FasCat Cycling Training Tips Podcast

FasCat Athlete, Marisa Boaz, won one of the top gravel races in the world: Unbound Gravel (100).  In this episode, Marisa gives us a play-by-play of the race and inside look into what it took to take home the gold. From racing with Peter Sagan, the mud, her husband to parenting her 4 children, Marisa shares her story and journey into gravel racing and talks a little bit about her future goals this Summer and beyond.   Big congrats to Coach Isaiah Newkirk on their fine coach-athlete work together.  Check out www.fascatcoaching.com and use code 25PODCAST for 25% off your next training plan!

In our 20 years of working with athletes, we always notice that some athletes get more out of their coaching than others. It's not usually about which athlete has the most time to train or the most talent. Instead, there's a variety of attributes that combine to make an athlete coachable–and the more an athlete is coachable, the more time a coach has to dedicate to the most important aspects of making the athlete faster.    So what does it take to be coachable? What are the attributes you need to ensure you are getting the most out of your coaching? What mistakes do you need to avoid to make coaching you easier for your coach? We answer all these questions for you in this episode of the FasCat Coaching podcast. Coach Frank and Coach Christian dive into their coaching guidelines and explain why it’s so important to follow them if you want to get the most out of your coaching.   What they discuss:   5:00 - Why you need to get your coach accurate data   12:00 - Come to your coaching calls prepared    26:00 - Being open to addressing your obstacles   40:00 - Being adaptable with your schedule and communicating your schedule with your coach   50:00 - Defining communications styles between the rider and the coach   59:00 - Defining boundaries

Summer Kickoff special: Free interval training plan if you buy our 16-sweet spot plan first. Use SUMMER22 to redeem over at FasCatCoaching.com Have you ever heard of the expression "All the hay is in the barn" ? To many cyclists and farmers alike it has great meaning: the hard work is over and now it is time to reap the benefits of a job well done.   In order to 'peak', you need to reduce your training load and 'taper down' into peak form.   One to two weeks before your "A race" further fitness gains are unlikely, i.e. the barn is full - you've made the hay. The temptation to train more should be met with firm resistance. Instead, consider a well planned taper in your training plan design.   That is exactly what you teach you how to do in this episode of the FasCat Training podcast. Coach Frank and Coach Jake give us a deep dive into how to taper, how to plan your overload before tapering, and how to ensure you are taper correctly and not just giving yourself a rest week. If you’re ready to nerd out on all things tapering, this podcast episode is for yoU!   What we discuss:   How we design overloads and tapers  Practical and specific real world examples of how to taper Cycling for peak performance How we prescribe overloads for athletes before initiating their taper. Typical guidelines, weekly hours, CTL for a taper Our go-to taper length What taper weeks look like What type of tapers we prescribe for athletes who are competing in different types of events How we use the performance manager chart to plan a taper.    Check out our Taper blog post here: https://fascatcoaching.com/blogs/training-tips/tapering-in-cycling-for-peak-performance?_pos=1&_sid=ce941accf&_ss=r Summer Kickoff special: Free interval training plan if you buy our 16-sweet spot plan first. Use SUMMER22 to redeem over at FasCatCoaching.com.

Check out www.fascatcoaching.com and use code 25PODCAST for 25% off. In this episode of the FasCat Coaching Podcast, Coach Frank introduces 3 upcoming podcast topics and touches on what FasCat is up to – May is a busy month and there's a lot going on! Coach Frank introduces the topics of what it means to be “Coachable” and makes you think about whether or not you are coachable when it comes to training. He also dives into how to properly taper for an event, how much training should you do beforehand, and how much recovery your body needs. Lastly, Coach Frank chats about how to know when you are ready to train again after an epic event. Links mentioned: New Athlete Handbook Tapering in Cycling For Peak Performance How to Leave Post Activity Comments for your Coach and Be “Coachable Check out www.fascatcoaching.com and use code 25PODCAST for 25% off.

Check out www.fascatcoaching.com and use code 25PODCAST for 25% off. Should you be performing anaerobic intervals? If you’re unsure, you should know that anaerobic intervals are essential for criteriums, cyclocross, road racing , track, your local group ride and mountain biking - even for fondo’s and gravel events in small amounts.  With that being said, you should probably be doing anaerobic intervals and that’s why in this episode of FasCat Coaching, Coach Frank gives you the a complete step-ny-step guide on how to incorporate and execute anaerobic intervals into your weekly training routine. He explains the how, what, why where, when and how hard. The term anaerobic comes from the physiological fact that the energy required is so rapid that oxygen is not used to make the power unlike a longer vo2 or threshold interval that is more aerobic. They are less than one minute, as hard as you can go intervals. We prescribe them in 30 to 60 second interval lengths at intensities 120 - 150% of your threshold power - and/or as hard as you can all for all of them much like the way we prescribe VO2 intervals. Be sure to listen to the end because Coach Frank also gives you some basic, intermediate and advanced level anaerobic interval workouts, pacing recommendations and what to look at in the power analysis.  What’s discussed: 5:00 - What is considered anaerobic? 7:00 - Examples of Zone 6 Anaerobic intervals 10:00 - Step-by-step guide for how to perform Anaerobic intervals 15:00 - Best practices for optimal intervals 19:00 - Things to avoid when performing your intervals 22:00 - Interval pacing 28:00 - Who needs to be doing anaerobic work? Check out www.fascatcoaching.com and use code 25PODCAST for 25% off.

