This video clip is from #201 – Deep dive back into Zone 2 with Iñigo San-Millán, Ph.D., originally released on March 28, 2022.
https://youtu.be/OT91-FDmX4o
Show Notes
How to incorporate high intensity training (Zone 5) to increase VO2 max and optimize fitness
Is zone 5 training okay to do immediately following zone 2 training?
- Peter asks if you blunt the benefit gained from Zone 2 training if you immediately follow it with Zone 5
- Iñigo says no, because it’s done at the end, then exercise is over
- But don’t do it in the reverse order because this will trigger all these hormonal responses and high blood lactate
- We know lactate inhibits lipolysis
- So if you have a high interval in the middle or the beginning and you don’t clear lactate very well
- Another study Iñigo has under review shows that lactate at the autocrine level decreases the activity of CPT1 and CPT2 (needed for fatty acid transport into the mitochondria for oxidation)
- So lactate interferes with the transport of fatty acids as well
- Peter is glad Iñigo raised this point because often patients will say, “I went out and did a two-hour ride today and it showed me that I spent 45 of those minutes, 45 of those 120 minutes were in Zone 2. So I did 45 minutes at Zone 2”
- This is not the same as spending 45 minutes in dedicated Zone 2 training
- There is a lot of up and down intensity
- The average might be Zone 2, but you’re oscillating between Zone 1, Zone 2, Zone 4, all the time
- Iñigo has done lots of testing of himself, starting at age 15 but now he gauges his Zone 2 training by sensation
- He is 50 now and is proud that he has the same metabolic parameters he had at age 40
- Lactate, power, VO2
- His VO2 is about 4 L/min
- When he was a cyclist his VO2 was about 4.5-4.8
- It’s only decreases some which he’s really happy about because he’s not training like he did
- This proves to him that doing this routine helps to maintain metabolic health (1.5 hours of Zone 2 exercise ending with 5 minutes of high intensity effort, 4-5x a week)
- He’ll see what happens in the next 10 years
IÑIGO SAN-MILLÁN, PH.D.
Iñigo San-Millán earned his doctorate at the University of the Basque Country School of Medicine. He did his postdoctoral research at the Harvard Medical School Cancer Research Program. Currently he is an Assistant professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Colorado School – Colorado Springs. His research and clinical work focuses on: exercise metabolism, cancer metabolism, metabolic health, nutrition, sports performance, diabetes, and critical care.
Dr. San-Millán has worked for the past 25 years with many professional teams and elite athletes worldwide across multiple sports, this includes: soccer, cycling, football, basketball, track and field, rowing, triathlon, swimming, and Olympic training. He has been a consultant in exercise physiology and sports medicine to international organizations such as the US Olympic Committee. He has pioneered the development of new methodologies for monitoring athletes at the metabolic and physiological level. He developed the first method to indirectly measure mitochondrial function and metabolic flexibility/ He co-developed the first methodology to deploy metabolomics assessment to professional sports as well as the first method to indirectly measure skeletal muscle glycogen in a non-invasive manner using high frequency ultrasound. Currently, he is the Director of Performance for Team UAE Emirates cycling team and the personal physiologist and coach of 2020 and 2021 Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar.
Although now a recreational athlete, he used to be a competitive athlete. He played soccer for 6 years for the developmental academy of Real Madrid soccer team. He also raced as a low-key, professional cyclist for 2 years. [Dr. San-Millan’s Website]
Twitter: @doctorIñigo
