FasCat Cycling Training Tips Podcast

Want to increase your power output? VO2 max intervals are the answer. Although, the issue is that many riders are new to power meters or don't know how to use them correctly in order to perform their VO2 max intervals for maximum returns. That's why in this episode of the FasCat podcast, Coach Frank gives us a step-by-step guide on how to perform these intervals with a power meter correctly. He also outlines the most common mistakes riders make and how you can avoid them. Plus, Coach Frank dives into how to do the power analysis post-ride so you learn what watts you should target for your next vo2 max interval workout. (This is the best way to evaluate your  'technique' tp see maximum gains!) Important notes: - In this podcast we are covering zone 5 only. - You will also need to know your power base zones for this episode. If you don't know you what it is, check out this article: HOW TO PERFORM VO2 MAX INTERVALS WITH YOUR POWERMETER https://fascatcoaching.com/blogs/training-tips/vo2-max-intervals?_pos=5&_sid=c99cea4ac&_ss=r Ready to take your riding to the next level? Check out our training plans here:  https://fascatcoaching.com/collections/training-plans Ben's Celebration of Life: Ben Brown’s Celebration of Life is Sunday, March 13, 2022 11:00am - 1:00pm The Venue at Wilmington Brewing Company 800 S. Kerr Ave, Wilmington, NC 28403. Please come and join us for an informal gathering of friends and family to celebrate the incredible life of Ben. https://www.fightforben.com/blog/celebration-of-life  

Guess what? We have another new coach on the FasCat team and we couldn’t be more excited! Dr. Lauren Costantini, PHD has a holistic approach to training where she focuses on fitness, nutrition and sleep altogther, as the three work synergystically. And in this episode of the FasCat podcast, we dive into her background on these three things. Plus, we also chat about her time as a professor at Harvard, her switch to the BioTech world and the products she developed, plus how she managed her time while being a CEO and racing bikes! For a quick look into Lauren, she has a PhD in Neuroscience and was on faculty at Harvard Medical School before moving cross-country to enter the biotech world of Silicon Valley. She then became the CEO of a medical device wearables company. Though a dancer from the ages of 3 to 18 years old, Lauren entered the cycling world in her late 20s and soon became a nationally ranked professional bike racer (including a bronze medal at Mountain Bike Masters Worlds and Gravel Worlds, and multiple Cyclocross National podiums).  After facing back fusion surgery in 2019, she spent months researching scientific peer-reviewed studies to identify the best foods, strength training, and sleep science to enhance her recovery. This led not only to a remarkable recovery from surgery, but also elevated her athletic performance and vitality when she was back on the bike.  Her story is beyond interesting, so tune into the full episode to hear more! What we discuss: 5:00 - An intro to our newest FasCat coach 13:00 - How Lauren got stated with riding 18:00 - How to race and work a full time job 21:00 - Working in the biotech world 33:00 - Why Lauren became a coach 40:00 - How much should you sleep at night? 50:00 - Rapid fire questions Check out Lauren's superfood recipe: https://www.instagram.com/p/CaFhvSmudQ6/ Want a nutrition plan from Coach Lauren? Click here to learn more: https://fascatcoaching.com/collections/coaches/products/dr-lauren-costantini-phd

In this episode of the FasCat Coaching Podcast, I’m joined by one of our newest coaches, Ricky Arnopol. We have some good cyclist to cyclists training talk, chatting about everything from Ricky’s favorite ways to train himself and his riders, what’s contributed most to his riding progress, his riding nutrition, and a bunch of fun rapid fire questions.   After getting a late start to racing, Ricky Arnopol has been slowly chipping away at competing at the highest level races in the United States as well as racing internationally. While continuing to race for Project Echelon, Ricky has put his experience and knowledge towards working with athletes of all disciplines and abilities. His number one goal is to guide everyone he works with towards achieving their goals.    5:00 - Background on coach’s Ricky’s riding 10:00 - What has contributed the most to his progress 20:00 - Ricky’s goals for 2022 28:00 - Ricky’s riding nutrition 32:00 - Dream spot to ride his bike 34:00 - His personal go-to workout/ride 36:00 - The workout he has all his rider do that they hate 40:00 - Fun rapid fire questions   Get coached by Ricky here: https://fascatcoaching.com/collections/coaches/products/ricky-arnopol

We are excited to have our newest coach to the FasCat team onto the podcast to get a deep dive into his training, preferences, thoughts, and everything in between. Coach Frank has a list of 20 questions he asks every coach and Zach gives us some killer answers!  Zach has been a cycling coach since 2018. His educational background includes a Masters in Exercise Physiology from Midwestern State University, pre-med from Colorado Mesa University.  Zach most recently worked as the assistant Cycling Coach for Lees McRae College and continues to volunteer time to Project Echelon’s veteran and adaptive athletes. His cycling career was positively impacted by his time at Midwestern State where he raced on the road and track, winning the 2019 Collegiate Individual Time Trial and several podiums on the track.  He continues to race on the road with Project Echelon and is the 2021 Elite Time Trial champion, a title he will defend in 2022 while racing at the highest level domestically and racing internationally.  Zach has experience working with athletes of all ability levels and is eager to share his knowledge of the sport.  Get coached by Zack: https://fascatcoaching.com/products/coach-zach-gregg?_pos=1&_sid=fd1113b6f&_ss=r

