Ben Tracy

@Alan_Couzens From my experience and others I think most VO2 testing is very suboptimal though. The last test I saw the testing facility claimed an individual saw a VO2 increase of 10 points in 30 days.

A few brief thoughts... 1/ The general message of the post is solid - real, repeated tests beat tests that you do once a decade or, even worse, watch estimates! Full agreement there! 2/ Steve's point about the large longevity studies not hooking all of the participants up to a met-cart is right. No one wants to clean that many spit-tubes! 😊 But... 3/ Most of these papers did use a VO2max protocol - the Bruce Protocol (or similar) i.e. combined flat/incline walk/run on the treadmill. They do this for a couple of reasons... - It's tough for a non-trained runner to get to a true max on a flat run. - Throwing in incline removes a lot of the economy differences between runners, i.e. some people are just more skillful/suited to running than others. TLDR - Good overall message. - Mile time has more of a skill element to it than a VO2max test using an incline protocol, and I don't see a compelling reason that running skill/economy would be correlated with longevity.

@Alan_Couzens Thoughts on the emerging wearable lactate meters?

What amateur runners think the "Norwegian method" looks like before buying a lactate tester: * 3x per week of hard, long, threshold sessions at the track added to the program. What amateur runners realize the "Norwegian method" looks like after buying a lactate tester: * 3x per week your normal "easy" runs (which were actually hard runs all along - you just didn't know it!) at ~2.5-3 mmol/L * The addition of lots of actual easy training as close to 1mmol/L as you can get (likely walking initially, but it will improve over time)

@Alan_Couzens Thoughts on the emerging wearable lactate meters?

"Coach, after reading Bakken's book, I think I need to add some threshold runs to my week" "Are you lactate testing your easy runs?" "No." "Good news: You're already doing them."

Remains one of the most underrated tweets on the X endurance landscape.

The Athlete makes the coach, not the other way around. Time to keep your ego in check. When it comes to athletics, talent matters. As coaches it’s our job to nurture and allow that potential to show itself.

@aleuthard @bowtiedmeathead Ha...so which one are on?

@BenTracyIV @bowtiedmeathead I'm sure you say the same things about drug addicts. These drugs remove the drives that lead to the poor behavior. The fit, in general, are more disciplined because their drives are in line with their goals. The fat have drives that aggressively work against their goals.

We met my parents and my sisters (and their husbands and kids) out to eat last night at a local bar restaurant We haven’t seen them in a while so it was great to meet up. There were 8 adults at the table. 6 are on a GLP-1. My sisters always struggled with their weight and my brother in laws who are both huge guys in their forties were more or less walking heart attacks. Everyone at the table who was on a GLP-1 lost between 20-40 lbs!l. And everyone looked GREAT!! No Ozempic face or that unattractive skinny fat look we commonly see when people lose weight too fast, don’t eat high protein and don’t do any physical activity. In the past we would have ordered a table full of appetizers and several rounds of drinks. We had NONE of that. Most people didn’t even finish their entree and asked to put the other half in a container to bring home. Seemed like the entire table was gleaning with energy and into the conversations more than “I’m here for the food. Let’s eat” While I have been the “health and fitness” guy pretty much my entire life and obviously a huge advocate for working out, eating right and living a healthy and clean lifestyle… I can’t think of anything that has changed the game more, in terms of improving health, quality of life and overall well being, than overweight people going on a GLP-1 Nothing else has worked nearly as effective for sustained weight loss (sorry Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers) as a GLP-1 It’s a MAJOR win for the average Joe who for whatever reason was never EVER hitting the gym regularly and completely changing their diet on willpower and discipline alone It’s like going from cutting your grass with scissors to using a ride on mower

@Philly_Marathon @AACRFoundation @RothmanOrtho Weak marathoninvestigation.com/2026/02/philad…

It’s that time of year again, #FeatureFriday is back! Meet Brand Ambassador Marcus Carmicle (they/them/he/his) from Richmond, KY — a returning ambassador taking on the 2025 Independence Challenge (that’s the @AACRFoundation Philadelphia Marathon & the @RothmanOrtho 8K!).

