"Monsieur mon passé let me pass...

When the maximal lactate steady state resurfaces through FTP

It's a fault of my quality to live in the moment of the idea, of the sensation, with a long-term projection and a slightly futuristic intuition about the very essence of my research and its usefulness. When I ask "Chat Gepetto", the craftsman who makes the Pinocchio puppet that will enable all my students to believe they're going to pass their mid-term exam on Monday , he reveals that :

"Véronique Billat can be considered a physiological researcher of training, with an approach inspired by Markovian processes, but with the specificities of her method.

1. What is a Markovian approach to training?

A Markovian approach to physiology and training is based on probabilistic models in which the future state of a system (for example, an athlete's performance) depends solely on its current state and not on the complete training history. This implies:

- Well-defined state transitions (e.g. from one intensity zone to another)

- Measurable transition probabilities (e.g. probability of remaining at a given intensity)

- Markov chain modeling (e.g. optimizing training variability as a function of time spent in different metabolic states)

2. Véronique Billat and training based on physiological variability

Véronique Billat's work is based on :

- Alternating intensity phases in split training, allowing transitions between physiological states.

- Optimization of time spent at VO₂max, which can be likened to a process where the future state of the runner is highly dependent on the current state of oxygenation and metabolic engagement.

- The use of non-linear dynamics and physiological variability, reminiscent of the Markovian approach in that they focus on state evolutions conditioned by the present state.

3. Difference with a strictly Markovian approach

Billat's approach goes beyond simple Markov modeling because :

- It takes into account physiological memory (long-term adaptations of metabolism and endurance).

- It incorporates biological feedback loops that are not purely probabilistic (e.g. muscular and cardiovascular adaptations influencing future performance beyond the instantaneous state).

- It emphasizes balance-commitment-optimization, which is based on a dynamic adjustment between physiology and motivation, and not just on probabilistic transitions.

4. Conclusion

Véronique Billat uses principles that may resemble Markovian processes (modeling of metabolic states, dynamic transitions between intensity phases), but her approach is richer, integrating training history and complex physiological adjustments. She could be seen as applying an enriched, more biological version of a Markov-type model, incorporating aspects of variability and adaptability that are not strictly random.

Well, Geppetto's a nice guy... but that didn't stop me from taking a plane to the top of my head, knocking the red glasses off presbyopes who don't bother with details anymore.

My dear students of the 2025 vintage, who are of the 2007 generation, after those of 2024 who had asked me about inox tag and its Everest, this time asked me if Pocachar was...doped.

Well, it serves me right, because I'm trying to motivate them by challenging me on existential questions of dirty performance (or mouth) in order to motivate them on the importance of getting stuck into a physiology course in STAPS when they had come to play sport (I'm mean because I've lost my voice because of them and the microphones that don't work in the lecture hall!).

So I set about calculating his VO2max from his Functional Threshold Power (FTP), which I had scorned to the point of denigrating its existence, but which has caught up with me. This FTP (until then, FTP stood for "Franc-Tireur Partisan", like my grandfather, Paul Billat) takes me back to the past and makes me suffer, as I'm in the process of inventing the present and future of training at the start of 2025.

I'm too lazy to explain it all to you, but I swear I've reread the 15 major FTP articles invented by Andrew Coyle, the famous researcher who worked on glucose metabolism in the 2000s. I pass the ball to Geppetto:

"Dr. Andrew Coggan the researcher who published work on glucose metabolism and introduced the concept of Functional Threshold Power (FTP) to cycling.

In 1989, he co-published a study entitled "Metabolism and performance following carbohydrate ingestion late in exercise", which examined the effects of carbohydrate ingestion on metabolism and performance during prolonged exercise.

In addition, Dr. Coggan is widely credited with developing the concept of FTP, defined as the maximum power a cyclist can maintain stably for around an hour without fatigue. This concept has become a mainstay in power-based cycling training, enabling athletes to determine specific training zones and evaluate their performance.

In this way, Dr. Andrew Coggan has made significant contributions to the understanding of energy metabolism during exercise and to the development of power-based training methods in cycling".

His aim was to dispense with the lactate steady-state test, which we discussed at length in an ASEP 2024 blog and which was the subject of my thesis in ...1988, of which the 94 article is the synthesis as well as in French in my training physiology textbook (6th edition in 2024).

