FasCat Cycling Training Tips Podcast

We’re now well in to October, which is traditionally the offseason period for most of the cycling community (except you ‘crossers!) and so it’s time to start thinking about at home strength training. This is something that can make a huge impact on your cycling performance, but with the current COVID pandemic, going to gyms is a tricky situation. So we’ve adapted and created a special, effective at-home weight lifting plan that uses affordable and minimal equipment to make sure you can still get it done this winter and be back and ready for when racing returns. 47564Weight Lifting (at Home) for Cycling Training Plan In the pod today, Coach Frank breaks it all down, the equipment you’ll need, and what to expect with this unique strength plan. For more on strength training, go back and check out our old episodes on the subject to learn more about why it’s important in the annual periodization. Thanks to everyone for tuning in, subscribing and reviewing on Apple Podcasts, and for engaging in our forum! For more things cycling training, visit http://fascat.wpengine.com. Save 25% on your next training plan with code 25podcast The post Optimize Your At Home Weight Lifting This Offseason! appeared first on FasCat.

Weight Lifting this winter will make you faster! More strength = more power = higher FTP =  riding our bikes faster. However this is not your high school weight lifting plan; its designed for cyclists! “Speeds specific to cycling” is the secret sauce of this program: the velocity of the lifts plus the neuromuscular sprint workouts that are coupled to the Strength and Power Phases make this 10 week plan effective for endurance cyclists.” On this week’s podcast, we break down all you need to know about incorporating a cycling-specific resistance training program into your offseason. 9139Take the guesswork out of your off-season with one of our best-selling off-season plans. For more info, check out our training tip: https://fascat.wpengine.com/tips/weight-lifting-for-cycling/ And the Weight Lifting for Cycling training plan: https://fascat.wpengine.com/training-plans/weight-lifting-for-cycling/ Follow us on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fascatcoaching/    Instagram: @fascatfh Twitter: @FasCat  and YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FasCatCoaching Intro music: David Cutter Music // https://davidcuttermusic.com/ Copyright © 2020 FasCat Coaching – all rights reserved. Join our *FREE* Athlete Forum to nerd out with FasCat coaches and athletes about your FTP, race data, power based training, or anything related to going fast on the bike! The post Weight Lifting for Cycling appeared first on FasCat.

This week, Jackson and Lacey take over the pod to talk about their favorite subject: performance nutrition. A major theme of this show, we get lots of questions in the forum and through our new meal plans, so we thought we’d touch on a few of the commonly asked questions, such as weight loss, carbohydrate periodization, white vs. brown rice, and more. The offseason is approaching and it’s the ideal time to start dialing in your nutrition strategy so you don’t fall behind! Be sure to check out our Winning In The Kitchen meal plans to get the ball rolling. If you have questions on nutrition and performance, ask away in our dedicated athlete forum at forum.fascat.wpengine.com. 47142Complete Fall and Winter Training Plan! Big thanks to WattBike for sponsoring the show. WattBike is the ultimate indoor cycling experience to take your winter training to the next level. With super accurate power readings, integration with Zwift and TrainingPeaks, WattBike makes your pain cave riding much more enjoyable. Check ’em out at wattbike.com/us. Thanks to everyone for tuning in, subscribing and reviewing on Apple Podcasts, and for engaging in our forum! For more things cycling training, visit http://fascat.wpengine.com. Save 25% on your next training plan with code 25podcast The post Winning In The Kitchen FAQ w/ Jackson and Lacey appeared first on FasCat.

