Introduction: Understanding, Building, and Using a Power Duration Curve to Maximize Training

Until now, this blog series has explored the pillars of endurance performance—ranging from Joyner and Coyle’s broad analysis of endurance performance to the more nuanced concepts of VO2 max, VLa max, and the lactate threshold. While these topics are undoubtedly important, they can seem abstract, theoretical, and challenging to implement in day-to-day training. Now, we shift our focus to a more practical and actionable element of endurance training: the Power Duration Curve (PDC).

This upcoming series on the PDC will consist of three parts. First, we’ll explore what the PDC is and how it can reveal your metabolic strengths and weaknesses. Next, we’ll outline how to easily create a simple, robust PDC. Finally, we’ll examine how to convert your PDC data into actionable training steps.

With this knowledge, you’ll be able to do what many—actually, most—athletes don’t: train in a systematic, individualized way with simple and objective measures of progress along the way.

The first portion of this series - Understanding Your Metabolism Using the Power Duration Curve - will detail how you can contextualize your power profile in a metabolic context.