Location:

Portsmouth, UK

Description:

Jess is a highly experienced rider currently riding for the UCI Continental Team Doltchini O’Shea. As one of the most dominant figures in the UK domestic racing scene last year, Jess brings a wealth of experience in both racing and training to the Pillar coaching team. Her strengths are not limited to home roads; Jess has also has extensive experience and notable results racing across Europe.

Contact

Email: coaches@pillar-app.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicafinneyy/

ProCycling Stats: https://www.procyclingstats.com/rider/jessica-finney

Location:

South Africa

Description:

Contact

Email: INFO@ABSOLUTEMOTION.CO.ZA

Website: https://www.absolutemotion.co.za/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/absolutemotionza/

Location:

USA

Description:

At VDB Cycling, we are dedicated to empowering cyclists of all levels to achieve their full potential. Founded by Johan van der Berg, a former World Tour professional road cyclist brings a wealth of experience. Our coaching services blend personalized guidance, cutting-edge technology, and a comprehensive approach to training.

Contact

Email: johan@vdbcycling.com

Website: https://www.vdbcycling.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vdbcycling

Location:

Australia

Description:

Since beginning his career in high-performance cycling in 1995 and transitioning to a GB national coach in 1998, Simon has contributed to over 60 major international events, including the Tour de France and the Olympics, coaching Tour de France stage winners and Olympic medalists. His coaching philosophy emphasises a rider-first approach, collaboration, and a detailed performance plan, underlining the importance of the coach-rider relationship in achieving peak performance through support, challenge, and continuous feedback.

Contact

Email: simon@mybestseason.net

Website: https://www.mybestseason.net

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_mybestseason

Location:

Loughborough, UK

Description:

Bringing the experience and expertise of coaching multiple National Series winners, on and off-road, Loughborough Performance Coaching supports riders of all abilities and all levels to reach their goals. From beating your mates in the local club ride, competing at your first mega-endurance race or sportif or even looking to win on the National and International stage, LPC will always support you to be the best you can be.

Contact

Email: coaches@loughboroughperformancecoaching.com

Website: https://www.loughboroughperformancecoaching.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loughperformancecoaching/

Location:

South West, UK

Description:

VPCC is an online cycling coaching service aimed at older cyclists coached by experienced coaches who understand what it takes to get in great shape on and off the bike. We help cyclist hitting 40+ to get fitter, climb faster, feel healthier, look lighter and be the best cyclist they can.

Contact

Email: contact@veloperformance.club

Website: https://www.veloperformance.club

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/velo_performance/

Location:

Sussex, UK

Description:

Simon At Crank Cycle Coaching is dedicated to providing personalised guidance and unwavering support to help you achieve your cycling goals. His approach is flexible ensuring that your training fits perfectly into your schedule. With customised training plans crafted exclusively for you, he is committed to helping you conquer the road ahead.

Contact

Email: simon@crankcyclecoaching.com

Website: https://www.crankcyclecoaching.com

Instagram: http://instagram.com/crankcyclecoaching

Location:

London, UK

Description:

RIAK specialise in helping time starved athletes reach their goals, whilst maintaining a balance between their training and the rest of life's stressors. Alongside bespoke training, their expertise and resources allow them to offer tailored strength and conditioning programmes, weekly live coached online workouts and a library of online resources. These include on-demand yoga sessions, S&C workshops, open water audio swim sessions, know how videos, stretch routines and more! The intention of all these resources is to not only help our athletes get fitter, but to ensure their knowledge is developed in a way that enables them to make the sensible decisions to stay injury free.

Contact

Email: INFO@RIAK.FITNESS

Website: https://riak.fitness

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/riak.fitness/?hl=en&_ga=2.222641819.1878927791.1710434176-459375565.1710434176

1. Quality training that makes a difference.

   At Pillar, we believe in a personalised training approach that caters to your specific needs. Whether you're training for a crit or a sportive, we take into account your unique starting point and individual physiology. Our training algorithms focus on the highest priority areas that will make the biggest difference in achieving your goals. By manipulating the volume, intensity, and distribution of your training, we stimulate different systems in your body for optimal development.

2. Training stimuli that drive significant change.

   We structure your training in blocks and phases, allowing you to focus on improving specific systems for 3-4 weeks at a time. Our sessions target specific energy systems to provide a greater stimulus for improvement.
   

3. Polarised approach.

   Many athletes are limited by their aerobic capacity and top-end power. We aim to optimise your training by focusing on a polarised approach that targets specific energy systems. other platforms may not consider your strengths and weaknesses or provide a balanced approach to each energy systems. At Pillar, we tailor your training to maximise the potential training stimuli which drives greater performance gains.

4. Adequate rest.

   Rest and recovery are crucial for progress. When you're at rest, your body repairs and adapts, leading to increased fitness. We ensure that you have sufficient rest between each session during the week and incorporate recovery weeks into each training block.

5. Optimised around you.

   We understand that your training needs to fit into your lifestyle and preferences. Whether it's the time you have available or the equipment you own, we tailor your training plan accordingly. It's important to us that you enjoy the journey. We take into account your personality and preferences to create a coaching experience that suits you best. After all, training should be a source of joy and fulfillment. We re-optimise your training plan to accommodate any changes in your life or training preferences. You have the flexibility to make adjustments as needed, ensuring that your training fits perfectly.

Watch our video for more on how this fits together when we design your cycling training. 

