  This work proposes to use evolutionary computation as a pathway to allow a
new perspective on the modeling of energy expenditure and recovery of an
individual athlete during exercise. We revisit a theoretical concept called the
"three component hydraulic model" which is designed to simulate metabolic
systems during exercise and which is able to address recently highlighted
shortcomings of currently applied performance models. This hydraulic model has
not been entirely validated on individual athletes because it depends on
physiological measures that cannot be acquired in the required precision or
quantity. This paper introduces a generalized interpretation and formalization
of the three component hydraulic model that removes its ties to concrete
metabolic measures and allows to use evolutionary computation to fit its
parameters to an athlete.