As the age-old adage goes, timing is everything. As we’re winding down the 2020 “season” and beginning to look towards 2021, it’s a critical thing to consider when planning our calendar. Choosing A vs. B races, when to start the weight lifting and base phases, and how to approach a peak and taper all come down to timing. With a little bit of preparation and planning, and a tip from Goldilocks, we can come into the 2021 season not too hot, not too cold, but just right. 24742Begin your 2021 campaign with our Sweet Spot Part 3 Training Plan In this episode, we cover: ½ life of aerobic endurance adaptations Goldilocks Principle – porridge too hot, too cold, just right 42 day time constant in TrainingPeaks CTL TSTWKT chart Half Life of Weight Lifting Coaches anecdote – find that most athletes peak better in the first ½ of the season (first peak attempt) than the second because the half life from weight lifting, and build a true base are further than the 1st peak The Group Ride HERO Examples of TIMING – what to do and WHEN and how much of.  Be sure to listen to our previous and relevant podcasts: Planning your upcoming race season Post-Season Break Weight Lifting for Cyclists Remember to use code 25podcast at checkout to save 25% off your next plan…and don’t procrastinate!   The post Timing is Everything: The What, When, and How of 2021 Training appeared first on FasCat.

Welcome to another periodized Q&A session of the FasCat Podcast, where we field listener questions from our forum, website, and social media to help you get even faster on the bike. This go around we touch on a range of topics, including thoughts on at-home gym setups, carbohydrates, how to train when smoke is in the air, and more. Here are the links we mentioned in the Podcast: Build Your Own at-home strength setup Pogacar’s Strava file Phil’s Tour of California file analysis  47019Complete Fall and Winter Training Plan! If you want to get a question answered in the next one, be sure to sign up for our forum over at forum.fascat.wpengine.com to hop in the conversation. Thanks to everyone who contributed! Big thanks to WattBike for sponsoring the show. WattBike is the ultimate indoor cycling experience to take your winter training to the next level. With super accurate power readings, integration with Zwift and TrainingPeaks, WattBike makes your pain cave riding much more enjoyable. Check ’em out at wattbike.com/us. Thanks to everyone for tuning in, subscribing and reviewing on Apple Podcasts, and for engaging in our forum! For more things cycling training, visit http://fascat.wpengine.com. Save 25% on your next training plan with code 25podcast The post Ask FasCat #12 — at-home strength setups, carbohydrates, and training in the smoke appeared first on FasCat.

It’s about that time! With all the craziness and uncertainty of 2020, we still believe in the importance of taking an actual “off season” to bring some certainty to the cycling season periodization. So how should that look? What should you do? Today on the podcast is a continuation of our 2018 episode about the post-season break where we talked about the 3 core tenets of a good offseason break: Taking 2 weeks off from following a training plan Re-establishing Life Balance Soul Rides 46786Complete Fall / Winter Training Plan: Weights + Sweet Spot Base In this podcast we give seven more performance enhancing, non biking activities to consider as you take some time away from structured, dedicated training. They are: Nutrition/ Winning in the Kitchen Yoga Foundations MTB’ing (riding a different bike) Relationships Back to School/Family Goal Setting Announcements: Our Phils’ Fondo Training plan Starts Sept. 14th – you can sign up for the FREE Phil’s Bake your Own Cookie Fondo at philsfondo.com We are working on two new training plans: #1 the at home resistance training plan #2 Lacey’s Winning in the Kitchen Weight Loss Plan Next week is our regular Ask a FasCat Q&A podcast :: please submit your training questions to help@fascat.wpengine.com or on our forum forum.FasCatCoaching.com by next Wednesday Sept 16th.  The most thoughtful question will win a pair of GravelKING SK’s and a GUEnergy prize pack! This podcast is brought to you by WattBike, the solid dedicated at home training bike to get some offseason training at home this winter! Check them out at wattbike.com. Join our *FREE* Athlete Forum to nerd out with FasCat coaches and athletes about your FTP, race data, power based training, or anything related to going fast on the bike! The post What to do during your 2 week post-season break appeared first on FasCat.