We were lucky enough to get an insight into one of our newest members, Chris Glover. We wanted to know how he got into to cycling and what motivates him. For Chris, it started as a way to manage his weight. 

“

I started cycling just over 4 years ago, when I was 39. When I was younger, I played a lot of football and trained at the gym regularly, but having given that up, I had started started to put on weight. The tipping point was when I went on holiday and had some professional photos taken. I didn’t like the way my weight was heading, so I bought a bike so that I could just go out when I wanted to without paying for a gym membership.

My first ride was 5 miles to a local country park. I had no idea about the gears and was nervous riding out on the road. I found it really hard, especially as there are some ‘false flats’ that I hadn’t realised were, in fact, far from flat when I had driven the route in a car. I got home that day absolutely exhausted, but I kept on riding the same route, and the more I did it, the better I got at it. I soon built up to 18 miles going to another country park and back, which was my goal when I started. 

My cousin was a road cyclist, so after I had conquered my initial goal, I started riding with him and his other cycling friends. This was great as it also became a social thing, and I was enjoying making new friends and connections. Having these new connections and sense of community helped me to achieve bigger rides, although I would still get dropped on hills as they had been riding for years. You’ve got to start somewhere, right?

Just as Covid hit, I had managed to get some free coaching and hired a Wattbike during lockdown. The consistent structured riding improved my fitness so much, and I became a lot faster as well as feeling the fittest I had felt in a while. I also started to do sportives, as I really enjoy the longer rides. 

I stayed with my coach after the trial session because I loved having the rides set out for me. I find that having structure makes me get on the bike and get them done, especially when you can see the results on my outdoor rides. I was then training for my cycling stag do in Mallorca and riding 223 miles in the Rapha Manchester to London charity ride. 

This year, I have started Zwift racing and I’m racing a Crit series in May and doing Ride London raising money for Parkinson’s UK as I lost my dad to Parkinson’s last year.

I’m using Pillar to log my rides and track my progress towards my goal, which is currently set to Ride London. I’m enjoying how it helps me manage my training load, and adapts every time I have to make last minute changes to my rides or routine. 

“

Follow Chris’ cycling journey on his Instagram page here

You can find more information about Chris’ mission to raise money for Parkinson’s UK here

We would love to share your personal cycling story. Please send yours to imogen@pillar-app.com

So, Matt, when did you start cycling?

I started cycling seriously when I was 31, although I am from a family of cyclists over many generations. My grandad used to ride from Lincolnshire to Blackpool for trips out with his brothers in their younger years in the 1920’s, my brother used to race bikes and my mum has always been a time keeper at events before the advent of chip timing so it was kind of a natural progression for me to move on from mountain bike riding to road bikes in my early thirties.

What type of cyclist are you?

I would class myself as a typical sportive rider - I’m not into racing, I never have been. I tried a few triathlons years ago but I am not competitive in terms of other people, but like to race my self and beat previous times and segments on Strava. I do like to ride with friends and if they want to ride slower (or faster) then I’m happy to keep to their pace.

Where’s your favourite place to cycle?

I like to ride anywhere, I can find challenging routes wherever I am. I live in Yorkshire and have such a varied choice of routes. I can ride flat routes, extremely hilly rides and some great mountain bike routes as well. One of my favourite routes would be from where my wife is from, Hawes in Wensleydale where I can take on some really challenging climbs and the scenery is beautiful. 

What was the first event you participated in?

The first event I took part in was by chance. I was working for a vehicle rental firm and a group of police officers came in to book a mini-bus hire for a 5 day cycling trip, doing 500 miles in 5 days for charity. I mentioned that I had just started cycling and they invited me to join them, this was 2 months after starting riding a road bike and the trip was in 4 months. My brother designed a training plan for me for the next 4 months which I stuck to very strictly, and by the time of the event I was one of the strongest cyclists on the team and rocketed up every hill on the ride. We rode a road version of the pennine way from Berwick upon Tweed to Holmfirth and then home from there. It was the beginning of many adventures with that team whom I’m still friends with now.

You were diagnosed with diabetes and you still manage to cycle a lot and stay fit - how do you manage the two?

I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in late 2019, which was a bit of a shock at the time, and was told to rest for a couple of weeks after being put on insulin and getting used to the diagnosis. The first thing I did was get back on the bike and try to work out how to handle things. This was the point where indoor cycling really became the normal for me. I felt a bit safer learning how to handle things in the relative comfort of being at home and not potentially having problems whilst out on the road away from home. I tested and tested constantly different levels of activity against carb intake and how it affects blood sugar. As time went by, and speaking with my consultant who said that my statistics for handling blood sugar were better than he had seen before, we worked out that the level of training that I do isn’t compatible with multiple daily injections of insulin (which is the standard way of dealing with Type 1) and he put me on to an insulin pump and a flash glucose sensor to monitor my blood sugar. Since being given this tech I have managed to create a hybrid loop system which makes it a lot easier to manage a very busy workout schedule. After my earlier experimentation I know what foods to eat when I am riding outdoors, I even have a blood sugar reading on my garmin screen as well, it’s just another metric to take into account now.

What was the first event you organised and how did it all start?

