Stop guessing where “hard” begins.

Because FTP is defined as the power you could hold for roughly an hour, and a well-executed maximal 20 minutes sits about 5% above that. The factor is an approximation fitted to trained cyclists; riders with a large anaerobic capacity tend to overshoot it and would be better served by a longer test or by a Critical Power protocol.

FTP is a single number estimated from one test with a fixed correction factor. Critical Power comes from fitting a two-parameter model to two or more maximal efforts, and it produces a second number — W′, the finite work available above CP. CP is usually a few watts lower than a 20-minute FTP and is better grounded physiologically; FTP is easier to test.

W′ is the fixed quantity of work, measured in kilojoules, that you can perform above Critical Power before you have to slow down. It behaves like a battery: an attack, a hill or a sprint drains it, and riding below CP recharges it. Knowing yours tells you how many matches you have to burn and roughly how long each one lasts.

The most reliable field method is a race: threshold pace is close to what you could hold for about an hour of hard racing, which for most amateurs is somewhere between 10K and half-marathon pace. Heart-rate tables like the one here are a starting point only, because threshold heart rate varies enormously between individuals of equal ability.

No, and it is important to be clear about that. Genuine maximal lactate steady state is determined by several 30-minute constant-load trials on separate days with blood lactate sampled throughout, looking for the highest intensity where lactate rises by less than 1 mmol/L over the final 20 minutes. What this offers is a reference band keyed to threshold heart rate.

Under 2:00 per 100 metres puts you ahead of most recreational swimmers, under 1:30 is a solid advanced pace, and under 1:05 is elite territory. Bear in mind that pace per 100 yards runs roughly 8 to 9% faster than per 100 metres simply because the distance is shorter, so always state which one you mean.

Efficiency, expressed as the sum of the seconds and the strokes for one lap. Two swimmers covering a lap in the same time have different SWOLF scores if one used fewer strokes, and the one using fewer is getting more distance from each pull. Because it mixes two units it is a comparative index, not a physical quantity, and it is only valid within one pool length.

About 60 grams an hour for anything over 75 minutes, which is two standard gels. Sixty grams is the practical ceiling for glucose alone because the SGLT1 intestinal transporter saturates there. Products blending glucose and fructose use a second transporter and let well-trained, gut-adapted athletes take 90 grams an hour or more in long events.

Around 40 minutes in, then one every 25 to 30 minutes after that. Starting early keeps blood glucose steady rather than trying to rescue it once you already feel flat — by the time you notice the drop, you are 15 to 20 minutes from feeling better. Always take each gel with 5 to 7 ounces of plain water.

The ISSN position stand puts the ergogenic range at 3 to 6 mg per kilogram of body weight, roughly 1.4 to 2.7 mg per pound, taken 30 to 60 minutes before the effort. For a 165-pound athlete that is about 225 to 375 mg. Benefits plateau above that range while side effects continue to increase, so more is genuinely not better.

Because 400 mg a day is the intake the European Food Safety Authority concluded does not raise safety concerns for healthy adults, and single doses up to 200 mg are considered safe. The cap applies to your whole day, not to this dose in isolation — the coffee you had at breakfast counts against the same total.

Slightly, which is why the tolerance setting shifts the range. Regular consumers show a somewhat blunted response and typically need the upper end. But the practical advice is the reverse of what people expect: a short taper from caffeine in the days before an event restores sensitivity better than escalating the dose does.