Science
The research the BLOCKS assistant answers from: 1,118 studies and 81 guides, each graded for how strong the evidence is and who it was measured on, with a link to the original paper.
84 entries in Frameworks & athlete types
BSprint and anaerobic workThe format decides the quality: short sprints on full rest buy peak power, 30-s all-out sprints buy sprint and aerobic gains at tiny volume, supra-VO2max speed endurance buys 20 s–60 min event…Guide · 42 sourcesBPlyometrics for endurance athletesFor a runner, a small progressive jump dose on top of a strength base buys a modest economy and sprint gain; for a cyclist the base holds no jump-training trial, so heavy lifting and on-bike sprints…Guide · 37 sourcesB+Strength training for runnersHeavy, few reps, short of failure, twice a week for at least eight weeks, then kept at a lower dose in season; it buys economy and time-trial speed, not VO2max, and circuits are a fallback, not the…Guide · 60 sourcesB+Strength training for cyclistsHeavy, few reps, short of failure, twice a week to build and never zero in season: it buys efficiency, sprint and late-race power, not a bigger engineGuide · 53 sourcesC+The limiter and the block thesisWhat to train next to get faster or raise FTP: a profile is not shown to name the limiter, so pick the stimulus the athlete has been missing and the goal needs, pull one lever per block, and let the…Guide · 59 sourcesB-Prescribing and reading a session without a power meterThe instruments that survive, and the ones that quietly stop workingGuide · 21 sourcesB-When session RPE and TSS disagreeRead it as a list of ordinary causes, not as a test of central fatigueGuide · 13 sourcesBHeart-rate anchorsTake the threshold from a field effort, never from a formula, and know the three conditions under which heart rate stops describing the sessionGuide · 17 sourcesBCoaching the menstrual cycleThe phase is not the lever; the symptoms, the heat and the athlete's own record areGuide · 14 sourcesCWhen two entries disagreeResolve by who was measured, not by which study is newer or louderGuide · 10 sourcesB+Concurrent training and the hybrid athleteInterference is real, modest, and mostly a scheduling problem rather than a reason not to do bothGuide · 14 sourcesB-Athlete "types" are hypotheses, not diagnosesThe six-archetype model was this base's own speculative composite, validated by no entry, and is retired; what the evidence supports is a wide, partly inherited and poorly reproducible response to…Guide · 50 sourcesB-Pacing an event longer than ~2 hStart below the day's average, set the cap from thresholds that will have slid by hour three, follow hills and wind with small swings, pace late hours by power or pace and effort rather than heart…Guide · 55 sourcesB-Gut problems in training and racingExpect them past two hours, in heat and on the run; ask about history, rehearse the race intake on long sessions and change one thing at a time; nothing in the base shows that a probiotic or a…Guide · 34 sourcesBSleep, time of day and caffeineProtect the sleep opportunity before any recovery tool, after one short night train in the morning or move the key session a day, nap 20-90 min before 16:00, keep caffeine out of the evening, and…Guide · 40 sourcesBAltitude, heat and ironMeasure iron before any altitude block, choose ONE environmental block and dose it properly, expect a few per cent at best with a large individual spread, and when the race itself is high or hot…Guide · 35 sourcesBHeat acclimation protocolDecision matrixGuide · 11 sourcesB-Norwegian double thresholdA description of how a few world-class runners train, not a tested method: no trial compares double-threshold days with anything, so below elite volume and without a lactate meter the answer is one…Guide · 30 sourcesBDoes activity itself make the difference if genes are equal?In 10 identical male twin pairs aged 32-36, the twin more active for 3 years was leaner and more insulin-sensitive. Cross-sectional, abstract only: not proof of cause.Rottensteiner 2015B+Does a poor responder to one kind of training do better on another?34 untrained young twin pairs: strength followed 12 wk of lifting, VO2max 12 wk of endurance; "responder" was any change >0 in one test, so the rescue claim is unproven.Marsh 2020B-Why people gain so differently from the same resistance programmeSummary of the 2025 Jyväskylä conference by the leading groups: the training variables matter (about 12 sets per muscle a week, at least 60 s rest and 2 min on multi-joint lifts, no more than 2 reps…Roberts 2026BPredictors of individual adaptation to high-volume or high-intensity endurance training in recreational endurance runnersVesterinen 2015B+Inter-Individual Variability in the Adaptive Responses to Endurance and Sprint Interval Training: A Randomized Crossover StudyBonafiglia 2016B+Refuting the myth of non-response to exercise training: 'non-responders' do respond to higher dose of trainingMontero & Lundby 2017B+Does Higher Intensity Increase the Rate of Responders to Endurance Training When Total Energy Expenditure Remains Constant? A Randomized Controlled TrialReuter 2023BCritical power and work-prime account for variability in endurance training adaptations not captured by V̇O2maxCollins 2022BEffects of Initial Performance, Gross Efficiency and VO2peak Characteristics on Subsequent Adaptations to Endurance Training in Competitive CyclistsSkovereng 2018ADefining Training and Performance Caliber: A Participant Classification Framework (6-tier)McKay 2022BSleep in hybrid (HYROX) athletesResistance vs endurance session before bed changes sleep latency, WASO and cardiac arousals (pilot, n=8)Buoite Stella 2026BTime-Restricted Eating (8-h window) in elite under-23 cyclistsPerformance maintained, weight and fat down, anabolic hormones down (RCT)Moro 2020BGut microbiome × endurance — Veillonella metabolizes lactate to propionate (landmark)Scheiman 2019APlyometric training / stretch-shortening cyclePerformance and injury prevention meta-analysisWeerasinghe 2026B+Limited reproducibility of individual physiological adaptations to repeated endurance exercise trainingOdden 2026B+Gross Efficiency Response to Endurance TrainingPhenotypic trade-off with VO₂max adaptationHopker 2012B+Individual response to exercise trainingA statistical perspective on what valid responder classification requiresHecksteden 2018B+Can Genetic Testing Identify Talent for Sport?Review of the limits and prospects of genetic testing for talent identificationPickering & Kiely 2019B+Genomic predictors of the maximal O₂ uptake response to standardized exercise training21-SNP polygenic score for trainabilityBouchard 2011B+HRV-guided training: individualized periodization based on daily autonomic readinessExemplar of wearable-based phenotypingVesterinen 2016AACE Insertion/Deletion polymorphism and the elite endurance phenotypeUpdated systematic review and meta-analysisSommers 2024A-ACTN3 R577X polymorphism and power/endurance phenotypeMost-replicated single-gene association for athletic phenotypeACTN3 R577X Meta-Analysis 2024