I first started organising events in 2009, after being involved in the fundraising cycling trips that we did. It was becoming harder to raise money by sponsorship from the same people every year, and it was time to try something different. I’d already ridden an Evans Ride It sportive close to home and thought I would try and organise a charity sportive with the help of my local tri-club, Lincsquad, at that time. It was a great success and attracted over 300 riders, it was a bit of baptism of fire but I learnt a lot from first year. I carried on organising the charity event for a further 5 years, learning valuable skills along the way and getting a good following for my attention to detail. After years of doing this I was encouraged to start doing my own events, from which Sportive HQ has just grown and grown, even to the point of being voted the best road cycling event in the UK in 2019 at the ‘Let’s Do This Challenge Awards’ and the runner up in the best Event Organiser in the UK, only being beat by 3 votes against the Great North Run Company. I was pretty happy with that.

What would your one piece of advice be for participants looking to complete the Coast to Coast event in June?

The one thing I would tell people looking to take part in the Coast to Coast in a Day would be to get your training and nutrition right from now. Without training for an event of this magnitude then it will be a tough day (not a pleasurable one), but with the right training it’s one of the most beautiful days out on a bike that you will have.

What can people expect from the Wold Top Sundown in May aside from cycling?

The Wold Top Sundown 60 in May is something completely different. I love being involved in different things and this ticks the boxes. I’m not an early bird myself at the best of times, and the idea of getting up early to ride isn’t always appealing, I love cycling in an afternoon, my preferred time is around 3.30pm so this event sits well with me. It was started by a couple of friends of mine, Rich Baldwin and David Hought a few years ago and they brought me in last year to help expand it. Their original idea was based on the fact that the Wold Top Brewery is on the top of a hill in the Yorkshire Wolds, and late evening over the brewery the sunset is stunning and wanted to exploit this. The event is stunning and we want as many people to enjoy this as possible. It’s just a dream really; bike ride; fish & chips and a beer all included. We now have a live band, camping and the bar open late - the afterparty is going to be as spectacular as the ride itself.

Which of your events is the most challenging and why?

It depends where you are starting from as to which event is the most challenging. If you’ve never done a cycling event before then looking at something like Coast to Coast in a Day would be unfathomable, so even doing the short route on our flatest sportive the Flat 100 is challenging. The biggest event that we do, and most certainly challenging is Lands End to John O’Groats, each day isn’t anywhere near as long as Coast to Coast in a Day but getting up, day after day and riding through some tough climbs, especially at the start in Cornwall and Devon takes true mental grit.

Are you taking part in any other events this year?

Whenever I have a gap in my calendar I ride, I love taking part in events. At this time of year I’m doing lots of reliability rides catching up with friends. It’s hard to plan my time in booking other events as we get called in to help other organisers deliver events at the last minute, so I tend to jump on things at the last minute when time allows and set my own challenges. At the minute I am training to achieve Coast to Coast in a Day in June, I won’t be able to take part in the event as I’ll be busy directing it but it’s important to show the pathway to achieving it and I am hoping to ride it solo to show what a Type 1 Diabetic Cyclist can achieve.

We are sure you’ll smash it!

What’s the most exciting thing happening for you in the world of cycling right now?

The most exciting thing for me in cycling at the minute is the fact I have regained my self confidence in riding outdoors again. It took time to be comfortable with the diagnosis and handling it. I feel that nothing can stop me now I have all my tech lined up. The most surprising part is the amount you have to eat whist riding to stay at an optimal level, and i’ve realised that most riders are not eating enough whilst on the bike. 

This is great advice on nutrition. We should all take a leaf out of your book and understand what our body needs to be fuelled correctly on the bike.

If you haven’t checked out Sportive HQ and their events already, then go to their website. As Matt said, training correctly is key to completing and enjoying the events. You can find some of their events, such as Coast to Coast in a day and the Flat 100 in Pillar, and by setting one or both of those as your goals, you’ll receive a personalised training program to get you to your best on the day.

Download Pillar app today and get 30 days free access to Pillar premium.

At Pillar, we are building a truly dynamic, intelligent training partner that can help you be at your best. We have been lucky enough to meet some inspiring people along the way, all of whom shape our product and help us to reach and help more athletes.

We had the pleasure of sitting down with Chris, founder of the MyHill Cycling to talk about his cycling journey and what inspired him to start running cycling events. On April 2nd 2023, we will be joining Chris in Rowsley, Derbyshire for the Spring Classic, and we hope to meet as many of you there as possible.

Check out our guide to the MyHill Spring Classic.

Get your tickets and free month of Pillar premium.

When did you start cycling?

It was something that came out of knocking around on a bike when I was a kid. By the time I was into my early to mid-teens I would think nothing of riding the 20 miles from Norwich to Great Yarmouth to spend a day at the beach. This would be done in jeans and a t-shirt, and I thought that was normal until one of my mates once came with me and he needed to get his dad to give him a lift home!

What was your first event?

I did an English Schools Cycling Association 10-mile time trial in 1983 on the road between Bungay and Harleston in Suffolk. My aim was to get under 30 minutes and I did 29.44!

How did it all start with the Spring Classic?

I wanted to put an event on that would be great for someone relatively new to the sport, but at the same time would be a challenge for an experienced cyclist. I also wanted to honour the rich heritage of the sport whilst showcasing a lesser-known area of Derbyshire.

The Spring Classic profile draws inspiration from the early season one-day races in Belgium. There’s loads of climbing, but the efforts are mainly short and sharp, so even though you’re not climbing for too long on any individual hill, the elevation really builds up. There are 3 distances available, and if taken steadily, the 60km route is very achievable but you will know you’ve had some time in the saddle! At the other end of the scale, stamping around the 87km route will (from personal experience!) give the most experienced roadie a solid day’s training.

I guess that’s the crux of it – I want people who ride to know that they are taking on a challenge without being too daunting. It’s just hard enough to be fulfilling without putting you off the sport!