@JoshuaLisec Are we talking about this weekend's half time show?

oh my shit

@PaulGrewalMD @zbitter You can't elaborate or provide us a few small examples perhaps specifically regarding his book?

@BenTracyIV @zbitter I worked with and was the only other doctor in his practice for 3 years (post JE). Can confirm his medical insights not that great either. May dish the tea at some point. Beware authority worship of all stripes

So turns out Peter Attia lacked a moral compass. Now that we know this to be true, it is very important to also realize there are other grifters, who also lack a moral compass, who will use Peter’s downfall to run game on you. They will do this by leveraging black and white thinking. They will reintroduce an unrelated disagreement they had with his health advice over the years, and try to convince you since he was morally wrong about his own life choices, they were correct about their unrelated disagreements. Don’t fall for it. Just because Peter was a trash human, doesn’t mean some of his detractors can’t also be trash humans. Plenty of trash to go around.

@MetabolicUncle Way to bury the 'lead'. Zone 2 training makes sense for ambitious athletes preparing for endurance events. Cyclists, marathoners, triathletes. People who need to sustain moderate effort for hours.

ZONE 2 TRAINING: A WASTE OF TIME FOR PEOPLE WHO AREN'T RACING A new analysis just torched the zone 2 hype. The conclusion? Current evidence doesn't support zone 2 as optimal for mitochondrial function or fat oxidation. This matters because the biggest health influencers have been pushing zone 2 as some kind of metabolic sweet spot. Turns out the data doesn't back that up. Not for regular people, anyway. Zone 2 gets defined as exercise where lactate stays under 2 millimoles per liter. That's the technical version. The practical version is the talk test: you can hold a conversation while moving. The supposed benefits? Better mitochondria and improved fat burning. Two things worth caring about, sure. But zone 2 isn't the magic bullet people claim it is. THE MITOCHONDRIAL MYTH Proponents say zone 2 builds mitochondrial capacity better than anything else. The evidence says otherwise. When researchers looked at the actual signaling pathways that trigger mitochondrial growth, zone 2 barely registered. Your cells need stress to adapt. Zone 2 doesn't provide enough stress. Not unless you're doing it for hours at a time, which most people aren't. One study found meaningful cellular stress from zone 2 exercise. After two hours. If you've got two hours a week total for exercise, spending it all in zone 2 means you're leaving serious gains on the table. High intensity work triggers stronger mitochondrial responses in less time. Multiple studies confirm this. A meta-analysis showed that for non-endurance athletes, zone 2 intensity didn't improve mitochondrial function at all. High intensity training did. THE FAT BURNING CONFUSION What about fat oxidation? The research is thin. One study found zone 2 training increased maximum fat oxidation rates after a year. A year. Other studies comparing intensities gave conflicting results. Some showed low intensity winning, others showed high intensity winning. A recent meta-analysis of 13 studies found both intensities improved fat oxidation equally. So zone 2 isn't superior for fat burning either. At best, it's equivalent to higher intensities. At worst, it's a waste of time you could spend on training that delivers multiple benefits simultaneously. THE REAL PAYOFF: VO2 MAX AND INTENSITY Here's what actually matters for health and longevity: cardiorespiratory fitness. VO2 max measures how much oxygen your body can use during intense exercise. It predicts mortality quite good, although it is debatable how influencers intepret the data. One study tracking heart disease patients for eight years found those with the best VO2 max scores had 84% lower mortality risk than those with the worst. The link between VO2 max and mortality crushes the link between mitochondrial health and mortality. And guess what increases VO2 max most effectively? High intensity exercise. Not zone 2. SPRINT TRAINING: THE EFFICIENT ALTERNATIVE You can trigger mitochondrial biogenesis with repeated sprint intervals. No need for hours of zone 2. Sprint protocols work in multiple formats. Ten seconds on, fifty seconds off. Or work-to-rest ratios of one to four with maximum thirty-second work periods. These short bursts create the metabolic stress your body needs to adapt. The beauty of sprint training? It improves mitochondrial function, increases VO2 max, and builds power. Three critical adaptations from one type of training. Zone 2 can't match that efficiency. It only puts stress on your body. Elite athletes do large volumes of zone 2 because they're already training twenty-plus hours a week. They need low intensity work for recovery between their high intensity sessions. They're optimizing performance for competition. That's not your goal. Your goal is health and functionality. Different objectives require different strategies. ZONE 2 CREATES STRESS TOO Even low intensity exercise loads stress on your body. It takes time. It requires recovery. If you're spending four to six hours a week doing zone 2, that's four to six hours you're not spending on strength training or sprint work. Both deliver better returns for longevity and function. Strength training builds muscle mass, which declines with age and predicts mortality independent of cardiovascular fitness. It improves insulin sensitivity. It strengthens bones. It makes daily tasks easier. Sprint training does all that plus maximizes cardiovascular adaptation in minimal time. THE PRACTICAL REALITY Most people struggle to find seventy-five minutes a week for vigorous exercise. The standard recommendation. If you've got limited time, zone 2 crowds out the training that matters most. The analysis authors acknowledge this. When you're not an elite athlete with unlimited training time, you need to prioritize efficiency. Focus on high intensity work done safely. Build up gradually to avoid injury. Include power training with heavier weights and explosive movements. This combination delivers the mitochondrial benefits zone 2 supposedly provides, plus improvements in VO2 max, strength, and power that zone 2 can't touch. If you've got extra time after hitting your high intensity targets, sure, add some zone 2. But for most people, that's a hypothetical. The reality is choosing between training methods. The data says choose intensity over duration. FUNCTIONALITY OVER ENDURANCE Can you sprint if you need to? This practical measure of fitness predicts independence in old age better than your ability to jog for an hour. Zone 2 training makes sense for ambitious athletes preparing for endurance events. Cyclists, marathoners, triathletes. People who need to sustain moderate effort for hours. If you're not racing, you don't need that adaptation. You need the ability to produce force quickly and recover from intense efforts. That comes from sprints and strength work, not steady-state cardio. The zone 2 hype reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of how to translate elite athlete protocols to regular people optimizing for health. Elite athletes optimize for performance within their sport. You're optimizing for longevity and function across all of life. PMID: 40560504

