INSCYD will improve your performance.
INSCYD is a physiological assessment software used by leading teams and athletes in cycling, triathlon and other endurance sports. By using INSCYD testing, our Paragon Coaches can act as a ‘virtual lab’ and provide a detailed lab assessment to all our athletes.
Until now there was only physiological testing in the lab, and power meter data from training and racing – but both stood separately. There was no technology to melt these data to create one overall picture. Power-Performance Decoder (PPD) is the only technology to combine such power data from training and racing with laboratory data (including body composition, lactate or VO2).
INSCYD is the only physiological assessment tool that captures aerobic and glycolytic performance (VO2max and VLamax).
Complete
Power-Performance Decoder creates a 360° athlete performance profile
Virtual Lab
INSCYD captures all the data you would get from the most comprehensive laboratory testing – in a simple field test.
Easy and Fast
An athlete completes the protocol in less than 90 minutes, and coaches are able to complete an athlete assessment, using INSCYD’s software, in less than 5 minutes.
Accurate
When benchmarked against the ‘gold standard’ metabolic cart, INSCYD provides the same level of accuracy, with a much deeper look at an athlete's unique characteristics.
Validated
INSCYD is based on fundamental peer reviewed science. The technology is used by world tour teams and validated by medal winning performances.
The Metrics
With testing, interpretation, and review by our trained Paragon coaches, you will obtain a complete multi-dimensional profile of your unique physiology. The way you should train and race for best performance is based on the following metrics.
1.
VO2max
Maximum Aerobic Capacity / the Size of the Engine
From swimming sprints to 90-minute soccer games, the maximum aerobic capacity (VO2max) is the single most important performance metric that needs to be examined.
It is often misunderstood that VO2max is restricted by raw physical talent. But VO2max can be trained to unknown maximums. VO2max is also a metric that responds quickly to training, so it needs to be monitored regularly.
Through our performance software we will be able to:
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Compare the effect of high-intensity training and endurance workouts on VO2max.
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Evaluate the impact of specialized nutrition regimes to further increase VO2max.
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Understand the impact of VO2max on fat oxidation and carbohydrate combustion.
2.
VLamax
Maximum Glycolytic (anaerobic) Capacity
VLAmax can be looked at from two different sides. From one side, a low VLamax would increase your anaerobic threshold, your fat combustion and it would shorten your recovery time from hard efforts.
On the other hand, a high VLamax increases the power available for attacks, sprints and short efforts. The anaerobic capacity can actually make the difference between winning and losing a race: the final lap, the final sprint, the final push – they are all decided by your glycolytic power.
VLamax is the most important metric you should focus on during training. You may have never heard of it, because until 2019, it was used only by pro teams and national federations. But now its benefits are opened to everyone and you can finally start connecting all the dots that compose your performances: metrics, training adaptations, race predictions.
Don’t waste your time training the wrong way. Get tested with Paragon – know your VLamax – and tailor your training accordingly.
Here is what Dan Lorang, coach of IRONMAN world champion Jan Frodeno says about VLamax:
“You really know what to work on if you know the VLamax”
3.
Fat Combustion
Know and understand what percentage of fat and carb you are burning at various intensities - so you can fuel and perform better during racing.
Fat combustion is the bottleneck of endurance performance in sports like running and triathlon. We are also able to measure and track this metric through our performance software – so you can create strategies to increase your energy expenditure from fat and thereby enhance your performance.
Why?
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Fat combustion rates are highly individual metrics.
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Accurately understanding fat combustion is crucial in endurance sports.
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Significant differences are observed between different athletes and between different states of training in the same athletes at different times.
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Knowing the FatMax Zone allows you to train fat combustion most efficiently.
4.
Carb Combustion
It is also crucial to understand precisely how much carbohydrates you burn during exercise. With this understanding, you can find the perfect level of fueling for your trainings and races, and which level will actually fatigue or enhance your performance.