Sweet spot vs. zone 2 seems to be the big debate between rides. In our opinion at FasCat, the adaptations we've seen with sweet spot compared to zone 2 are undeniably larger. Therefore, athletes accomplish more with one hour of sweet spot training than they do with one hour of zone 2 training. In this episode of FasCat, we're going to cover the 6 most prominent physiological adaptations gained through sweet spot training as opposed to lower intensity aerobic training. These adaptations include: Increased Plasma Volume Increased Mitochondrial Enzymes Increased Lactate Threshold Increased muscle glycogen stores Increased Stroke Volume Increased VO2 Max The proportion of sweet spot training to stimulate those 6 physiological benefits above to the rest of your training hours is described in a "How Much Sweet Spot Should Your Do" training tip and podcast.  Ready to start sweet spot training? Sign up here: https://fascatcoaching.com/collections/sweet-spot

The BigCat checks in with Coach Jake about his new MeetUp and talks all things Zwift. We give you a step-by-step guide on how to join our Zwift meet-up rides, how to draft during group rides (I personally think it’s extremely difficult to do!), how we both use Zwift as a training tool for our athletes when coaching, and how to navigate the more technical side of Zwift. What we discuss: 2:00 - Directions on how to join Jake for meet-up rides on the Zwift companion app 5:30 - Calculating wattage for the Zwift group ride 10:00 - How to draft on Zwift 17:15 - How Jake uses Zwift for coaching 30:00 - Understanding how to navigate Zwift Want help getting started with your training and follow one of our plan on Zwift ? Head over to www.fascatcoaching.com/collections/training-plans

The new year is upon us and thoughts are quickly shifting towards the race season. What are you doing to ensure an improvement over last year? What kind of training are you doing? Are you just winging it? There’s a certain combo of art and science to the base building phase of a training calendar, and in Coach Frank’s extensive experience of coaching cyclists he’s come up with a healthy dose of each to help you go faster. What’s the key component? Sweet spot training. 32655The one and only “Six Weeks to the Sweet Spot Training Plan” We’ve talked about sweet spot a lot on the show and it’s weaved into almost everything FasCat does, but this week on the last episode of the year, Coach Frank breaks down how and why you should be incorporating sweet spot training into your plan to build a bigger and better base for 2022. He’ll cover: What is Base Training? Why Sweet Spot is Better than Zone 2 for Base Training Power Based Sweet Spot Metrics – Quantitate the SIZE of your base How many weeks to Sweet Spot? What training plans to do to get your Sweet Spot on What Sweet Spot base Building looks like day-to-day in a training plan And plenty more. Also, for even more sweet spot nerdiness check out our youTube channel and video training tip on Why Sweet Spot training is better than Zone 2. You may also find the Fatigue Dependent Training Plan Design tip a helpful read. As always, thanks to everyone for subscribing and leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, your support this year has been incredible! We’re extremely grateful, and excited about what’s to come in 2021. Now go ride your bike and begin sweet spot training! Copyright © 2022 FasCat Coaching – all rights reserved.

This podcast is for all the athletes who are making new year's resolutions for their 2022 training and goals. Just because it’s a new calendar year, doesn’t mean you will automatically reach your goals. In order to do so, you need to develop new habits. What habits do we recommend you adopt in order to set yourself up for success in 2022? I share 8 training habits you can easily adopt for achieving big results in 2022! What I discuss in this episode… 9:00 - Habit 1: Consistency 11:00 - Habit 2: Indoor training 17:00 - Habit 3: Group Rides 21:00 - Habit 4: Pay attention to your training load 24:00 - Habit 5: Winning in the kitchen 30:00 - Habit 6: Practicing yoga 33:00 - Habit 7: Lift Weights 35:00 - Habit 8: Sleep Take advantage of our killer coaching deal ending January 6, 2022! Get $500 off 8 months of coaching now by clicking here: https://fascatcoaching.com/products/season-long-coaching-deal

In this episode of the FasCat Coaching podcast, we are joined by U.S. Cross country mountain bike 2020 Olympian, Erin Huck. Coach Allie takes over as host because guess what? Allie and Erin are both badasses on the bike and are also both pregnant. What Allie and Erin discuss: - Managing pregnancy as an athlete  - The similarities and differences of their pregnancies - Expectations vs. their realities while pregnant - How they are handling riding/working out (It's different for them both!) - How their handling the pregnancy mentally and physically - Adapting to the changes in their bodies - Erin's big racing plans in 2022   Find more from Erin: @eehuck Check out our training plans: www.fascatcoaching.com        

The best tool you can utilize for optimizing your performance are your training zones. Why? Because training zones bring professional level sport science to your handlebar in a simple, easy to understand and follow training method. Even if you are new to training, you can use zone-based training and literally train the same way Tour de France Pros. In this episode of FasCat Coaching, I give you a step-by-step guide on not only understanding what the seven different training zones are, but how to actually utilize them in your training. I break down each zone individually and explain how to set them, what they accomplish, and how you can use them in your training. Plus, I give you a sample workout for each training zone. Ready to start using training zones? Get your Zone Training plans now here. Related Links:  YouTube: Why Sweet Spot Training is Better Than Zone 2 for Cycling Performance Blog: How Much Sweet Spot Training Should You Do?  Blog: Training Zones for Cyclists  Chart: The Physiological Benefits of Sweet Spot