW live in link below 👇
Always fun to chat with my buddy, Inaki de la Parra
about the merits of the zone 0/1 for EVERY body - even Ultraman World Champions!
"This shit works for performance. And it works for health!"
Covered more in my last Substack (alancouzens.substack.com/p/your-whole...) with full podcast to come. 🙏
We underestimate the impact of 'little stressors' on our health.
I took my citizenship test yesterday. I was confident. I don't fail tests😊
But still, my HRV was ⬇️ all week
Now, one day post & my HRV is instantly ⬆️ 30ms!
Your body is under more stress than you think.
Coming clean on our latest #MADcrew forum thread on "long ride nutrition"...🤷♂️☺️
forum.madcrew.app/t/what-should-…
Thanks @craziedaizee.bsky.social 🙏
Still alive and kickin', just taking a little social media break.
Thanks for missing me! 😊
My latest...
Your whole day is a workout, and these are your zones!
With deep credit to Nassim Nicholas Taleb
for posting a simple idea that completely transformed how I approach exercise in my life... 🙏
alancouzens.substack.com/p/your-whole...
Thanks, as always, Joe. For both the kind words and the inspiration 🙏
Man there's a lot of psycho-babble on the interwebs.
No wonder everyone is stressed out about whether they're in the 'optimal mental state'
Relax. Chill. Clear your mind.
Focus on where you are and what you're doing *right now*
And execute that.
That's all you need to do. That's all you can do
The final case-study is live!
Meet World-Class Wendy!
Learn about what it really takes to race among the best in the world.
In terms of training, nutrition, physiology, and way of life!
Hope you love it!
alancouzens.com/my_book.html
A frequent question hitting the #MADcrew forum at the moment...
Should I include walking in my weekly TSS? 🚶
Short answer: If you're not an elite endurance athlete, yes!
Longer answer: forum.madcrew.app/t/tss-for-wa...
New habit:
Before opening social media, I picture the IQ bell curve in my head and remind myself - the entirety of that curve is represented here.
It helps.
"The 'secret' is a progressive increase in training load over many years."
"But what if I don't have time to increase my training load?"
"The 'secret' is a progressive increase in training load over many years."
Want higher #HRV ?
Learn to let go.
That's all HRV is... turning down the constant "stress grip" that you have on your body and letting the breath do it's thing.
Every exhalation creates (literal) space for relaxation.
Go with that.
Learn to let go.
Apart from that, it's a really important adaptation for serious athletes:
Top performers have ~2x the glycogen stores of untrained people.
And you don't get there unless you go there.
Glycogen depletion is the real "pain" that separates the men from the boys.
An interesting discussion is happening on the #MADcrew forum right now around how to go about improving your #FatBurning.
forum.madcrew.app/t/how-many-c...
It all begins with committing to show up.
Over the years as a swimmer & coach I've seen kids with broken arms still show up... with a kickboard in tow!
No matter what...
Commit to show up!
Only four of the 21 robots in the race crossed the finish line, highlighting just how far humanoids are from keeping up with their real human counterparts. www.wired.com/story/beijin...
Before worrying about all the fancy stuff - your training intensity distribution, whether you're doing the magic workouts etc...
Start by simply making sure you're checking the box on at least 1,000 kcal of work *every day*.
All the fancy stuff comes after that.
Thanks Daizee 🙏
I hear what you're saying, but I'd like to believe that on a mass populace level, the U.S. is still fundamentally that prototypical democracy that tolerates, if not celebrates, a range of diverse (peaceful) viewpoints.
If I am wrong about that, I would rather know.
I did think about that. But, honestly, if it did I would no longer want to go through with it.
Beautifully said, Reweti 🙏
Thanks Joe, fortunately Australia allows dual citizenship now. Options are always good 😊
It is time...
It hit me the other day that I have now lived a greater portion of my life in the U.S. than Australia.
This country has been very good to me, and I do deeply love it - the land and the people. It is home. 🏠
Looking forward to hopefully making it official 🫰
The mindshift that makes all the difference:
Move from...
Trying to get yourself as fatigued as possible in the shortest time possible.
To...
Trying to rack up as much work as possible *while* feeling as fresh as possible.
Fatigue isn't the goal.
Hi Abd,
I don't use "FTP", instead I set threshold in TP et al. to the actual threshold observed in a lactate test.
A 20 min test can be "gamed" by improving the lactate tolerance of the athlete w/no change in aerobic fitness.
More on my protocol in Ch 6
alancouzens.substack.com/p/chapter-6-...