Fuel to perform
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Focus on carbohydrate combustion and get tailored nutrition plans.
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Perfecting intake of carbohydrates is trainable, but needs to be practiced.
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Adjust pacing and plan a fueling strategy to avoid running out of fuel.
Conventional assessment of carbohydrate combustion based on gas analyses has significant limitations. Not only they are lab-based test only, but they also get affected by nutrition status. Scientific research has shown that neglecting lactate measurements when assessing carbohydrate combustion from gas exchange is misleading.
Through the use of our performance software you can finally compare your lactate production and compare it to the carbohydrate combustion one. The only way to produce lactate is by breaking down carbohydrates, thus lactate production is directly linked to carbohydrate combustion.
Measure where these metrics where it matters: on the track, on the climb, and on the field.
5.
Lactate production & Combustion
How much energy do you need at a given speed?
Tailor work:rest ratios based on your unique physiology. Optimize interval sessions to best fit the training goals.
In disciplines with a random interval-type work demand, such as cycling or football, repeated high-intensity efforts are unavoidable.
Every bout of sprinting and attacking may result in lactate accumulation. The duration and intensity that an athlete can recover from these efforts are absolutely crucial.
The ability to use lactate as a fuel and to actually use it to optimize your performance is absolutely crucial in high intensity sports. These kind of abilities are highly trainable and with us, you can start training them for real and see the real benefits in a very short time.
6.
Anaerobic Threshold
It is commonly known and accepted that there is a critical intensity (or power) as the highest intensity that allows for a “steady state” in your metabolism. People call this the anaerobic threshold, critical power or velocity. Everybody knows it exists and everybody wants to increase it.
The commonly used methods to determine the anaerobic threshold are based on empirical findings within a certain population. But this has let to a lot of misunderstanding around anaerobic threshold and has restricted its assessment to some non-specific protocols. The most significant shortfall on the empirical determination of anaerobic threshold is that it doesn't provide any insight on the reasons why the anaerobic threshold is what it is.
By testing your AT with us, you’ll get it tested according to its main definition: the maximum intensity at which lactate combustion equals lactate production. These tests will benefit you with an improved understanding of your own performances and how they’re composed. More precisely, you’ll then get to:
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Know the influence of physiological metrics on your anaerobic threshold.
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Reduce the standard error of determination of the anaerobic threshold to < 3%.
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Calculate the enhancement of anaerobic threshold by improving a single performance metric.
7.
Economy
Decrypting the speed hack
We’re sure you have heard of economy. Running economy, cycling economy, swimming economy… the word is used across all disciplines. But very few actually understand it, forget about measuring it.
So, what is economy really?
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Economy relates to the conversion of energy into speed or power (depending on what you measure).
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Understanding economy means understanding how much energy is needed to move at a certain speed or produce a certain power.
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The amount of energy available is a matter of physical ability, but how fast an athlete moves with that energy is a whole different story.
Decrypt the key to go fast
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Economy is the single most important parameter in free motion sports such as running and swimming. Obtaining insight on you economy will become a competitive advantage.
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Assess the impact of a prescribed training regime on changes in economy.
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Monitor economy on a regular basis and tune it to your training programs.
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The software we use to evaluate your is a high-precision tool that allows you to capture the effect of different equipment such as running shoes or wetsuits and their energy cost at various speeds.
You get customized zones, all based on YOUR unique physiological attributes
Men and women are physiologically different – INSCYD takes this into account, providing a different calculation for women. This means the unique physiology of a woman is now being captured in the same – simple to execute – test.
How it works
1.
Athletes will be sent a specific test protocol to perform remotely - on their own. There are 4 intervals in the test.
2.
Coaches upload this training file to INSCYD, creating the most complete and accurate metabolic profile available today. INSCYD uses power, lactate and/or VO2 data.
3.
You get a 360° assessment of your unique physiology. Our coaches will review your data, interpret it with you, and then you'll be able to develop a training plan that is tailored to you as an athlete.