@dr_andrealove @Kevin68548900 My 13 year old used the same argument today. 👏👏👏

@Kevin68548900 No he doesn’t

A note: Peter Attia is *not* a physician. He is not a scientist. He graduated medical school. He didn’t complete residency. He is not board certified. After dropping out of residency, he worked for McKinsey. He then founded a private “longevity clinic” to hawk pseudoscience. 1/

Championship races aren’t about the fastest first mile. They’re about the strongest last mile. This week my cues are simple: – First rep of practice = slowest rep of practice – Even splits are the only splits we accept – Every workout ends faster than it starts You’re not just training fitness. You’re training belief that patience pays. 👉 Even splits keep you alive. Negative splits make you dangerous. Positive splits get you dropped.

@AmericanAir Sent

@BenTracyIV Can we take a look into this for you? We'll appreciate you stepping into DMs, with your Bag tag number or even your confirmation code.

@united @lufthansa @AmericanAir

@united I was scheduled on a partner airline Brussels Air via United & my bags were lost. Unfortunately American ended up being my last carrier but they don't operate in Brussels. Now United reps are not assisting me or American in contacting Brussels Air to find my 3 bags. ??

In the face of evil, which can be contained by no other means, a forceful response, is not only permissible but becomes a knightly duty. Heroic courage consists not only in recognizing this duty but in bearing its heavy moral burden without fear. Ivan Alexandrovich Ilyan

@brady_h 'Poor man's altitude', but I believe humidity is worse to train through.

The difference that a few degrees cooler and ~10% less humidity can make on a run is crazy. This week (left) I ran 20 miles at ~6:30 pace. Last week (right) I ran 20 miles on the same route at ~7:00 pace. Averaged 10 bpm less for HR and max reached HR was 17 bpm lower!

@MikeCunningham Talking about development when programs are signing 28-29 year old international students is humorous.

People saying opportunities for HS track athletes to be developed are being taken away because of INTL recruits and Transfer Portal are disrespecting mid-major coaches, D2 coach, D3 coaches, NAIA coaches, etc.