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By KATHERINE DAWSON ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Monday, June 21, 2010

Photo by Steve Keesee

Ben Stone tightens a mask that is connected to a metabolic cart around client Jeremy Irvan¶s
head as they prepare for Irvan¶s VO2 max test, which will gather information about Irvan¶s
oxygen levels. ³I take that raw, empirical data and turn it into something usable,´ Stone said.

LITTLE ROCK ² ³I¶m an expert witness in a court case tomorrow. I¶m more nervous about
this,´ Jo Spencer jokes as a gas mask tightens around her head like a helmet.

Spencer, 42, is an accountant in Little Rock. She¶s also a triathlete. At the moment, she¶s a client
of Ben Stone, a triathlon coach.

Stone tells Spencer she needs to relax and grabs her wrist to estimate her resting heart rate.

³Chill please!´ he says, laughing.

Spencer takes a deep breath.

³OK, that¶s better,´ Stone says.

Spencer mounts a stationary bike and pedals easily for a few minutes. ³Five, four, three, two, one
and up. Bring it up. ¶Atta girl ... Make it happen ... Make it happen for you,´ Stone repeats over
and over for 15 minutes.
Spencer¶s breathing and heart rate skyrocket as Stone speaks faster and louder, goading her
through ³stages´ of difficulty until her muscles give out. Then she slowly cycles to a resting
position.

³See? There¶s no reason to be nervous,´ Stone assures her.

Stone is testing Spencer for her VO2 max, one of several tests he uses to build training schedules
for his clients. Spencer¶s VO2 max test results will indicate the maximum amount of oxygen she
is able to inhale and process as she exercises. That translates into her potential performance.

³I¶m not a coach who coaches by the little hairs on the back of my neck or gut intuition,´ said
Stone, coach, entrepreneur and owner of Sigma Human Performance. ³I like raw, empirical data.
I¶d rather see it on a calculator than see it on someone¶s face.´

Coaches across the country, like Stone, have started using advanced testing to numerically
determine their athletes¶ capabilities. Though the movement to quantify an athlete¶s performance
is still unusual in Arkansas, many coaches in Europe have trained athletes using quantitative data
for years, said Stephen Alway, professor and chairman of the exercise physiology department at
West Virginia University.

Still, many coaches continue to use traditional training methods and, Alway said, many are not
qualified to use advanced tests.

³Programs exist which emphasize coaching methods without a good grounding in exercise
physiology, and as long as this continues, there will be coaches that will limit their data
collection to a stopwatch or a tape measure,´ Alway said.

But Stone, like other Arkansas coaches ahead of the curve, uses what¶s called biometric testing.

Stone¶s mission for Sigma is to teach his athletes how to create ³maximal results out of minimal
effort.´ His training programs run from $199 to $499 per month, depending on the type of
program.

Spencer, one of Stone¶s newest clients, works full time as an accountant at EGP PLLC in North
Little Rock. She spends her evenings toting her 9-yearold and 6-year-old daughters to
gymnastics and basketball in her Grand Caravan, which she jokingly calls the ³Mom Bomb.´
Next school year, Spencer will be the PTA treasurer at Jefferson Elementary School.

With family and career filling most of her time, she has little left to train for the Ironman
Wisconsin triathlon in September. She¶s preparing to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and then
run a marathon - 26.2 miles.

³I really need someone to help organize me and train me in the most efficient manner possible,´
Spencer said.
³The majority of my athletes are between the ages of 25 and 55, they¶re settled in their careers,
they¶ve got kids, families, obligations outside of training, and they need help,´ Stone said.

³They need an edge. They don¶t have an unlimited time bank at their disposal. They need to
make the most of what they have.´

And the best way Stone has found to produce ³maximal results´ with limited training time is to
collect and analyze data.

Stone takes advantage of any test he can afford. He uses a metabolic cart to measure metabolism,
VO2 max and blood lactate levels. The electronic devices that are used to performthese tests are
stacked on the cart, which is about the size of a desk, has wheels and also holds a video monitor.

An athlete¶s blood lactate level determines how much lactic acid has built up in that athlete¶s
muscles. Lactic acid causes a stinging sensation during a workout, and professional athletes
typically have a high tolerance for it.

³If I wanted to see inside you, I would get an X-ray. That¶s what the metabolic cart really is,´
Stone said.

Stone also uses a Retul bike fit system to video record cycling clients in motion and adjust their
bike settings to fit their individual needs.

To use the Retul bike fit system, Stone sticks LED markerson eight of the rider¶s joints from
shoulder to toe. As the rider pedals, the LED markers pass through laser beams and sensors to
pick up 3-D data and send it to a computer that analyzes the rider¶s pedal strokes and
movements. Stone also uses a handheld digitizer to measure the contours of the bike.

Using all that information, he can adjust the bike to fit the rider.

³It¶s a precise analysis, so if I move the saddle a millimeter on you, I¶m going to see a major
change in how your body reacts to it. It¶s the latest and the greatest,´ Stone said.

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Andres Angulo, head coach of Advanced Cycling in Springdale, also chooses to train with hard
data, but uses different tests.

³I use a combination of both athlete feel and athlete feedback and numbers from field tests, races
and laboratory tests. I don¶t base everything on the results because not always what you see in
the lab is what happens on the road. The main reason I do testing is to obtain baselines,´ Angulo
said.

Rather than using a metabolic cart, Angulo uses an ergometer in conjunction with a lactate
analyzer to test his clients. An ergometer, a small device that attaches to the side of a bike,
measures the amount of power that client¶s muscles exert.
³Metabolic testing gives you ranges that could be subject to interpretation, but power-based
training gives you very exact, objective numbers from which you can derive a training program,´
Angulo said.

The lactate analyzer that Angulo uses, which compares to a lactate tester on the metabolic cart, is
a small device that tests a drop of the client¶s blood on a strip of paper.

Angulo, who has coached for nine years, attributes his untraditional coaching methods to his
diverse educational background.

Angulo has a master of science degree in industrial engineering and is working toward a master¶s
in exercise science.

³I am able to take the analytical and the numbers part and apply that to the physiology part.

Basically, I¶m able to merge both disciplines,´ Angulo said.

Angulo¶s training programs run from $225 to $450, depending on the program¶s intensity.

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Still, for some, the numbers don¶t tell all.

Ernie Lechuga, salesman at Little Rock¶s Chainwheel bike store, is also a private coach and
former professional cyclist. He also uses test results to create workout schedules, but does not
rely completely on data to train his clients.

³I¶m more in tune with the mental game of it,´ Lechuga said.

³When I was racing, I had tests done all the time, but when I got to a race, I didn¶t have anybody
saying, µHey, it¶s going to be fine. This is what you have to do, and if you don¶t do this right, it¶s
still going to be OK.¶´

Lechuga believes that though numbers can be extremely helpful in assessing an athlete¶s
performance, theathlete might need motivation.

³I¶ve done a workout plan for a month for someone, and they did about 60 percent of it,´ he said.

To encourage his clients, Lechuga, who cycled professionally for seven years, values relating his
own experiences to the client¶s struggles.

³I think when you can see and touch and feel and breathe the same thing, it makes it easier to
motivate someone,´ he said.

ActiveStyle, Pages 23 on 06/21/2010