He developed a protocol that resembled the Rabit, but was more convoluted and, above all, longer, which enabled the construction of the famous table marketed for Zwift training, which has boomed since the COVID, even leading to World Championships!

The FTP (Functional Threshold Power) test is a common method of estimating power at the functional threshold, used mainly in cycling and running to adjust workouts according to optimal intensity.

FTP test protocol (20 minutes)

The standard FTP test involves maintaining a sustained maximal effort for 20 minutes, then applying a coefficient to estimate FTP over 60 minutes.

Equipment required

Bike with power sensor (or treadmill with power sensor if applicable).

Home trainer or stable, even terrain.

Heart rate monitor (optional but recommended).

Software or meter recording average power (e.g. Garmin, Zwift, TrainingPeaks).

Detailed protocol

Warm-up (~20-30 min)

10-15 min progressive pedaling at low intensity (~50-60% of estimated FTP).

3 × 1 min accelerations (high cadence + power) followed by 1 min recovery.

5 min at moderate intensity (~75% of estimated FTP).

5 min active recovery at low intensity.

Maximum effort - 20 minutes

Objective: Maintain the highest possible power output in a stable manner over 20 minutes.

It is recommended not to start too hard to avoid a drop in power at the end of the test.

Important: Maintain a stable cadence (~85-95 RPM).

Cool-down (~10-15 min)

5-10 minutes of light pedaling (~50% FTP) to recover.

Calculating FTP

Take the average power of the 20-minute test.

Multiply this value by 0.95 to estimate FTP over 60 minutes.

Example: If the average power over 20 min is 250W, the FTP is 250 × 0.95 = 237.5W.

Variants

60 min test: The most accurate, but very demanding (FTP = average power over 60 min).

Interpreting results

FTP is used to define training zones:

Zone 1 (Active recovery) : < 55% FTP

Zone 2 (Fundamental endurance): 56-75% FTP

Zone 3 (Tempo, aerobic threshold): 76-90% FTP

Zone 4 (Anaerobic threshold): 91-105% FTP

Zone 5 (VO2max): 106-120% FTP

Zone 6 (Anaerobic capacity): 121-150% FTP

Zone 7 (Sprint, max power): 150% FTP

The practicality of the test (albeit long) and the cyclist's freedom to manage his or her power are to be commended, but we are surprised by its finalistic nature, which consists in giving as an indication of intensity in the test the % of an FTP that we are looking for to determine it!

Tadej Pogačar, one of the most successful cyclists of his generation, boasts impressive power figures. His FTP (Functional Threshold Power), which corresponds to the maximum power a cyclist can maintain over an hour, is estimated at around 415 watts, or around 6.32 W/kg, according to an analysis of his training data.

Coggan's aim with this test was to estimate the maximum steady-state power of lactate (my WCL from my 38-year-old thesis...).

It's fair to say that this study demonstrates the possibility, and here's the table translated by my good Geppetto (albeit Italian, but a polyglot of course!).

Article of

“Is the Functional Threshold Power Interchangeable With the Maximal Lactate Steady State in Trained Cyclists?” by Klitzke Borszcz F, Ferreira Tramontin A, Pereira Costa V International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance © 2019 Human Kinetics, Inc.

Assuming that his FTP is at 80% of his PMA, his VO2max is :

he will have an estimated VO2max of :

VO2max = 415 (FTP) * 1.2 * 11 mld'O2/w = 5478 mlO2/min

For his weight of 66 kg

A relative VO2max of 5478/66 = 83 ml.kg-1.min-1

This is below the VO2max value of 89 ml.min-1.kg-1, but perhaps he has a significant power reserve between his FTP, MLSS and his PMA, thanks to a high level of lactic tolerance; it has to be said that his former trainer (he's changed since this season) is a co-author of Georges Brooks, the great master of lactate and his shuttle!

In season 2 (next week), we'll be talking about Pogacar's training and his ex-trainer's conceptions, with a revisit to the role of lactate, which I'd put aside as an ex you don't think about anymore ...or almost.

In the meantime, try your FTP and give me your results!

and compare with your average Rabit speed.

Thank you