Holmer: durability is the missing endurance predictor
Brady Holmer says two runners with identical lab numbers are not equal, and the one who holds those numbers when tired wins. Plus what three drinks do to your sleep.
How they train
Holmer adds a fourth endurance predictor: durability
Brady Holmer says the standard three predictors of endurance performance leave out durability, how long you hold your VO2 max, economy and lactate threshold deep into a long effort. He was answering Wendi Irlbeck, who listed VO2 max, economy and lactate threshold as the three main predictors. His line: fresh you is not fatigued you.
If you line up next to someone with identical lab values but better durability, then you lose.
Three drinks before bed cut REM and wreck the second half of the night
Brady Holmer flags a study where alcohol near bedtime gave people deep sleep early, less of it later, less REM overall and more wakefulness toward morning. The protocol was three standard drinks targeting a blood alcohol of 0.08, finished about an hour before lights out, three nights running.
Cold plunge before a workout doubled fat burning, Holmer says
Brady Holmer points to a study that tested cold and contrast before exercise rather than after.
Interesting physiology. Whether it translates into a better workout is still an open question though.