The Norwegian Method - Kristian Blummenfelt & Gustav Iden's Winter Lab Testing

For the first time ever, the Norwegian team of Kristian Blummenfelt, Gustav Iden, Olav Aleksander Bu and Adam Acworth, are letting cameras into the lab to document their infamous Winter Testing.
A huge thanks to Vo2 Master, Moxy, CORE, Maurten and FORM for supporting this project.
VO2 Master: www.vo2master.com
Moxy: www.moxymonitor.com
CORE: www.corebodytemp.com
FORM: www.formswim.com/
Maurten: www.maurten.com/
Production Company - Santara Studios
Executive Producer - Adam Acworth
Producer - Holly Hale
Director, EP, Editor - Roj Ferman
Photographer - Marte Thoresen
All rights reserved - Santara Technology AS

[@paulsolon6229]

The nice thing here is the teamwork. Coach and two athletes are communicating well, have same aims, same belief in correct method. They get along. They think together

[@nicolasmoreau3434]

I agree, and the fact they can train together this consistently is very unique.

[@paulsolon6229]

@@nicolasmoreau3434 yes, v unique as opposed to unique

[@LFKY13]

I need a multiple episode documentary filmed on all of this!

[@Pachosalasfilms1]

What an exciting time to be alive! 😁🙌🏻 can’t wait to see what these guys will do next!

[@AntJB12345]

Very cool. Excited to see what comes next from team Norway!

[@VanillaSky23ffm]

Intense opening - love it - great stuff 🎉

[@joemalone4322]

So cool. Can’t wait to see how good they are this season never mind 2024.

[@nonamehere9658]

What an interesting and scientifically advanced way to advertise Red Bull energy drinks! Well done, guys, bravo!

[@sedgieroobets]

🤣🤣

[@georgepagotelis]

Real “sport athletes” still won’t drink 🥤 😂

[@IsMiseAnthony]

Every time I watch these kinda videos I get hella motivated.

[@yeshrs]

Very cool! Looking forward to seeing more about the journey to Paris 24

[@bargen44]

These Norwegian team is awesome !

[@nancycarleton3064]

Amazing and inspirational!!

[@Upsidestrength]

Amazing work guys 🎉 well done

[@bohouss3622]

This is way above all the technical levels I could see during the decade of studying triathletes' training... the amount of data analysis and the general proficiency in gathering the data is on the level of the best cycling teams, maybe even above them in some cases... Crazy...

[@prathameshpatil0810]

This is inspirational!! Thanks 📈

[@Mapdec]

Great video. Learn what the limiters are, maximise use of training time, work backwards from objectives. Really interested to see what you learn from the core temp sensors. Something we are experimenting with at the moment. Great to see you using Moxy.

[@VirtualTrailRunning]

This is intense!

[@billylee5335]

With Hard work alone you can be good but to become elite your training has to become next level

[@ShervinShares]

this video was amazing... i don't need them, but now I want to buy all the products in this video

[@2011hwalker]

Kristian Blummenfelt body is so fascinating for an endurance athlete, he almost looks overweight in the bike testing. I wonder if his heart and lungs are bigger and that explains how big his torso is.

[@mateuszd8282]

I was considering the same. The thing stands behind his incredible endurance is probably bigger chest space than the average person so his lungs and heart can be more efficient imo.

[@letsgetbusychild]

Yes, 50% larger lungs than normal

[@MissBluebirddays]

Came here to say the same thing. Big barrel torso! It's fascinating and obviously works in his favour

[@robbo3132]

Yeah, theres a belly that cant be lungs but definitely gives dad bod guys hope. I believe he lost it years ago but then couldnt train hard and got injured so now just keep it....fascinating.....we dont see tdf guys , marathon guys or seimmers with a third lung yet

[@2Calam]

HGH torso

[@rodp7803]

Gustav's like, "what, my VO2max is 96? I was really hoping it would be 69..."

[@rayekhoury]

😮 another level

[@80mrEK]

nice work 👏👏👏

[@johnnyd.j.6068]

Having all this data over multiple years must be a game changer

[@robbo3132]

I was thinking the same...team norway will only become more advanced with collective experimentation and scientific knowledge base development and sharing across seasons, while normal pro athletes only try something out on their own

[@dr.barsumyan]

you are great!!

[@mprest10]

Amazing work. Awesome 👍

[@Kid_ofthefuture]

Good Stuff. Understanding the human body is the key ! 🤓

[@sergioandresgarciacorzo5169]

Love it

[@tenpointlanding]

Great Video and fascinating to watch. now, can i afford any piece of that system...

[@mortonmedia]

Crazy stuff

[@durianriders]

Sugar and cadence FTW!

