In today’s episode, we formally introduce our new head coach, Ryan Kohler, and put him in the spotlight for a classic Q&A. (Don't worry, Trevor is not going anywhere! He’s merely stuck in isolation amid the tundra of northern Ontario at the moment.)

Ryan brings a wealth of experience as both coach and nutritionist after years of working at Carmichael Training Systems, as manager of the University of Colorado Sports Medicine and Performance Center, and while coaching several MTB development teams, as well as working with individual athletes. We have exciting new offerings in the works that Ryan will be spearheading, so sign up for our newsletter for the latest developments. Today, however, we’ll stick to your questions.

First, we tackle a complex series of questions from Ryan Bates in Ann Arbor, Michigan: “I have read that cutting more than 500 calories per day from the total needed to maintain your current weight will actually slow down your metabolism, and make weight loss harder overall. Is this true? If so, does it matter, for the purposes of potential slowing of your metabolism, if the deficit is produced by exercise versus calorie restriction? If true, how many days of 500+ calorie deficit (approximately) are needed to trigger metabolism slowdown?”

Next we take on a mountain bike question, specifically about descending, heart rate, and ways to improve recovery during descents.

Finally, we follow up on our discussion on recovery periods between intervals by answering a question on the different ways of executing 5x5-minutes intervals.

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