Scientifically Speaking

ALL ABOARD THE NORWEGIAN HYPE-TRAIN?

He is built like a brick house with a chest the size of a large fridge and legs made of thunder sticks, a ‘pneumo-pod’, all lungs and legs. I am talking about Kristian Blummenfelt, currently considered by many the best and most all-round triathlete on the planet. His body build reminds me of the equally barrelchested Eddie Merx, nicknamed ‘the Cannibal’, who ruled the professional cycling world between 1965 and 1978.

A sizable chest allows room for big lungs and a large heart. This is helpful in the uptake and distribution of oxygen, which is required for energy production within the muscle cells. Blummenfelt’s maximum oxygen uptake (VO₂ max) has been measured over 90 ml/kg/min (millilitres per kilogram per minute). That puts him in the ‘freak’ category. By comparison, most elite triathletes score in the late 70’s to early 80’s. Gustav Iden also has a reported VO₂ max score of over 90.

The first time the Norwegians announced themselves as world beaters was at the Bermuda WTCS race in 2018 where Casper Stornes, Blummenfelt and Iden took out a clean sweep of the podium. Ever since rumours have been swirling around the triathlon world how the superhuman deeds of the Norwegian athletes can be explained. Blummenfelt and Iden seem to be able to shift effortlessly between the different race distances, from standard distance to ironman, with little recovery in between. How can they do this? What is their secret?

Let’s try and break it down, based on the knowledge we have. Fortunately, the Norwegian coaches are generous with sharing information even if there is always that human hint of doubt (what might they hold back...). The exceptional talent of these two athletes was recognised when they were still in their early teens. Blummenfelt, a competitive swimmer, won his first triathlon aged 14 and was soon recruited by the regional triathlon academy in Bergen (2011). Iden, equally gifted, two years younger than Blummenfelt, with a background in cycling, joined Blummenfelt at the academy a couple of years later. Arild Tveiten, their coach at the time, discovered that the two athletes could tolerate a significant training load. ‘Being prepared to do the work’ is something which is ingrained in the Scandinavian sporting culture, but being able to do the work consistently over time is not an easy thing to achieve for most young, developing athletes. The secret to Blummenfelt and Iden’s ability to tolerate a solid training volume was the fact that training intensity was strictly controlled and kept mainly in the aerobic zones. This allowed them to develop a huge aerobic base, with a gradual increase of their already high maximum oxygen uptake to the dizzying heights they are at now as a consequence. Add to that robust health and the mindset of a Ukrainian soldier and there you have it, the Norwegian secret sauce.

There are two additional factors which have provided the icing on the performance cake. The first is a structured sport science testing and monitoring programme. Blummenfelt and Iden are tested six times each year in a laboratory for three days in the three disciplines, and their training is tweaked as necessary depending on the results. Their metabolic, velocity and mechanical profiles are tested with state-ofthe-art equipment with the aim of improving mechanical and metabolic efficiency through specific training.

Olav Aleksander Bu, a passionate young sport scientist and engineer, has been credited a lot for the Norwegian triathlon success but he will be the first one to agree that if you don’t have the raw talent, even he won’t be able to make ‘a Christmas pudding out of camel dung’. What Bu’s sport science and astute coaching has done is to help guide the athletes closer towards their maximum potential. Another factor in the Norwegian success is their structured altitude training programme which plays a crucial role in their overall yearly plan. With input from sport science monitoring and testing, the duo are able to maximise the performance benefits they get from altitude training.

Let’s return to those freakish VO₂ max levels. We know that our VO₂ max potential is mainly determined by birth and that it can only be improved by up to 20 percent (individual response rate fluctuates between two and 20 percent) through physical training. Altitude training, done correctly, can add another three percent, give or take. Illegal practices like blood doping and the administration of EPO (erythropoietin, a blood boosting hormone) can enhance VO₂ max by a whopping five-15 percent. There is no evidence that the Norwegians engage in anything sinister to boost their aerobic capacity, so we will leave that discussion for another day.

Dominance by one relatively small country is not unprecedented in our sport. We had our own golden years between 2000 and 2012, led by Hamish Carter and Bevan Docherty, and supported by the likes of Shane Reed, Andrea Hansen (nee Hewitt), Debbie Tanner, Samantha Warriner, Craig Watson and Nicky Samuels. Other countries were wondering at the time what the heck we were doing here, Down Under.

Combining Olympic distance and Ironman events has also been done before. America’s big four, Dave Scott, Scott Molina, Scott Tinley and Mark Allen, won almost every race over the different distances between them in the 80’s and 90’s. They worked out through trial and error that, with a slight change of emphasis in their training (volume versus intensity), they could compete equally well over Ironman and Olympic distance events.

We can safely conclude that there is no magic in the Norwegian approach. The main explanation for their success is that they have a couple of exceptional athletes in Blummenfelt and Iden who are prepared to do the work. They are proof of my long-held belief that any programme and coach is only as good as the athletes they serve. Sure, sport science and some decent coaching will help, but where are the Norwegian women triathletes (none are currently in the top 100 of the world rankings). And what has become of the equally talented Stormes who beat both his now more famous compatriots convincingly on that memorable day in Bermuda in 2018? He must be human after all as he seems to have joined the majority of professional triathletes on the circuit, who tend to alternate occasional success with more modest results.

Of course, we have our own ‘freak’ in Hayden Wilde. He is one of a handful of athletes who have proven that the Norwegians can be beaten. And you know what? He is only a youngster compared to them. I wonder what his VO₂ max is…

Dr John Hellemans has coached some of the biggest names in Kiwi tri, Erin Baker, Andrea Hansen and Kris Gemmell among them. The Christchurch-based sports medicine specialist founded Tri NZ’s HP program in 1996 after immigrating from Holland in 1978.