[@guillermosantolaria519]

great video! interesting to see the limits of the human body! what's the ultra book model used in the pool (min 07:30)?

[@sarabt]

Lionels somewhere punching air right now

[@THX-wc2jo]

Wish they’d go into more detail on the metabolic tech - not giving away secrets of course! But what are all those gadgets?? Quad patch monitor? Etc. Give us more!

[@fitride]

I believe in science, so I am not worried about the outcome, and of course, teamwork is the key to success.

[@eitanshushu]

omg we do know others have watched and gone through seintific approach as well but i think this is another level. heyden and yee should do some homework if they want a chance in paris.

[@juancarlosjuancarlos4629]

LOL, when did Iden last time beat Alex Yee? Norwegians are machines, but others are not behind them. Britain, French and co. should not be underestimated. Leo Bergere level in last GF in Abu Dhabi was impressive. Also guys like Pearson, Geens and co. won’t be easy to beat on run

[@eitanshushu]

@@juancarlosjuancarlos4629 agree ofcourse and others like hauser. kudos to leo but he did win due to amassive french team working for him, vincent was a domestic to give leo the chance to win the season title

[@dood-vr9yh]

ive got a feeling these dudes are on the juice.

[@JeatBunkie]

Based on? Absolutely nothing I assume

[@bretzky9261]

This type of detail combined with EPO is a powerful entity that cannot be matched 💪

[@johngmcdonnell]

Very good. Very intelligent. Great psychological approach. Is anyone looking at mitochondrial concentration??

[@alfredoalmeida6754]

Trabalho+Trabalho e + Trabalho O segredo Abraço desde Aveiro 🇵🇹

[@cospinan]

it is amazing if you compare how they look... the body appearance is not very lean, not muscular... (and I mean not in this video but in competition) let say compare again with LS. I know appearance doesn't say anything, but these are the guys on the top of the game by far. Although this is an endurance sport like cycling, but in cycling when looking at the GC guys, the how lean and the how fit are very related. this video also shows the disparity of the investment of resources... this is a true team with a vision and a history of learning. again, compering, this is ineos and other guys.... maybe Arkea. Great approach of professionalism and smart and hard work for the "Norwegians" pushing the limits!!!

[@robbo3132]

Yeah good point, if you look at the top tier% milers, marathoners, tdf guys, they almost look like clones....frodo looked more like that, so this gives new hope 👍

[@atpkompressor]

7:07 min… just around 7 Liters vo2 😮 this 🇳🇴 is absolutly out of this world 🌍

[@danielappelhans3489]

Just under 7 Liters. The one over 7000 is CO2. 6800 is still around 90ml/min/kg - which fits to numbers they have released in the past.

[@atpkompressor]

@@danielappelhans3489 thank you Daniel! Impressive season Start Benchmark 🙀💪

[@na-dk9vm]

Im only learning about this lab testing now, can you explain more to me what 7 litres mean at 7:07 please?? Thanks. I'm assuming unreal fit..

[@fe_ciclista]

@@na-dk9vm it's the maximum amount of oxygen that his body is able to deliver to the muscles in kilogram of bodymass per minute ratio. A sedentary man has around 35 ~ 45 mL/kg/min VO2 max. An amateur well trained athlete could reach up to 60 ml. Anything above 70 ml is world class level and like we have seen here, they just came back from the off season.

[@na-dk9vm]

@@fe_ciclista thanks. Ok, so theyve come back from the off season, so theyve still time to get even fitter and get these times even higher??

[@bri290892]

Does this mean they won’t be competing in Kona this year I suppose ? And focus purely on Olympics?

[@pavanatanaya]

My secret is pumping up my tires every ride

[@robbo3132]

Is that a LA quote?😄

[@pavanatanaya]

@@robbo3132 I Am LA

[@waynemather385]

Did anyone else think of Ivan Drago in the opening scene?

[@michaelmcnally3813]

Ha, that's exactly what I thought as well and just rocky working out in the snowy mountains. I'll take rocky version over this

[@sammyhagger12]

Their mid distance track guys are stellar (Ingelbrestian bros). Wonder is they’re tapping into this??

[@seanmcadams1216]

You might wanna give that name one more try

[@robbo3132]

the norwegian method is simple - just train longer, more often at higher pace then anyone, then race faster than anyone in history, with races more close together and and across more distances than anyone in history.....and win them all in record time !!! they dominate like those guys in the tdf!!!

[@IvarKoster]

just like in the TDF :)

[@chuckbunting9731]

yep, now its clear to me why we won't have an American Olympic medalist or winner of the Ironman any time soon. Waiting for someone to yell "Dragoooooo" at the end

[@mikiwalkowski2315]

that is insane.

