desert dude wrote:
Not easy. 80% is not easy. It's not hard but it's not easy.
If we use the same measure of intensity shown in the chart with L1 being 55% to 75% MaxHr it would seem that the 80% IS really easy.
Look at this chart from Ingrid Kristiansen - 80% is L1. I don't know about you but I find 75% of MaxHr to be very easy. In my case that's a Hr cap of 131. It's even lower then then if I used the Maffetone method which would give me about a Hr cap of 135.
If we took a sample of the majority of people on ST, including me, I bet we would have very little L1 and a ton of L2. In fact I think most people equate easy with L2. This presentation is saying something very different.
It was interesting that in one of the quoted clinical trials the non responders were those that did not follow the protocol and ended up with lots of time in L2 instead of L1.
My takeaway from this presentation is ;
Training a lot makes you faster
To train a lot you must train at a very low intensity (L1) for about 80% of the training hours
The polarized model seems to work for elites that train huge volumes and recreational athletes training 6hrs a week