Kinomap - Oisterwijk

Happy New Year

I managed to put in 321 hours in the saddle in 2025. However, I was messing around with my end of the year data, and I used ChatGPT5 to analyze it. I wasn't happy with what the machine said. Essentially, it claims that because of my age (64), I need to decrease intensity to protect my heart health. Currently, all is well with my heart, and I think it sucks that this machine is telling me that must think about this.  But perhaps it is right. 

I included the recommendations "Chat" gave me below in case any other "old" people would like to see them. Since I didn't like what the machine said, I asked it for the references it used to build these and other much more detailed recommendations (only the general recommendations are included here). The references the machine apparently used are also below.

Practical cycling guidelines (protective)
Intensity
Spend most time ≤65% HRmax
Keep harder efforts short and infrequent
Avoid riding where breathing becomes strained
Duration
Long rides: 90–120 minutes max
Avoid stacking long + hard days
Weekly structure
No more than 1 hard day/week
Planned recovery weeks every 3–4 weeks
Be willing to drop intensity earlier than you used to

1) Atrial Health & Endurance Training
Atrial remodeling & AFib risk in endurance athletes
Aizer A, et al. Relation of vigorous exercise to risk of atrial fibrillation. Am J Cardiol. 2009.
→ Shows the J-shaped relationship between exercise volume and AFib risk.

Mohanty S, et al. Long-term endurance exercise and atrial fibrillation in athletes. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2009.
→ Describes atrial enlargement in endurance athletes and its association with arrhythmias.

Calvo N, et al. Biphasic effect of exercise on atrial function and prevalence of atrial fibrillation. Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2017.
→ Supports moderation of high cumulative workload to limit atrial strain.

2) Intensity Distribution (Polarized Training)
Polarized vs Threshold (“gray zone”)
Seiler S, Tønnessen E. Intervals, Thresholds, and Long Slow Distance: The Role of Intensity and Duration in Endurance Training. Sports Sci. 2009.
→ Classic paper supporting polarized intensity distribution.

Esteve-Lanao J, et al. Impact of training intensity distribution on performance in endurance athletes. J Strength Cond Res. 2007.
→ Shows better performance adaptations with high-low polarized training over high-moderate training.

These form the scientific basis for keeping:
Most riding easy
Limited but targeted intensity
Avoiding prolonged moderate (“gray zone”) efforts

3) VO₂ Max, FTP, and Aging Athletes
Relationship of VO₂ Max and Power
Mujika I, et al. Relationships between performance measures and physiological determinants of sprint and middle distance running. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2002.
→ Discusses how power relates to VO₂max among trained athletes.

Coyle EF. Improved muscular efficiency displayed as Tour de France champion matures. J Appl Physiol. 2005.
→ Endurance physiology changes with age; can maintain VO₂ with decreasing power.
Baker PS, et al. Masters athletes: an analysis of running performance and VO₂max. J Aging Phys Act. 1993.
→ Shows that VO₂max declines with age but efficiency and training effects are modifiable.

4) Training Load, Recovery, and Autonomic Function
Heart Rate, Intensity, and Autonomic Balance
Borresen J, Lambert MI. The quantification of training load, the training response and the effect on performance. Sports Med. 2009.
→ Framework for monitoring training stress and recovery.


Seals DR, et al. Exercise and cardiovascular aging. Circulation. 2008.
→ Shows how parasympathetic (vagal) tone adapts with training and age.

Aubert AE, et al. Heart rate variability in athletes. Sports Med. 2003.
→ Supports the idea that higher vagal tone and stable recovery are health markers — relevant to pacing intensity and recovery weeks.

5) Exercise Training in Older Adults
Safe Training Recommendations
Nieman DC. Exercise, infection, and immunity. Int J Sports Med. 1994.
→ Classical review on training load and health, including excessive chronic training.

Swift DL, et al. Exercise and Cardiovascular Health in Older Adults. Circulation. 2018.
→ Endorses moderate and structured training for older athletes without restrictive intensity for health.

Riebe D, et al. (ACSM guidelines). ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription. 11th Ed.
→ Standard clinical reference on exercise prescription, intensity zones, volume, and older populations.

6) Older Athlete Physiology & Practical Training
These aren’t randomized trials, but they do represent consensus practice among coaches and exercise physiologists for masters athletes (which were the foundation for the training plan structures I suggested):
Friel J. The Cyclist’s Training Bible (VeloPress).
→ Polarized training, FTP planning, recovery weeks — practical implementation validated over thousands of athletes.

Coggan AR. Training and Racing with a Power Meter (VeloPress).
→ Power zone definitions, threshold structure, and age-specific pacing strategies.

Seiler KS. The science of training — optimal intensity distribution for endurance sport. World Journal of Sports Medicine.
→ Highly cited practitioner reference on training distribution.


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Steven Theroux

Kinomap - Oisterwijk

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