The idea behind marginal gains is that a number of small improvements can add up to a large overall improvement. Consider a bike. Imagine exchanging one part for another that works just as well but weighs one ounce less. Will it make you faster? No. But repeat that exercise sixteen times and you shave a pound off the weight of the bike, enough to change the outcome of a race.
This example uses weight, but the concept can be applied in many different ways. A lighter bike, a more aerodynamic seating position, reduced friction in the drivetrain, better nutrition, better use of training time … the possibilities are endless. Each improvement may be small, but, when done thoughtfully, they add up.
No doubt you have heard the expression, “Leave no stone unturned.” Why not? Two simple reasons. Cost, and time. And let’s not forget, time is money.
Without a doubt, a nice set of Hed high profile wheels will shave many minutes off of my 50 mile bike time, but the cost is high. Tracking Heart Rate Variability (HRV) does not cost much, but it does require committing to a daily morning routine. My time is free, but there are limits to how much time I have to devote to my sport.
The rule of marginal gains applies equally to cost. A set of Hed wheels is, to me, expensive. A lot of things that promise to improve performance are “reasonably” priced, but add them up and they can nickel and dime you to death. Again, something similar applies to time. There are only twenty four hours in a day.
Any decision about how to spend your time and money needs to take into account cost vs benefit, and the benefit needs to align with your “Why.” During my off-season I invested some time in looking for my “Why.” (See Finding Your Why, and My Why.)
Your “Why” should be a broad, generalized statement, and it can change in time to reflect your growth. Mine, for now, is "Age is just a number."
Goals are what allows us to bring our “Why” into focus. They describe specific events or outcomes to achieve in the near future. My two big goals for 2022 are to do Ironman 70.3 Hawaii in June, and Ironman Cozumel in November.
Worthy goals should demand a lot from us. For me, that includes working on health issues. Those being my heart, my back, and something everyone wants to improve, weight and body composition.
Here’s another old, useful expression, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” When it comes to health related data there is a lot that can be captured and tracked with minimal effort. There is some cost involved, but much of that is small and up front. Just beware of the “good intentions” trap, for example where you purchase a bathroom scale and never use it.
As a matter of fact, I have developed a morning routine that allows me to track a number of physical metrics. Weight, body fat, BMI, sleep, resting heart rate, blood pressure, HRV, fatigue, injury, and soreness. The devices I use to collect this data are a Garmin FR930 watch, a Polar H10 Bluetooth HRM strap that feeds the HRV4Training app on my phone, a Withings scale, and a Withings blood pressure cuff.
My only complaint about my routine is that I log everything on TrainingPeaks, and to avoid clutter I need to do some editing. The scale logs weight and body fat on TrainingPeaks automatically. So does the blood pressure cuff. So does the HRV4Training app. The problem is, this results in three metrics entries every day, each with partial data. I end up transcribing the data from two of the entries, along with sleep and resting heart rate from the Garmin Connect app on my phone, and entering it on the entry made by the HRV4Training app, then deleting the first two. It only takes a minute.
Why do I do that? Naturally there is more than one answer.
Blood Pressure
My cardiologist is juggling my meds. It helps immensely to get regular measurements. She only asked for a reading once a week, but I just make it part of my daily routine. The Withings cuff makes it super easy. I do not see a direct correlation between resting BP and performance.
Weight / body fat / BMI
This one is so simple, yet so hard. The less I weigh, the easier it is to climb hills on the bike, and to run, uphill, downhill, or flat. The more of that weight is lean muscle and not adipose tissue – as in belly fat – the more power I can produce per pound (power to weight ratio). Unfortunately it is very tricky to lose weight while training without sacrificing the gains to be made from training. You can easily end up lighter, but lacking in power or endurance, or both. I weigh myself every morning using a Withings scale, but try not to freak out about normal daily variations.
HRV, resting heart rate, fatigue, and soreness
These combine to reflect the impact of training, not to mention other daily stress. Every endurance athlete is told to listen to their body. That is good advice, but too often, with an event looming in our future, we just don’t listen until our body shouts at us. When that happens we really need to back off, and we lose training. I believe it is better to monitor what I can, and take that minute every morning to reflect on and document some fairly subjective metrics, like fatigue and soreness, and in the process notice when things are turning south before they spin out of control. The HRV4Training app provides useful, actionable data and assists in collecting some of the more subjective metrics.
My latest venture down the health and fitness rabbit hole is a service called Inside Tracker. As I understand it, they analyze your blood and give you advice about nutrition. I also signed up for the DNA test, which is supposed to highlight any genetic problems you may need to take into consideration. I expect my results to say, “Wow, your heart is messed up.” No, seriously, DNA is unlikely to reveal that.
My question regarding the blood test results is how do I know if I am making the desired corrections without periodic blood tests? Recall what I said, you can’t manage what you don’t measure. I have a feeling that a suggestion is coming for more samples. Sort of like those nasty "In app" purchases. This brings us back to cost. Once a year, no biggy. Four times a year? Maybe. Monthly? No way. Besides, my veins will look like Swiss Cheese.
To wrap up, I believe that having a healthy body is vital to achieving my goals. Age is just a number, but that does not mean I can ignore the limitations imposed by the aging process. What I can do is keep tabs on how I am doing, and take every reasonable effort to make the most of what I have. Spending a pile of dough on fancy equipment will provide immediate gratification, but it is the little things done consistently that can really make a difference.
One last thing. Let me know if you know someone with a nice set of Hed wheels they want to get rid of.