'I could go by heart rate only' - Tadej Pogačar reveals startling details of training, nutrition and 1800 VAM

The physiology of Tadej Pogacar has inspired no end of admiration, discussion and frequent speculation, but in a recent interview the Tour de France winner revealed striking details of his training and nutrition.

Speaking to Peter Attia on The Drive podcast, the Slovenian reflected on his career and various Grand Tour wins, but focussed most of his attention on details of his training and nutrition regimen.

"I've been training with heart rate monitors since I'm I don't know, 12 years old," Pogacar told host Peter Attia. "So I would say, I know how my heart rate responds when I'm tired or when I'm good. So, yeah, I could go by heart rate only, but it's always good to compare heart rate to power, but power meters are not so reliable these days.

"You always need to be careful with the temperatures of the outside, the calibration, everything," he further clarified. "And yeah, sometimes can be off. You need to be careful about this."

For data-obsessed cyclists, Pogačar's revelation that his Zone 2 power range sits around "320 to 340" will spark interest. He further retold of joyful four-hour training rides spent squarely in Zone 2.

"In Monaco, it's really hard to get big time in Zone 2 because it's a lot of climbing," he said. "You can't maintain power. I try to hit really high zone two on climbs – they are like, 20 to 40 minutes long, and then you recover and downhill. 

"But when I go home to Slovenia or somewhere else, or in Spain when we're training Calpe, or summer, where it's more flat, I really like to stay five hours in Zone 2… I would love to do just zone 2 and going nonstop."

Despite his yearning for long hours in Zone 2, Pogacar confirmed that he benefited the most from training in Monaco. "In my experience, yeah, the best is to train on your home roads, where you can also look at the speed, the VAM, how fast you're moving."

Asked about the specifics of his VAM, Pogacar said, "Training seven, seven and a half per cent, if you go all out, I think it's like 1700 to 1800 of VAM for like 15 minutes."

Nutrition

Pogačar's focus has turned more toward nutrition and weight in recent years.

"For sure, when you're a kid, you can eat what you want and you don't gain fat," he said.

However, his approach in his current racing is one of moderation rather than hard restrictions. "If you restrict too much and you don't touch chocolate for a month or for six months, then one time you will break and you will go crazy, and I think that's not a good relationship with food," he said. 

"So you need to have balance also with the bad food, also. Then when it comes to the off-season, I don't have the cravings. I'm like, Okay, now I go vacation. I have nice food, good food, quality food, and not a crazy amount."

His weight peaks at 69kg, occasionally stretching to 70kg after indulgences, the Giro-Tour double winner confirmed. However, during the Tour de France he sits persistently around 65kgs.

With that in mind, his carbohydrate intake on the bike is carefully planned out. "In drink, we have either 30 grams or 60 grams [of carbohydrate] in per bottle, not a strong dilution," he said.

"But when it's a hard stage, it's better having 60 grams in the bottle and then you can eat less," he continued. "Because for hard stages, you need to get around 120 grams per hour. For easier stages, from 60 to 90g is enough. So basically, we aim for that per hour. 

Getting to a point of consuming 120g per hour was a journey for Pogacar. "Like five years ago, 120 grams per hour - that's impossible," he said, crediting his food sponsor Enervit with producing better products for his racing intake.

"Five years ago, I would always go shit my pants after the stage races or long races. And now, even eating 120 grams, no stomach problems."

Heart rate and HRV

Unsurprisingly, Pogačar's heart rate site at a low 37 beats per minute during sleep, he claims.

"But some days, I could wake up with 48-49 if you're sick or really fatigued, maybe even over 50."

As for his max heart rate, he revealed that as a junior he could hit 213, and more recently regularly tips over 200.

He also began looking into HRV in 2021, "I did not find it really interesting or helpful," he claimed. "But this year I started using more to track HRV, heart rate in the night. And yeah, I must say that I quite like it now."

Revealing a range of 150 on good days, and mid-30s on bad days, his HRV falls in line with the wider exceptional physiological numbers he revealed.

Naturally, VO2max is the figure that has historically been tied to natural physiology and performance, here Pogacar coyly stated, "It's been a while since I tested the last time."

"Probably it's high."

The complete podcast, which contains wider discussions around his meteoric rise to the top of cycling is available on various podcast platforms and on Peter Attia's website.