FasCat Cycling Training Tips Podcast

Coach Isaiah Newkirk shares the ways professional and amateur athletes can switch up their routines in the off-season to take a mental break, have some fun, and still maintain fitness and even gain some strength and mobility. Some of these involve a bike; many do not! We have many off-season training plans to get you through the fall and winter, all of which are included in a subscription to Optimize. Use the code 25podcast to save 25% off your subscription now.

If you want to be faster or fitter next year, what should you be doing in the off-season? That is exactly what this podcast is about. Frank Overton and Ben Delaney walk you through when your off-season should start, what it should and shouldn't include, and specifically how you can start building yourself up right now. Use the code 25podcast to save 25% off a subscription to Optimize, your year-round trainining solution that includes unlimited training plans and access to professional FasCat Coaches who can answer your training questions.

As athletes, we need recovery to rebuild and come back stronger. This applies at the micro and macro levels, and applies to our mental health as well as our physical health. On this podcast, Coach Ricky Arnopol explains when, how and why to take a proper off-season break. Spoiler alert - You can still ride your bike and have fun! As most athletes have wrapped up their season, the fall can be a wonderful time to get out and enjoy being on the bike without any structure. And, yes, we all should take a week or two completely off the bike before ramping it up again. But when? Give this pod a listen. Use the code 25podcast to save 25% off a subscription to Optimize, your year-round trainining solution that includes unlimited training plans and access to professional FasCat Coaches who can answer your training questions.

How did this year go for you? What were the successes? What could you have done better? And how can you build on the momentum next year? In this episode, Frank and Coach Christian walk you through a 14-point checklist of ways you can review your 2023 season with an eye on getting faster and having more fun in 2024. Relatedly, we continue to build on the momentum of our Optimize training solution app. If you haven't downloaded it yet, go check it out on the App Store or Google Play.

If your season is wrapping up or about to wrap up, this podcast is for you. Here, we talk about end-of-season training, and how it differs from training in the early and middle parts of your season. Some phrases and philosophies we tackle: All the Hay is in the Barn Rest is Best Let CTL/Training Load Go Sharpen the Sword This podcast is the first of 8 episodes where we will be talking about your training from the end of the season into the off season. We'll cover: End of Summer Training (this pod) Reviewing your Season Setting Goals for 2024 The Post Season Break Off Season Training! Cross Training and Muscle Tension Intervals Weight Lifting for Cycling Alternative Movements to the traditional Squat, Leg press & Leg Curl Use the code 25podcast to save 25% on your Optimize subscription today: https://fascatcoaching.com/pages/app

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. This bit of life wisdom, from the inimitable Mike Tyson, certainly applies to racing bikes and our daily lives. This podcast is all about how to reset goals after life happens. Coach Allie Legg is a former longtime professional racer and current longtime professional coach who helps athletes of all life situations set up their goals, work towards them, and then reconfigure their goals and their plans when things inevitably… evolve, shall we say. Allie talks about the goal-setting process, signs that things are on track, signs that perhaps your training and/or your goals should be recalibrated, and how to keep moving forward as life evolves. Use the code 25podcast to save 25% on your Optimize subscription today: https://fascatcoaching.com/pages/app

Seven watts per kilo. That is the number being thrown around as the new absolute best standard, courtesy Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard battling in this year's Tour de France. Yesterday we saw Yara Kastelijn win stage 4 of the TdF Femmes with a solo attack out of a breakaway, and she was averaging 5.13w/kg over the final two categorized climbs to the finish. How much can you do? How much are your local competitors doing? How much can you improve this number? And how can we best measure this number? The devil is in the details, and we dig into all of those today - along with our new metric for measuring maximum sustainable power on the road - xPower. xPower is an advanced average of your power output that considers shorter higher-powered efforts for a true physiological representation of your power output. While Normalized Power often overestimates what a rider can do, xPower analyzes highly variable power output to give the true physiological effort. Use the code 25podcast to save 25% on your Optimize subscription today: https://fascatcoaching.com/pages/app

Zach Gregg has twice won the US time trial national championship and currently races for the UCI Pro Continental team Project Echelon. But getting there took plenty of work and involved a few lessons learned the hard way. On this podcast, Zach shares five lessons that apply to all cyclists, plus plenty of tips on how to constantly improve - even when it feels like you're not improving! Use the code 25podcast to save 25% your subscription to Optimize, your year-round training solution that includes unlimited training plans and data visualizations of your training and recovery.

Travis McCabe didn't want to work manual labor for his dad as a career, so he made a plan to be a bike racer. It took a few years, but through hard work, self-education and coaching, he made his way into the pro ranks, eventually earning two national titles and a spot on the WorldTour. As fate would have it, his entry into the WorldTour came in 2020, the same year Covid rocked the world. On this podcast, McCabe reflects on how he succeeded, the highs and lows of pro racing, and the lessons and fun he enjoys sharing with cyclists today. McCabe now works at Ventum Bikes, which recently partnered with FasCat Coaching to elevate your cycling experience through excellent gear and professional training. Subscribe to the FasCat Optimize app now for unlimited training plans and access to exclusive deals on Ventum Bikes. Use 25podcast here for 25% off your first month or start a FREE 14 day trial from the app or google play stores

How can I break up big rides into chunks? What power meter do you recommend for gravel? How can I follow a training plan when traveling for work? These and many other listener questions are answered in our 24th installment of Ask A FasCat. Other subjects include improving sprinting and attacking power, periodizing for ultra-endurance events, doing power-based workouts on mountain bike trails, the difference between OTS and TSS, riding the entire Tour de France route as an amateur (!), and more. Tune in for a good one, and don't forget to update your Optimize app for the latest and greatest data visualizations!