For runners, walkers, bicyclists, swimmers, rowers, or anyone else who practices general aerobic fitness at a gym, training is the key to improved performance. Training takes place in an effort to “break the body down” with the hope that breakdown(training) and recovery events (recovery time between workouts) lead to a more efficient or trained metabolic system for physiological and nutrition purposes, improved mechanics, and a better mindset (psychological).  

Relative to the metabolic system, at a basic level, the factors that determine performance are:

• Maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) – A primary measure of cardiovascular fitness and fuel burning rate. Determined by the amount of blood your heart can pump and the amount of oxygen your tissue (muscle) can extract.
• Carbohydrate stores in your liver and muscle – Determined by your diet and the amount and type of exercise you are performing.  Provides fuel for short and long duration exercise.
• Muscle fiber type distribution – The percentage of fast twitch and slow twitch muscle in your body.  Changing one type of muscle fiber to mimic a different type of fiber is possible with appropriate training.
• Lactate threshold – Used as a marker to determine what is occurring metabolically within the body relative to exercise intensity.  Training below and above this threshold helps with improvements in fitness and recovery when used in combination with an appropriate fitness program.

These metabolic factors are multifaceted and trainable with higher intensity, interval type training demonstrating some of the best improvements. Whether you are keeping up with the people around you or hoping to win an event you are training for, anyone can use Valencell’s V-LINC™ sensor technology provides the ability to monitor both training sessions and improvement to ultimately lead to a healthier life and improved performance.

Improved performance is a result of feedback to your nervous system in order to determine pacing during the performance. The more trained these factors are, the better individual performance will be.