Having said that, the 217km version – The Borwell – is arguably the toughest sportive in the UK. There is almost 5000m of climbing and the time limit is 9 hours. It’s new for 2023 and I’ll be really interested to see if anyone attempts it.

What would your one piece of advice be for participants looking to complete the Spring Classic?

The event is in Derbyshire, in April – so come prepared for all weather conditions!

Are you taking part in any other events this year?

After a couple of quiet years, I am hoping to get back into racing this year, and this will mainly be hill climbs and hilly time trials. I just love the craic of the cycling scene – especially hill climbs where the camaraderie is, in my opinion, unmatched in any other branch of the sport.

In terms of promoting. I’m putting on a time trial and a hill climb in the summer, and the intention is for my hill climb event to be part of a 4-event series by joining together with 3 other promoters.

Finally, for a couple of years now, I’ve been in discussions with Brampton Brewery about organising a one-day cycling festival in the summer. It will bring together cycling, food, drink and live music. I’m really hoping we can make it happen in 2023 – I’ll even try to arrange perfect weather!

What’s the most exciting thing happening for you in the world of cycling right now?

Can I have two things?!

My plan is to devote more of my time to myHill Cycling and I want to expand to organising weekend training camps in the Peak District. I can’t wait to show people the amazing roads in my backyard! I’ll continue with the race and event promotion, and will always be looking for ideas to make events more fun. Afterall, I started myHill Cycling to get people on bikes – and having more time to do this will be so exciting.

Secondly, in October I’m finally going to Majorca! For years my mates have been telling me how amazing it is to ride a bike there – and finally this year I’m going to find out for myself! It will also be my first time flying (I know!) so that will be 2 boxes ticked in 1 trip!

Train for the MyHill Spring Classic with us!

If you haven’t already, download Pillar app today, set your goal to any of the three MyHill Spring Classic routes on Pillar app, and start your training!

Check out our guide to the MyHill Spring Classic.

Get your tickets and free month of Pillar premium.

But what is personalised training? And what does it most make sense to personalise, in order to get results for the specific athlete we are trying to help?

Disclaimer : “athlete” is anyone who sweats through exercise, not just someone who looks like this:

That’s Rachel Neylan - one of our pro athlete advisors on the podium at the end of last season.

(i) What is personalised training?

At its simplest level a personalised training recommendation is a good fit in regard to:

• The type of physiological changes the athlete needs to make to “bridge” from their current to their target fitness “profile”. The two things we need to understand here are therefore:

1. Where they are at - their overall fitness level and relative strengths and weaknesses within that (e.g. for a cyclist - do they have a strong aerobic base but a relatively weak “top end”)

2. Their (main) goal (not just “Ride London” but how central is this to their overall riding? Are they optimising for performance here vs anything else - like social rides, i.e. “I ride because I like to see my mates every week for a couple of hours on the bike and that’s a non-negotiable”)

• The opportunity they have to train for it (# weeks until their target, time per week, distribution of that time throughout the week). This dictates the size of the change we try to make, and how we arrange the work to take place (often called “periodisation”)

• The environment & equipment they have to train

• Their current capacity to train - how fatigued are they, how much training stress can /should we provide based on their personal capacity to tolerate training stress, and other stressors in their life (job, rest “regime”, other exercise they do etc)

• What kinds of strategies tend to work for them - eg which level of training load elicits the best type of fitness level (more is not always more)

• Their preferences - what type of training / exercise do they like/ hate / somewhere in between?

Fear not - this doesn’t mean tons of data entry into Pillar to get a decent recommendation! (To see for yourself - check it out by downloading the latest version of the Pillar app in the App store or Google Play).

The more we know, the more personalised we can make the recommendation. This then comes down to a trade-off between willingness to share data and a few “manual” inputs of data and the quality of the prescription. So if you have multiple wearables/ kit you use, connect them to Pillar, and we can help you even more than we could before.

(ii) So, to personalise an athlete’s training, which things should we make sure we get right? Which first?

The outcomes we are driving towards inform this.

1. Target outcomes

In terms of athlete outcomes. We are looking to:

• Drive large and sustainable fitness / performance gains

• Reduce chance of injury and illness (through practices doing too much training overall, and too much high intensity training — a lot of people get this wrong and a lot of platforms promote this implicitly / explicitly. Your training should enhance, not compromise your health!). We’ll cover these injury/ illness points in another post to prevent this post from getting longer.

On the fitness/ performance side, there are quite a few factors that can influence it.  Some of these are below (from Michale Joyner and Edward Coyle 2008).

2. Which practices should we adopt to get to these outcomes?

We believe we should focus first on the things that are both (i) most impactful to the athlete’s fitness (ii) technically easiest to get right.

We’ll borrow from Stephen Seiler (**) here - these are the things to get right that drive success (proven by the science) and are also technically easiest to implement:

(iii) Why these practices matter - a deeper look at the science.

We’re going to cover the bottom 3 on the above pyramid here for now.

To achieve successful training outcomes, a training stimulus is required to alter physiological systems in such a way that performance capacity is enhanced. Seiler’s Hierarchy of Endurance needs (above), summarises a strong scientific body of evidence, which suggests that training outcomes are strongly dependent on the manipulation of training volume, intensity, and training intensity distribution. Research and real-world observation show that if we are successful in manipulating these three factors, changes will occur in both the central and peripheral systems, resulting in improved cardiovascular dynamics, muscle bioenergetics, neural recruitment patterns, as well as enhanced morphology,  metabolic substrate, and skeletal muscle acid-based status. The magnitude of improvement and the rate at which these adaptions occur also depends on the 3 key factors (volume, intensity, and training distribution).