We have a special podcast guest this week: The Belgian waffle ride winner, Alexey Vermeulen. Alexey went full on beast mode this past Sunday, riding away from his comrades with an incredible display of wattage and courage. In this episode, we not only get a full recap of Alexey's experience of winning BWR, but also background on where he came from, his racing pedigree, and what his big plans are for the rest of the season and the future. Plus, we also diving into Alexey winning Junior National Road Race in 2011, getting called up to the big leagues with Lotto Jumbo and his new Jukebox cycling team with our good friend and FasCat Athlete, Phil Gaimon.  Lastly, we have two huge announcements to share in this episode... 1. Our Mother's Day sale is LIVE. Use MD50 for 50% off any and all of our five star rated training plans. Head over to www.fascatcoaching.com to redeem. 2. FasCat is hiring full stack software engineers! If you want to work on new sports science to make training fun, simple, most importantly effective, hit up Coach Frank! But don't delay. We're moving fast and we're paying competitive salaries. Email frank@fastcatcoaching.com. 

Do you have fun performing FTP tests? We know the answer is a hard no. We don’t always have to perform an FTP field test in order to measure our performance. Often times the BEST data is in yuor hard group rides or races. That's why in this episode, we give you alternatives for FTP tests that will give you similar data. Coach Frank explains... How you can get your FTP data through group rides and races. How to use deductive reasoning to estimate your FTP. What to look at in your power data to see improvements and evidence that your power output has increased. Essentially, he shows you how to look at your data correctly to see how you progressing. If you learn how to do this, you may spare yourself a field test or two

Check out www.fascatcoaching.com and use code 25PODCAST for 25% off. Feeling burnt out on the bike or feeling like you're training takes the fun out of riding?  But the question is, how do you ride faster and longer, and see better success, while still having fun? We know some of you believe doing structured intervals 5 days a week inside is the only way to see results. We know others of you think following structure, structure, structure is the only way. If you force yourself to do this, it’s not sustainable, because not having fun equals not seeing optimal results. In this episode of the FasCat podcast, Coach Frank gives you endless tips on how to have more fun while training without compromising results, and in fact, see BETTER results. Here's a sneak peek into a few of the tips shared... Join group rides. Don’t worry about pushing it hard. Socialize. Ride with people who are slower than you. Switch up the bikes you ride. Get outside. Find a training partner and enjoy a coffee stop afterward. Remember why you started riding in the first place and do that kind of ride once a week. Embrace unstructured training. Add variety to your intervals. Explore new routes Ready to have more fun while training? Work with one of our FasCat coaches! Check out www.fascatcoaching.com and use code 25PODCAST for 25% off.

Dr. Philip Skiba, a medical doctor and PhD in exercise physiology, shares insights from over 20 years coaching elite athletes. He discusses the innovative Optimized Training Stress metric, incorporating power data, sleep, and heart rate variability. Delving into training methodologies, he highlights the balance between fatigue and carbohydrate intake. Skiba also explains the concept of W' balance in endurance training, emphasizing the importance of personalized strategies for performance enhancement and energy management in athletes.

Today we are talking about Winning in the Kitchen! Performance nutrition and weight loss are all about your food choices and that’s what we call winning in the kitchen.  80% of weight loss and optimal race weight is achieved from proper nutrition while only 20% from riding more. Whether you believe it or not, it's true! That's why in this episode of the FasCat Coaching podcast, Dr. Lauren and Coach Frank dive into the ins and outs of winning in the kitchen. After listening, you may be surprised by the nutrition mistakes you're making! What's discussed: Your Go Faster Food Choices Winning in the Kitchen Grocery List The negative effect of alcohol How to properly nourish after a ride The negative effects of processed carbs Common and "healthy" foods to avoid Nutrition hacks for optimizing health and fitness Tips for preparing quick meals Best snacks for fueling optimally  9 Winning in the Kitchen recipes that take 10 minutes or less to prepare Win in the kitchen and start taking control of your nutrition with Coach Lauren: https://fascatcoaching.com/collections/meal-plans/products/nutrition-consult-with-dr-lauren Don't forget: You can save 25% on your next training plan with code 25podcast. https://fascatcoaching.com/collections/training-plans