[@martyf.8088]

Are you doing this lab work with other tri athletes? If so, who?

[@danielgibson654]

Reminds me of Rocky 4 with the Russian boxer training montage

[@luciouspontorro3741]

The coache's Norwegian sailing team hoodie is so 🔥. Anyone know where to get one?

[@christianroth673]

The Helly Hansen logo is blurred out, start by checking that out

[@mateuszd8282]

So the question is- Is it all about knowledge/understanding of your body and yourself better than others, and then shape it as you want ?

[@statictech7]

Its cool to see how they fine tune the EPO protocol

[@robbo3132]

When pros want to improve swimming they go to a swim coach for technique tips, these guys test thier metabolism and oxygen uptake and then become swimming monsters

[@Terrilyn_Austen]

Do you do a nutritional profile?

[@airzonaian]

sweater is off teh chain

[@darrenc.3263]

Kristian's off season metabolic numbers must be attributable to the Taiwan sugar coated strawberries on a stick!

[@paulsolon6229]

Whose paying for all this? 7 ? guys on team, 2 being athletes. Norwegian govt pays? If so that’s so nice for the athlete. Total dedication shown here. Love it

[@robbo3132]

Norway was king of the winter olympics but summer olympics not so much, so they funded soft sports, kind of like england did with cycling and rowing when the olympics was in london

[@paulsolon6229]

@@robbo3132 Grazie

[@timlentz3045]

Get it

[@IvarKoster]

When Lance was dominating in the TDF i also thought he and his team were implementing science better than the competition. How naive is was back then. Well... in a way he was implementing science i guess... Since then im verrrry skeptical when is see atheletes crushing the field like never seen before. And now smoke is starting to appear with Collin being caught... im suspecting a fire somewhere.

[@cngz34]

100% agree.

[@samholder196]

Blummenfelt has just a fucking ungodly engine

[@julien7705]

Yes and we know the Norwegian method on cross skiing 😢

[@bilginaydin9756]

TrainerRoad 😊

[@constantinesinnis6996]

This seems way over the top. I'd be curious to see how the testing actually impacts the training plan.

[@miodoh]

The Norway team are letting cameras into the lab.. brooooh?!!!

[@mposh]

Olav looks like the child of David Bowie and Steven Wilson.

[@KongKyrre]

He's like a Norwegian Toto Wolff.

[@pjnice]

All that sophisticated technology and the dude drank a red bull lmao

[@robchance]

He"s sponsored by Red Bull.That was a subtle advertisement.

[@lukeallport1514]

red bull is literally just sugar and caffeine which is the same as taking a Maurten gel or drink mix which they do all day long

[@THX-wc2jo]

Not so subtle ad! All their sponsors get a LOT of screen time in this video

[@robbo3132]

At the sierra training camp they ate salami every day 😄 and chicken tomato pasta

[@leegmann2282]

If you don't have access to this level of testing equipment, can the Norwegian method still work for most professional and age group triathletes?

[@akg5306]

I'd say yes based off a very good 'How they train' podcast episode with Olav. Mentions being able to apply similar scientific methods with just a stop watch, or using distance, time and pace from what I remember.

[@THX-wc2jo]

HR zone training maybe -

[@robbo3132]

Ask chartier and Lionel how kona went, von berg was the best Norwegian training style guy outside of iden/blumm

[@georgepagotelis]

Pointless. Average joe ~>Time to train, increase watts/power, strength, flexibility and especially weight control. All they’re trying to do is have an edge of 1-2% over other pros.

[@aliascomunicazione6629]

Looks like the Ivan Drago training

[@Raumance]

What is the difference between tri and normal athletes? Performance wise. Like professional cyclists push maybe past 400W ftp but what are these guys doing?

[@durianriders]

A 60kg rider has an FTP of 400w?? It is about wkg ftp bro not absolute FTP.

[@MrTubebox1]

The secret is they didn't do any season break. I cannot remember they took one day off since Kona. Why should their values drop?

[@frv8272]

charger comme des mulesles norvégiens

[@do3swimbikerun]

Hi. Can I use 2 x 10s clips in a video I am producing different coaching methods?

[@panbanan1151]

it gives me Ivan Drago kind of vibe

[@jimm4029]

in start hes shouting `` u need to get above 7 L ( 1 Liter is 1000 ml

[@nevmann]

#svett

[@johnfoley6093]

Wonder how K Blu decides which Red Bull hat he's gonna wear in the shower? At Christmas?

[@gregcalettecalette8917]

Holy f

[@zachdavis4829]

Is that Jack Daniels in a couple of scenes or am I mistaken?