(a) Volume

Training volume is arguably one of the most important determinants of endurance performance. It is believed that training volume is the single most powerful stimulus to drive training outcomes. However, the relationship between the amount of volume performed and the improvement in training outcomes is more complex than a simple dose-response effect. Too much volume with insufficient recovery will result in a level of performance lower than expected. However, if training volume is prescribed adequately it’s a powerful driver of training outcomes.  Many studies have demonstrated that training volume is a key stimulus for enhancing; mitochondrial biogenesis, capillary density, substrate utilisation, buffering capacity, and % type I fibres.

A study by Granata et al., (2018) demonstrates that increased training volume, independent of the training methodology followed, is an important determinant of increases in mitochondrial content. This highlights the fundamental importance of training volume for endurance training outcomes, because a greater mitochondrial content improves oxidative supply to energy-dependent processes during muscle contraction.

“But I have a 9-5 job and have two kids”...

Increasing training volume is can be challenging for most recreational athletes due to other commitments.

Therefore, as a recreational athlete, it is important to:

• improve the overall quality of training volume, ensuring you get the most out of your available training hours.

• avoid the trap that many time-restricted athletes fall into which is spending most of the training volume at a moderately hard intensity (more on this below).

(b) High Intensity Training

Training intensity is a vital stimulus for achieving training outcomes. Including high intensity in your training is important to achieve superior training outcomes because some adaptations require very high intensities to be reached and sustained. For example, to achieve cardiovascular and neural system adaptations that relate to improved aerobic capacity,  it’s required to be able to hit and sustain heart rates and power output close to maximum. Although high intensity training might provide a greater training stimulus, too much will be associated with a lot of systematic stress which can leave you feeling extremely fatigued and also increases the risk of overtraining. Therefore, it’s essential to get the right dose of intensity prescribed in your training.

In the study by Granata et al., (2018),  it appears that the intensity of exercise is a key factor in training-induced increases in mitochondrial respiration. This finding highlights that high intensity is a key driver for achieving certain physiological training outcomes that can not be achieved at lower intensities of training.

(c) Training Intensity Distribution

But it’s not just about high intensity training.

Low intensity training drives important performance gains for endurance athletes. At Pillar, we believe that low intensity training is more important for most athletes to get them to their goals. We believe that it should make up the bulk of their training

The schematic below from Laursen (2010) highlights the two signaling pathways that are activated with high intensity and low volume training. Key takeaway here is that we need both.

But how much high intensity should we do vs low intensity training?

There are many ways of structuring training with different combinations of intensity and volume. The most optimal training methods are always a hot topic of debate between athletes, coaches, and scientists.

The image below created by Stöggl (2018), shows all the key training methods used in endurance training.  This is based on a 3 zone model - see how they compare to other models here: Read our Training Zones blog.

Which intensity distribution is best?

The current consensus is that the polarised training method is, overall,  the most effective mode of training when it comes to achieving the greatest training outcomes.

At Pillar, we recommend a polarised training model because:

• Through emphasising low-intensity training, the development of the aerobic system is prioritised. Low-intensity training brings about adaptations such as increased mitochondrial density and activity, improved capillarisation, and increased fat oxidation abilities, all of which contribute to improved aerobic capacity

• By keeping intensity low most of the time, high-intensity training can be completed to a high quality. This is essential because some training adaptations require very high intensities to be reached and sustained.

• Avoiding prolonged training time spent at moderate intensity training, and following a polarised training model allows for a higher overall training volume and also minimises the concurrent training effect which compromises the magnitude and speed of adaptations.

Evidence for this approach

Many studies including randomised control trials (the gold standard for research) have demonstrated that the polarised model results in greater improvements in key determinants of endurance performance (VO2 peak, power at the lactate threshold, economy, peak power, and time to exhaustion) (Stöggl & Sperlich, 2014), in both recreational athletes and elite athletes (Polarised isn’t just for the Pros) (Muñoz et al., 2014).

• Polarised training also provides a better balance between adaption (training outcomes) and training stress (fatigue). This allows improved consistency in training and a reduced risk of overtraining.

• Furthermore, descriptive studies demonstrate that endurance training has evolved to a population optimum of following a Polarised approach (Stöggl & Sperlia, 2015). This is also consistent across a wide range of endurance sports including cycling, running, cross-country skiing, and swimming (Seiler & Kjerland 2006).

The image below produced by Stöggl & Sperlich (2015) highlights the training intensity distribution breakdown of elite athletes from various sports. The graph shows that on average, athletes are spending 70-80% of their training at low intensity (Zone 1) and around 30-20% of their training at high intensities (Zone 2 and/or Zone 3). See Zone system comparisons above (***).

(iv) How does Pillar help you get these right?:

At the moment, Pillar looks primarily at the the bottom 3 factors on the pyramid, which are most established by science to drive the best outcomes for you.

It personalises the training it gives you according to your needs for each of these 3 factors:

1. Total frequency and volume of training - building from what you can handle currently, to where you need to get to to hit your goal

2. Giving you some but not too much high intensity training - based on the types of adaptations you need to drive to hit your goal

3. Helping you optimise your training intensity distribution, for your needs

How do we do it?

