Fórum Athletica Forum

I shared a funny thought on our last ambassadors’ meeting: “If you are sleepy/tired, run faster”. I thought it was just funny. My boyfriend has said it and actually, my massage therapist, too. He is also a runner. I was surprised when @Prof wasn’t surprised. Unfortunately I don’t remember his reply. It was something very rational. I wonder if this would interest others? It is certainly something new to me. Is it just psychology or something physiological?

Any thoughts on this coaches? Would be glad to get some input during the prep phase before the big weeks come to start with clarity and certainty Hope you’re all doing well and the autumn has been as gentle as it is here for nice training sessions outdoors​

Thanks Jaison, that clears up a lot. The distinction between measuring performance and actually tracking changes in breathing is particularly interesting. One thing I’m still trying to understand is how you would approach this for someone who isn’t an athlete and doesn’t have access to all those measurements. Would you mainly look at things like breathing volume, breathing rate and exercise tolerance over time, or is there another practical way you’d assess whether their breathing practice is actually helping?

Hi Jasleen, Thank you for the question. I guess it all comes down to getting better at the activity for athletes e.g., faster times. I work with clinical populations as well so it can be a little different. Some measures that I track are FEV1, FVC, the ratio, RF, TV, HR, SPO2 (if using the Isocapnic BWB to simulate altitude), etc. SmO2 (e.g., Moxy Monitor) is also helpful to see the impact at the peripheral site. You could purchase a spirometer to measure the respiratory outcomes directly. RF & TV (respiratory frequency and tidal volume requires a device like a metabolic cart). I use VO2 Master. With that sort of device, you can see things RF and TV to get VE. After improving TV (let’s say you had capacity but were breathing shallow as a motor skill) you’ll see lower RF and higher TV at a given rate of work or across the board (VE could be the same but getting better O2/CO2 exchange at the lung and potentially less fatigue e.g., hyper/hypocapnia). That impacts the peripheral sites as well because of better CO2/O2 exchange. I think Tymewear is a portable device now that can measure VE but I’m not familiar with the device or the validity/reliability. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Best, J

A bit more on Base period focus Great question, Phil. For ultra-endurance events (200km+), the core of your base training should absolutely be long, steady Z1/Z2 work. However, evidence-based guidelines and practical experience show that a modest dose of HIIT is still beneficial, even in the base phase, for these reasons: Why include a little HIIT in base: It helps maintain and develop your VO₂max (top-end aerobic capacity), which supports faster submaximal paces for long events. Occasional HIIT boosts fatigue resistance, neuromuscular coordination, and helps stave off detraining of your higher-speed systems, even while focusing mostly on long efforts. It “primes” your response to harder training later in the season, making your build and race-specific blocks more effective. How much and when: Frequency: 1 HIIT session every 1–2 weeks is enough in base for ultra preparation. Type: Prefer longer intervals (e.g., 4 × 4 min or 5 × 5 min at ~90% of max HR or 105–115% of FTP) with long recoveries. Sprint or very short HIIT is not required unless you have a unique need. Placement: Schedule HIIT after easy days, never back-to-back with long rides or hard tempo/threshold sessions. You can swap in a HIIT session for one of your regular midweek endurance rides. Recovery: Keep the HIIT sessions short and focused—avoid letting the quality of your big aerobic workouts suffer due to fatigue from “bonus” intervals. Bottom line: Yes, sprinkle in some HIIT, but make it a minor supporting acto

Think it misses the nuance that the plans and adaptions are rooted in the evidence based principles of HIIT Science. Plus the benefits of the conversational coach for evidence based discussions about your training. Plus real time workout reserve during sessions etc. Plus the analysis tools available Plus workout wizard Plus the community and your workout libraries. Plus the University of Athletica modules. In short it has a number of tools available beyond the scheduling and adaption; to help the user to understand the scientific principles and adapt the plan to their unique needs.

It‘s also still the same for me. It keeps changing back to pace.

The point about matching the tool to the specific goal makes a lot of sense. I think that’s where many people get confused because they assume all breathing devices train the same thing. The difference between improving volume, breathing control, and endurance during effort is interesting. I’d also be curious how you usually evaluate progress with clients do you mainly look at performance changes during activity, or do you track specific breathing metrics over time?

Hi there boys I’ve been trying to summarise (with the help of Claude ) What is Athletica (technical summary)…if I had to explain it to a fellow athlete friend: It’s a training planning algorithm that builds and modifies the plan based on chronic adaptation trends (weeks/months), not on isolated daily inputs. The system reads historical power/pace/HR data over time to estimate how your physiology is actually adapting (fitness, thresholds, aerobic/anaerobic capacity) and adjusts the volume and intensity of future sessions accordingly. The scientific reference you cite (Paul Laursen, sports physiologist, known for his work on HIIT and polarized periodization) is consistent with the platform’s methodological approach—Laursen is indeed associated with Athletica’s scientific framework. What it’s NOT: It’s not a daily readiness system in the sense of Whoop/Garmin/Oura, which adjusts that day’s session based on the previous night’s HRV/sleep. Its adjustment logic works over longer time windows (chronic variations in performance/adaptation), and doesn’t automatically react to a single unpleasant awakening or isolated acute stress. The point about subjective feelings/external stress (work, family): Here your description is correct: the algorithm doesn’t “know” that you’ve had a tough day with family or work—it doesn’t have an input channel for perceived stress outside of training. If subjective feelings require a change in session type, volume, or duration, this must be done manually v

Hi there boys I’ve been trying to summarise (with the help of Claude ) What is Athletica (technical summary)…if I had to explain it to a fellow athlete friend: It’s a training planning algorithm that builds and modifies the plan based on chronic adaptation trends (weeks/months), not on isolated daily inputs. The system reads historical power/pace/HR data over time to estimate how your physiology is actually adapting (fitness, thresholds, aerobic/anaerobic capacity) and adjusts the volume and intensity of future sessions accordingly. The scientific reference you cite (Paul Laursen, sports physiologist, known for his work on HIIT and polarized periodization) is consistent with the platform’s methodological approach—Laursen is indeed associated with Athletica’s scientific framework. What it’s NOT: It’s not a daily readiness system in the sense of Whoop/Garmin/Oura, which adjusts that day’s session based on the previous night’s HRV/sleep. Its adjustment logic works over longer time windows (chronic variations in performance/adaptation), and doesn’t automatically react to a single unpleasant awakening or isolated acute stress. The point about subjective feelings/external stress (work, family): Here your description is correct: the algorithm doesn’t “know” that you’ve had a tough day with family or work—it doesn’t have an input channel for perceived stress outside of training. If subjective feelings require a change in session type, volume, or duration, this must be done manually v

Same here, I had already reported the session recap hanging since yesterday.