Dear Endurance Enthusiasts,

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Are you looking for tips to enhance your training and performance? In this edition, we explore three key topics from the latest episodes of The Athlete’s Compass podcast that can help you on your endurance journey: Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE), the importance of regular testing, and the experiences of aging athletes. These insights are tailored for everyday athletes like you.

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Train Smarter with Rating of Perceived Exertion and Workout Reserve

Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) isn't just a subjective feeling—it's a fundamental training tool. By integrating RPE with objective data from heart rate monitors and power meters, athletes can gain a comprehensive view of their training intensity to make smarter training decisions. Developing a keen sense of 'feel' for exertion levels is key to long-term progress. As a complement to RPE, Athletica's Workout Reserve (WR) feature provides real-time objective insight into how deep you've gone into your reserve for any session relative to the past.

Learn more about RPE and WR in this episode of The Athlete’s Compass podcast.

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​Learn to Love Test Weeks

Testing is key to understanding fitness levels and tracking progress. Tests you may find in Athletica, like Functional Threshold Power (FTP), Power Profiling, and Maximal Aerobic Function (MAF), provide benchmarks for performance and guide your future training program. These tests help set appropriate training intensity zones and ultimately guide you to execute your daily training at the right intensity. Aim to strike the right balance between giving your best effort while not feeling anxious. By reframing test week, you can learn to embrace these tests as fun and productive milestones along your endurance journey. There’s no better feeling than seeing an improvement in your fitness and performance!

Looking ahead, technologies like continuous lactate monitoring could revolutionize performance testing. Want to dig deeper into why Athletica starts with a test week? Listen to the episode on testing on The Athlete’s Compass podcast.

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Navigating Your Journey as An Aging Athlete

As we age, our physiology changes, impacting athletic performance. However, consistency in training, proper nutrition, and strength training can mitigate these effects. Strength training, in particular, plays a crucial role in maintaining muscle and bone mass. Challenging your balance and quickness as you age are crucial for keeping fit and healthy. Accepting the aging process and being kind to yourself is vital for mental well-being. Remember, it's never too late to start—the journey of an older athlete is filled with possibilities. Want to learn more on how to keep fit as you age, listen to this episode of The Athlete’s Compass.

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Looking for Beta Testers for an Exciting New Feature: Menstrual Cycle Tracking

We are thrilled to announce that we are working on a new feature that we believe will greatly enhance your training and overall health monitoring: menstrual cycle tracking!​

Understanding and tracking your menstrual cycle can provide valuable insights into your health and readiness to perform. Just as we do with Heart Rate Variability (HRV), we will need a phase of monitoring to collect data and examine trends. Our hope is that this will enable us to provide you with personalized insights to optimize your training.

If you find this feature of interest and would like to be a part of this innovative initiative, please let us know. Ensure that your Garmin Health / Connect user profile has the necessary data available. You can notify us directly by replying to this email or, if more convenient, send Dr. Laursen a direct message on the Forum.

Thank you for being a part of our community and for helping us drive innovation forward to create meaningful and effective training solutions. Remember to listen to your body, stay consistent, and embrace the process. Until next time, happy training!

Team Athletica

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