Now that’d be telling 😉

Have a look at the article below to help you get to grips with the app and start to make the most of your rides.

The Basics

Tell Pillar about yourself and you performance goals, whether it's a race, sportive, or you just want to climb better. Pillar will create you a unique training plan based on your info, and put your planned sessions into your calendar. You can export the prescribed workouts from Pillar to your Garmin device, or you can complete them manually on the turbo or the road.

When you do a new ride, Pillar imports the data from Strava or Garmin. To make this count as part of your training plan, pair your completed ride with your training plan's session using the 'pair' button.

You can then see an in-depth analysis of how your training the effect it's having on your form and fitness.

Your Home Hub

This is Pillar's main home screen, the centre for your training.

In the blue window, you are able to see your training focus for the week. This will change depending on where you are in your plan. Some weeks will have a focus on high-intensity work, whilst some will have a more gentle approach, to allow your body to adapt.

You can also see your progress towards your current goal along the orange bar, as well as your key stats such as this plan's completed rides, distance and days until your event.

Below you can see the next upcoming workout in your plan, as well as sessions you've already completed.

Your Calendar

The calendar screen shows you all the sessions Pillar has planned for you to work towards your goal. Click through each day to see your session.

You can change around your sessions, or even cancel a session easily using the 'three dots' button on the workout.

Dots under each date signify whether or not you've completed your training.

A pale coloured dot  indicates an incomplete planned session.

A grey dot indicates a workout you've done that you have not paired with a Pillar session.

A brightly coloured dot indicates you've completed (and paired) a planned session from Pillar.

If you've connected your Garmin and/or Strava account, any ride or run you complete should automatically appear in Pillar.

To add an un-recorded session, click the plus button in the top right hand corner.

Here you'll also see the "I'm away" option, to add time when you're unable to train. Whether it's because you're sick, going on holiday, or will be away from your bike. Fill in this section, and Pillar will re-organise your plan to fit to you.

Your Session

Click through from the calendar screen to see each session in more detail. You'll see a graph of your planned output, as well as a breakdown of the different intervals.

If you've connected your Garmin account, you'll also see a button on this screen to export the workout to Garmin. From there, you'll be able to complete the planned session from your Garmin watch or computer.

Session Overview

You've completed your session, and it's now synced with Pillar from Strava or Garmin.

You can view your complete session within Pillar, and see its accuracy score (how well you executed the prescribed intervals).

Two graphs will show you how your actual heart rate and power stacked up against the plan, and if you reached your target time in each zone.

You'll also get an idea of how this session has had an affect on your progress towards your goal.

Performance evaluation

Along the bottom navigation bar, you can find your 'performance' section. Here you will see a breakdown of the different elements of your performance and fitness.

Click through each to see an evaluation of your readiness, freshness, training load and time in each zone.

Information hub

In your information hub, located at the bottom of the performance tab, you'll find a useful little area which helps to explain the science behind Pillar's training plans, which we've worked tirelessly - with world-class experts - to finesse.  

• We mentioned here that personalising the training you do for things like (i) the targets you’re aiming for, (ii) your body’s capabilities and capacity, can maximise your fitness gains, and enable you to avoid illness and injury. This involves doing enough training, but not too much, as well as ensuring the type of riding you do is a great fit with these factors.

• Your body should be “on the move” as a result of your training. For example:
  (i) It should be adapting every week, with meaningful increases in your performance every 6 weeks
  (ii) Your body will be getting fatigued as a result of the training you’re doing. Fatigue is part of the process - you have to stress your body to drive “adaptation” or progress in your fitness. This fatigues the body. You’ll probably have different levels (and possibly different types) of fatigue each day - depending on your training

• Your life will likely also be on the move - changing work, family and other personal commitments, a social ride that you get out for, etc. This also impacts your body’s capacity to train.

• You might just want to get out and ride how you feel like - regardless of what is planned. This is normal, and great - most of us aren’t pro athletes and will do this to greater or lesser extents.

• To ensure the training you do fits these needs like a glove, it needs to adapt with the above factors

• This might seem trivial, but if you’ve ever wondered why you or others around you stagnate as opposed to improve, or get ill/ injured, then a lack of attention to these changing factors is probably why.

We've built 3 new capabilities for Pillar:

1. Anchor sessions

2. Weekly update of your plan

3. Continuous update of the difficulty of sessions Pilar sets

1. Anchor sessions

You can add social or other personal rides into your week, and Pillar will instantly re-optimise the rest of your training for that week, to make sure you’re doing:

(i) the right amount of training but not too much

(ii) the right type of training to stimulate your body in the right way to give you the fitness “profile” you need

(iii) that your week is “periodised” (arranged) to enable enough “in week” recovery, so you come fresh enough to each session to get the right results from that session (different for each depending on the session goals)

• You can add recurring sessions or add them ad hoc

• We call these “anchor” as they become the immovable object that week, around which your training is structured or anchored (because most of us are looking to have fun as well as improve our fitness)

• Putting these social rides in your calendar isn’t universally “bad”. It’s important to consider “why” we ride, and make sure we reflect that in our activity. For most of us amateurs - fun and social are somewhere in that mix!

2. Weekly Evaluation + 'update' of your training for the week to come

On Sunday evening, we’ll have a look at your ride data for the week, and see how you did

• We’ll tell you how we think you did and ask for your feedback on the week

• We’ll combine all of this into an updated set of training recommendations for the week to come

• This will make sure you progress by the right amount each week. You get fitter primarily progressively stimulating your body more and more over time. So most weeks you should expect an uplift in what Pillar asks you to do. But it needs to know where you are today to do that - and that’s what tends to change with most of us. How much we have been able to do that week, is important.

