Capacity, Volume and Their Implications
Lessons From Studying Olav Aleksander Bu
With the success of Norway’s elite athletes, there’s been a lot written about the Norwegian approach. I decided to study one of their leading coaches, Olav Aleksander Bu.
I found a man with a similar outlook to my own. I recommend you study his methods. Apply them for yourself, and your team. Like Olav Aleksander, I hope you are generous with sharing your understanding.
Today, we explore two topics:
Capacity
Volume
Capacity
If I ask you to explain your capacity then what comes to mind?
One rep max?1
Max aerobic capacity?
Five-minute best power or pace?
Critical Pace or Power?
Functional Threshold Pace or Power?
VO2max?
Bu warns that we should be careful when choosing benchmarks. It’s easy to fall into the trap of optimizing for test performance.
Our understanding of physiology is limited. We don’t know many mechanism that cause important adaptations.
Having helped redefine the limits of human performance, Bu’s OK with the limits of understanding. His main focus is achieving the desired adaptation.
You should adopt his attitude.
If we asked a physiologist to define your capacity then what might they test?
VO2max
5 and 20 minute best power or pace
3, 12 and 20 minute bests to derive Critical Power2
A 40-minute best effort for a “long” look
What if we asked Scott Molina?
G-man, there’s a reason we have races
I like Scott’s approach. Specific Capacity is race performance.
So where should we start? We start with General Capacity.
In every interview, Bu refers to:
Race Distance vs Daily Volume
Volume vs Race Performance
Volume
Listen to Bu’s advice:
Sprint Distance - every athlete can build to the point where they handle a sprint distance triathlon, daily
70.3 Distance - elites can build to the point where they handle four hours, daily
Ironman Distance - the historical drop off in run times is due to a lack of run volume
Testing the limits of chronic daily load has been a focus for the Norwegian Team.
Volume provides a measure of General Capacity.
The daily average of:
Your Last Month
Your Last Season
Your Last Year
Your Last Olympic Cycle
As this long term daily average increase, so does your General Capacity.
Look at what great endurance athletes do.
They Do A Lot
They Do It for A Long Time
They Prepare For The Specific Demands Of Their Race
They Minimize The Energy Cost of Race Pace
Norwegian Secrets
I managed to get a question into Sean Seale’s interview with Olav Aleksander.
Q: What is the #1 metric for tracking athlete performance?
A: The Velocity:Duration Curve
The ability to train specific velocity depends on our General Capacity.
Every interviewer wants to know The Secret.
Each time, Bu answers with a variation of:
Volume links most closely to performance
Volume leads to General Capacity
General Capacity supports Specific Training
Specific Training results in Specific Capacity
Volume => General Capacity => Specific Training => Specific Capacity => Race Performance
Rich Roll’s interview with the Bergen Boys digs into their recovery protocol:
Sleep Lots3
Don’t Go To Bed Depleted - Useful Insight From CGM4
Live A Simple Life - Complexity Creates Consequences5
Implications For Us
Health benefits start, and end, below the level required to race well.
Be cautious, as you move towards high-performance sport, you may move away from health.
If you aspire to race well then you’ll need to:
Train Daily
Simplify Your Life
Sleep More
Extend Your Time Horizon
As a package, what do the above imply?
Aim to maximize volume the next 1000 days.
Then, do the same for the following 1000 days.
Only then, will you have the General Capacity to support Specific Training.
…and yes, I’m saying you need a six-year apprenticeship before you will have the capacity to train “properly.”
Along the way, you should:
Try a range of protocols - keep what works, try something new each year
Learn technical mastery - reduce the energy cost of movement
Race various distances and disciplines
Record your data - narrow your say-do gap
Our bodies are capable of more than we can imagine.
At the 32-minute mark of the Sean Seale interview, Bu talks about genetic potential. His thoughts mirror my direct experience. If I’d listened to others then I never would have started.
There Is No One Size Fits All
Genetics Are Adaptive Across Our Lifetimes
Maximum Performance Arises From Smart Individualization
The only way to reach your potential is to undertake the endurance journey.
Additional Resources
Brad Culp’s piece on Kristian Blummenfelt
How They Train Podcast with Jack Kelly (4 hours of material)
Scientific Triathlon Interview
Back To Table of Contents
If you’re an endurance athlete then I recommend you focus on pounds you can move in an hour. As an elite, I had the capacity to move 100,000 pounds in an hour. Well-trained slow twitch fibers are neither slow, nor weak.
Dr Philip Skiba’s book, Scientific Training for Endurance Athletes has a clear explanation of Critical Power. Take time to study people who think differently from you.
The Bergen Boys prefer sleep over massages and other interventions.
Continuous Glucose Monitor
The Norwegian approach is extreme and effective. Elites have simple lives focused on the goal of Maximum Human Performance.
I like this Olav Alexander Bu quote:
“It all starts with calories, so energy expenditure and energy budgeting is where it starts. No speed without power, and no power without calories.”
A question about the 6-year apprenticeship. If someone has been at an elite level (at age 23), and then takes several years off, do you think they'd need to start over with 6 years at age 35, assuming they resume with the same endurance sport?