Billat 30-30’s Are Designed to Accomplish ONE THING
Billat 30-30’s are intervals that require a hard effort for 30 seconds, followed by an easy recovery for 30 seconds. Over time, the body ends up playing ‘catch-up’, through heart rate, breath frequency, demand for oxygen at the muscular level, and a buildup of lactate in the system.
We can see this buildup through lactate testing, which is invasive and cumbersome, but we can also see it through SmO2 values, as muscles de-saturate and re-saturate. Lactate is getting processed back into energy, but sometimes the demand for oxygen is greater than the body’s ability to provide it.
Billat Intervals are built to help endurance athletes HOLD HIGHER INTENSITIES OVER LONGER PERIODS OF TIME. They can therefore accumulate a great Training Effect, for the time allotted.
Try This At Home Some Time.
The Interval Set that I attempted for this ride allowed me to hold a high NORMALIZED or METABOLIC EQUIVALENT POWER (Shown below as ‘xPower’) for over 20 minutes. This value ended up being about 220 watts. Several days ago, I performed a Ramp Test to assess Lower and Upper Threshold. Dr. Rogers calculated DFAA-1 at 0.50, Threshold Power output, and Threshold Vo2. These were, respectively:
- 165 beats per minute,
- 200 watts,
- and a Vo2 of about 35ml/kg/min.
- Furthermore, my SmO2 Breakpoint (Threshold) occurred at 42% saturation.
I highly doubt that at this point in time, I could ride 21 minutes at 220 watts. In fact, I may try that today just so I can write about it.
But more importantly: for 21 minutes of these Billat 30-30’s:
- I kept the SmO2 in my legs below 25%,
- Vo2 values averaged 44ml/kg/min.
- Heart Rate averaged 176 beats per minute.
Furthermore, SmO2 for the LEFT DELTOID, a NON-PRIMARY MUSCLE GROUP, Ranged from a max value of 82.5%, down to 50.8%. It is THESE FLOORS AND CEILINGS ON A NON-PRIMARY MUSCLE that reveal just how my body was receiving the intensity, and how it was processing the demand for Oxygen with these power intervals.
In other words, THIS WAS AN INCREDIBLY EFFECTIVE WORKOUT!
Billat 30-30’s and SmO2
SmO2 from Moxy Gives Us INTRINSIC Information With EXTRINSIC Results. Watts are great; I love them. But we have to prepare the Heart, the Legs, and the Lungs, to PERFORM the task, which is the ability to use kilojoules, and convert that energy into power, resulting in watts on the road, the trail, or the track. Billat Intervals are PUBLISHED SCIENCE that gives us a model to follow. Given the foundations of F.I.T., Frequency, Intensity, and Time, they’re infinitely adjustable. They’re the ubiquitous workout, and the DATA I have now shows it.
Here’s a video summary. Thanks for reading, thanks for watching, and ENJOY THE RIDE!