3. Difficulty Levels

In the Evaluation section of Pillar you’ll see that you have difficulty levels for each energy zone that you train through Pillar.

• These indicate the level of difficulty of the sessions you are doing that we give you to stimulate that “system” in your body (more on this here). This denotes how difficult that session is within certain power targets (e.g. if your VO2 max power is 200 Watts, it’s easier to hold that for 3 min intervals than 5 min intervals. The latter is an interval that would be found in a more session of a higher difficulty level than the former. So for as long as your VO2 max power remains 200 Watts, we’ll progress the difficultly sessions you do, when you successfully complete a session at each level

• We also do this where you use heart rate as an indicator of intensity for your rides.

• The difficulty levels will progress as fast as you do to keep you challenged

Do get in touch if you’re interested in being part of what we are building, or with feedback on Pillar (dan@pillar-app.com)

For any endurance athlete who aims to maximise their performance, setting training zones is very important for getting the most out of your training. Training intensity exists on a continuum, with intensity being measured in power output in cycling. By dividing intensity into groups or bands, we get training zones. Training zones are widely used in endurance sports to determine and guide training intensities in order to elicit specific training adaptions. In order to target and drive specific training adaptations, training intensities need to be set in the correct zones for your individual physiology. Doing this will enable you to drive adaptations and enable you to improve specific areas of your cycling performance.

For example, in order to elicit aerobic adaptions that are associated with fatigue, it’s required to work at intensities that maximise the rate of fat oxidation. Similarly, in order to increase your VO2max, it’s necessary to work at an intensity that’s hard enough to elicit close to maximal rate of oxygen consumption.

Training zones are widely used in endurance sports. There are several classic versions and interpretations of training zones. The most common zones you will see in endurance sports are a 3 zone model, 5 zone model, 7 zone model, or even 8 zones. All methods have the same fundamental principles to identify different threshold intensities.

The Science

Here we cover the different energy systems the body uses when exercising, and the scientific methodologies that have been used to understand these systems. These different methdologies each lead to their own classification of these energy systems, and open the door to similar but slightly different zones.  We also cover how coaching practitioners have built on top of these “essential” energy systems, to produce more complex training zones guides

For every pedal stroke we take, energy is required. All energy that is produced to allow work to be done is produced from the breakdown of the molecule ATP. The human body has three major energy systems that can produce ATP; ATP-PC system, Glycolytic system, and Oxidative system. Both the ATP-PC and the Glycolytic system are anaerobic pathways, meaning that they don't require oxygen to produce ATP. The Oxidative system is an aerobic pathway, it requires oxygen to produce ATP.

All three energy systems are engaged during cycling activity, but the extent to which each one is involved varies depending on the duration, intensity, and other factors. To train effectively, you must stress and train specific energy systems that are most relevant to your goal demands and current strengths and weaknesses.

We mentioned different systems in our bodes allow them to do different types of work, and therefore be good at different types of activity - eg marathon vs sprint. We highlighted that we classify these systems using zones. But how should we determine the zones for each individual, so we know the intensity they should work at to drive the adaptation they need, to get to their goal?

Setting Training Zones

There are numerous methods for setting training zones depending on what equipment you have access to. However, here we’ll briefly cover the key physiological principles that define zones.  We’ll take a look at three methods that are fundamental to our current understanding of the body’s responses to different exercise intensities. These are lactate threshold, critical power, and ventilatory thresholds. Understanding these fundamental principles is essential as this is what allows us to calculate training zones without having to do the gold standard laboratory measures.

Lactate Threshold:

• Considered the gold standard for setting training zones is to use lactate thresholds determined from a graded exercise test. As exercise intensity increases, blood lactate concentrations rises, this relationship is used to identify lactate thresholds.

• The first lactate threshold is known as LT1 and is used to demarcate moderate and heavy exercise intensity. This threshold is defined as the lowest intensity at which there is a sustained increase in blood lactate above resting values.

• The second lactate threshold, also known as LT2 or MLSS (maximal lactate steady state is used to demarcate heavy and severe exercise intensity. This threshold is defined as the intensity that causes a rapid increase in blood lactate indicating the upper limit between lactate production and clearance.

The graph below shows a typical result from a lactate threshold test with the 3-zone model.

Ventilatory Thresholds

• Another method of determining training thresholds is by analysing oxygen uptake kinetics. Oxygen demands increase with exercise intensity, the oxygen responses from different intensities can be used to identify training thresholds.

• The first ventilatory response used to set training zones is Ventilatory Threshold 1 (VT1). VT1 is a marker of intensity at which blood lactate begins to accumulate in the blood. VT1 is identified at the point where the breathing rate begins to increase.

• The disproportionate increase in ventilation is the second Ventilatory Threshold 2 (VT2). VT2 occurs at the point where lactate is rapidly increasing with intensity, and represents hyperventilation even relative to the extra CO2 that is being produced.

• The last ventilatory response used to set training zones is VO2max. VO2max is the maximal consumption of oxygen. It is the maximum capacity of the body to take in, transport, and use oxygen during exercise.

The image below shows oxygen responses to different training intensities.

In line with science, it’s the 3 zone model that is based on robust physiological thresholds and is the most commonly used model in sports science research. This model also relates closely to the domains of exercise.

What does this look like in practice?