[@tritondriver1]

They laugh at your Garmin and Polar . Lab Monsters

[@vozzen]

Feels like there should be a spending limit, like how F1 does it, since few other triathletes can afford this level of assistance

[@robbo3132]

Yeah, lance Armstrong had huge wind tunnel budget, rectal temperature probes and tassel suits.....totally unfair

[@paulsolon6229]

Too complicated?

[@romainfardel6923]

You gather a lot of data from your athletes - what importance has their feeling for you ?

[@ltonetto]

I truly deeply hope these guys will never be popped with a doping test. I will absolutely lose faith in this sport that I grew to love and admire. All this that they’re showing is super impressive and expensive. Few athletes will ever be able to try any of this, but if behind the scene they are just abusing something no one is supposed to know… well, we will all eventually find out and expose them.

[@wenceslasebe1003]

I think they are simply ahead of their time . their results will be shared probably in the future about performance

[@LR6092]

They're on that stuff.

[@thegeeker75]

Everyone is at that level, they need to do everything possible to win

[@robbo3132]

Its not just the record breaking speed, but race frequency and training volume thats nuts....these guys are genetic freaks with great guidance

[@rc198028]

It would be entire reasonable to assume at least some professional Triathletes use PEDs like every other endurance sport. For the record, I'm not saying either of these two do. However, if they are clean, they are destroying many PED users whilst remaining clean themselves. Very impressive considering EPO can boost performance by around 10%. Add in some testosterone and growth hormone for strength and recovery (plus potentially newly developed drugs not yet tested for) and it is even more impressive if these two are clean. I hope they are.

[@Southerncyclist]

You guys just need to consult Doctor Ferrari to reach peak physical performance 😋

[@robbo3132]

These guys beat 25 years of records on first attempt.....they are Lamborghinis

[@williamroberts9548]

The Maurten and Red Bull bs wrecks an otherwise interesting look at the testing and training. Good thing you have the CGM on you arm to measure that poison. Teach, don't sell.

[@juancarlosjuancarlos4629]

Javier Gomez won ITU world championship 5 times and won 70.3 world champs 2 times without real preparation. Then he won ironman Cairns 2018 and Ironman Malaysia 2019. Norwegians forgot that Gomez beat both Blumenfeldt and Iden in WTS Bermuda 2019 in his first olympic distance after training 1.5 years long distance. And if we are honest Blumenfeldt is olympic champion, world champion, but Iden was never top ITU athlete. Blumi showed in Tokyio that he is the boss, Iden still needs to prove himself in ITU racing

[@irondoc1251]

Gustav Iden is IM LD Champion and two times IM 70.3 Champion, so he need not prove anything.

[@juancarlosjuancarlos4629]

@@irondoc1251 Iden is nr1 triathlete in long and middle distance racing. He has potential to be best ever. In short course he finished last at WTS Leeds in 2022 and he was last time on ITU WTS podium in 2019. Iden is racing ITU again and he is for sure not at the level of best guys at his post season testing. That statement from his coach makes absolutely no sense

[@robbo3132]

Yeah in bergen wts, blumm just won the IMWC and sub 7, then he got 2nd to short course specialists, and iden was surprisingly in 16th or so

[@juancarlosjuancarlos4629]

@@robbo3132 bergen was not even WTS. It was World Cup race, so many top 15 contenders didn’t race there. No Bergere, Person, Luis, Vilaca, Geens, Yee…

[@robbo3132]

@@juancarlosjuancarlos4629 thanks!

[@manuelkorner4429]

for sure they can go "far beyond it" - just increase ped´s and here we go... this is soooo hilarious...

[@Koufalia4]

They are all so juiced up for sure. Hard work, but juice as well. Oh well.....

[@Koufalia4]

Juiced up much?

[@Hubertus-ko6yl]

Germans will copy soon 😂🤣🤭

[@chahmeduzair]

Starting from zero is the biggest lie spoken on the planet!

[@paulsolon6229]

To me they are likely making a fundamental mistake: the two athletes are quite different 1) Gustav can win 4 more Ironman championships. 5 in a row. He’s not going to excel at oly distance. 2) Kristian is a short course racer. Up to 1/2 Ironman. Powerful thick body. He cd give up on Ironman. Gustav will always beat him there. But k can win oly again and a bunch of short course. W Gustav short course doesn’t fit. W Kristian long course doesn’t fit

[@georgepagotelis]

It’s great they do these videos but “data this, data that” equals downvote. You learn nothing. Even if it’s rough numbers, some takeaway. I’ll stick to coffee ☕️ cheers! 😅