The image below highlights all the common training zone models, including the Pillar training Zones. What we can see from the image is that all zone models have a similar relationship with the key physiological thresholds. Even though some have different terminology and the total number of zones, the zone models can be used interchangeably using the physiological landmarks.

• For all zone models, endurance work is done below the lactate threshold in Zone 1 and/or Zone 2. The zone models with higher breakdowns (5-8 zone model) make the distinction between recovery, easier endurance and higher endurance.

• In the 3 zone model, threshold work is done in zone 2 and all work done in zone 3 is seen as intensities above threshold.

• For the 5 zone model, zone 3 is threshold work and zone 4 and 5 break down higher intensities into VO2max and Anaerobic capacity efforts.

• In the 7 zone model and the Pillar training model, threshold work is split into two, zone 3 and zone 4. High-intensity zones if further defined into 3 zones; Zone 5 VO2max, Zone 6 Anaerobic capacity, and Zone 7, Neuromuscular.

So to summarise all of the above:

• Training zones are widely used in endurance sports.

• There are numerous variations of training zones, commonly ranging from 3-8 zone models.

• Various methodologies have been used to define the energy systems and therefore the training zones.

• Different training intensities target different training adaptations.

• Applying specific training zones in your training approach allows you to target specific adaptations.

• Individualised training zones your specific physiology are required to achieve optimal training outcomes.

• We’re building a fitness service that is control system for your fitness and health journey: the single place you to to know where you’re at, what that means for you, and what next to move towards your goals.

• This should have pretty startlingly positive results for your physiology and mental health, and so what you can do, your happiness, career, wealth, and how long you stick around on planet earth for.

• We’re building this out over time. Stay tuned for how how we are building toward this. At the moment Pillar works for those of us who love cycling - either because we have “cycling goals” or like it as a way to keep fit/ healthy.

Get in touch with me (dan@pillar-app.com) if you’re interested in using our service or being part of the journey in some other way.

Tell me a bit more....

Where are we at, as a society, with our fitness and health?

Who: At Pillar, we’re looking currently at people in mature industrialised countries - like US, UK, Australia. The majority of us in those countries, really want to improve our fitness and health. We want to do so on our own terms - according to our physiology, our preferences, and around the (perceived) immovable commitments we have in our lives

Our awareness: We are more or less conscious of where we are at - how fit and healthy we really are, and what that really means for the rest of our lives - what kind of “active” activities does that enable us to do, how long are we likely to live, what kind of quality of life are we likely to have.

Broader issues: In our lives more generally, we are seemingly/actually overloaded, with little time , and constantly distracted- some down to technology, changes in working practices, pursuit of progress and value creation (not “bad” things per se). These impact our ability to:
(i) understand where we are really at
(ii) whether we should take action, according to our current position vs our own goals
(iii) what to do if so.

Problem: The problem is, our collective health and fitness is in poor nick, and a few indicators of our collective fitness and health are getting worse. Us fitness and health converts have our own problems - injury and illness through overtraining and chronically under-eating being some of them. Some headline stats about this:

• % of US population who are obese or overweight went UP 2010-2019, from 63% to >66% (CDC)

• 50% of regular runners get injured every year

• A third of exercising women may be amenorrheic (loss of menstruation)

• Nearly 30% of us rate our health at 5/10 or below in the UK, and only 20% rate it as 9 or 10/10

So what have we done (as the health and fitness industry at large)?

We’ve introduced tons of solutions - some terrible (think miracle diets and exercise regimes), some really good at what they do - all of them partial and disconnected from each other.

These are things like:

• Calorie counters - to tell you how much you’ve eaten, like My Fitness Pal

• Great training environments - like Peleton, Barry’s, Fitness First

• Healthier food - groceries and supplements

• Wellness trackers - like Whoop and Oura ring, to tell you how fatigued you are and your capacity to exert yourself on a given day, and how well you’re resting.

• Other measurement services / tech : counting steps, resting heart rate, estimated calorie burn, speed, power created (eg how much power you can put through the pedals on a bike).

These sit on top of a fragmented set of services (public and private) for healthcare and life insurance.

To be clear, the good solutions in the above categories are important. They play, and will continue to play, a really valuable role (like Oura, HRV4Training, Garmin, Peleton for example).

However there are problems with this fragmentation:

1. No solution really knows you - they only know a part of you

2. They take a fragmented approach to your fitness and health - which often leads to an incoherent approach. For example, a disconnect between nutrition and activity/exercise (because you don’t know how to connect what each one is telling you and which to ignore based on how you’re actually doing). This leads to things like:
   a) Obesity
   b) Overtraining and then injury, illness (things like bone density, susceptibility to illness through reduced immune system effectiveness)
   c) Not hitting your fitness goals (your body can’t adapt if it doesn’t get the right rest and fuel)

3. You have to stay on top of several products and services (effort intensive, time consuming).

So why are we (Pillar) building another fitness and health company?

To connect the dots, and give guidance on what next. To help you take integrated action across the different pillars of your fitness and health, in a way that’s right for you and your life. To simplify your life.

If you already use some of the services I’ve mentioned, you’ll get more value out of them.

It’s complex, and it is new, and we’re building it out over time (to progressively address more problems and cater for more and more parts of our society). And it will genuinely get you great results.

That’s why we’ve got some world leaders in exercise, nutrition and health on board to build this right.

Reach out here (dan@pillar-app.com) if you want to hear more, be part of the journey, or use our product.

Download Pillar here:

https://www.pillar-app.com/