The three musketeers of FasCat training plan and coaching design, Frank Overton, Jake Rytlewski, and Isaiah Newkirk stop by the studio to discuss an ever-important topic: When to Hire a Coach or Follow a Training Plan? This question is extremely individualized and complex, so the three coaches break it down and talk about the reasoning behind both so you can be better equipped to decide what’s best for you. As 2020 looms, it’s time to start really planning out the details of the season and how you’re going to approach those goals. We hope this helps you FtFP even better next season! For more on our training plans and coaching, visit http://fascat.wpengine.com and ask away in our exclusive forum at http://forum.fascat.wpengine.com. 31972Complete Fall / Winter Training Plan: Weights + Sweet Spot Base Join our *FREE* Athlete Forum to nerd out with FasCat coaches and athletes about your FTP, race data, power based training, or anything related to going fast on the bike! The post When to Hire a Coach or Follow a Training Plan w/ Coaches Frank, Jake, and Isaiah appeared first on FasCat.

This week we dive into the background of “FTFP”, or Follow the F@#%&^* Plan! Following the well designed training plan is paramount to success as a cyclist, and there’s many layers that go into it. Coach Frank and Jackson discuss the key components to making training efficient and effective, and the 8 habits of successful cyclists. 19803Start building fitness and increasing FTP with our best-selling Sweet Spot plan. Remember to use code 25podcast at checkout to save 25% off your next plan…and don’t procrastinate! If you’d like more help #FtFP’ing consider our Coaching Subscription or hire a FasCat Coach! Find the FasCat podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher. Follow us on social: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Intro music: David Cutter Music. The post FTFP and Developing Good Training Habits appeared first on FasCat.

As the offseason for most cyclists (sorry, ‘crossers) and fall approaches, it’s time to look back and reflect on your season to see what worked and what didn’t, take stock of your nutrition and training strategies, and use that data to make 2020 even better. This week on the podcast we discuss 4 key areas of this review: Your Training: Volume, CTL, Intervals & Power Output Your Nutrition / Winning in the Kitchen – Weight Loss Skills – makes a huge difference! 4 Training Ideas to Get Faster for 2020 Other podcasts mentioned that are relevant to this episode: Winning in the Kitchen: https://fascat.wpengine.com/tips/winning-in-the-kitchen/ Strength Training: https://fascat.wpengine.com/tips/weight-lifting-for-cycling/ Weight Loss for Cyclists: https://fascat.wpengine.com/tips/weight-loss-for-cyclists/ We are also hosting a podcast appreciation ride this Sunday, September 8th at 9am, leaving from 3107 Bluff St in Boulder. We’ll have pastries and coffee, and will do a chill spin up to Jamestown. Hope to see you there! 23721Are you interested in adding structure and FOCUS to your off-season? Our best-selling 32-week off-season plan is your ticket to ride. For more conversation, don’t forget to check out our forum at forum.fascat.wpengine.com and fascat.wpengine.com for more training tips. Enjoy the offseason!   The post Reviewing Your Season to Be Faster Next Year appeared first on FasCat.

This Fall, for those of you with big goals and aspirations, NOW is the time to get on a plan and start training.  Right now cyclists have a huge opportunity to begin their off season training to take their performance to the next level in 2021. Here is our description of ON (off) season training for cyclists because there is no off season for better results next year. As coaches, we look forward to the offseason because it is a time when we can work on athletes’ weaknesses without having to worry about their performance in upcoming races.   As a result, we can start with the basics and methodically take athletes thru a 4-6 month offseason training program that elevates their performance.  There’s a saying “the off season is where you can make the greatest gains” and we couldn’t agree more. 2190Purchase this best-selling 32-week off-season training plan today! The goal of our offseason training program is to increase the athlete’s power at threshold and race-specific power outputs.  Our offseason training program is divided into 5 phases that as a whole are much greater than the sum of the parts.  To measure improvement we test at the end of the resistance training phase, end of the sweet spot build and right before the first race with expectations of a 3-20% increase in power at threshold.  Thereafter we monitor race data to track improvements in FTP and power. The 5 Annual Training Plan Phases are: Annual Training Program (ATP) (planning) Fall Foundation, Aerobic Endurance & Muscle Tension Intervals. Resistance Training: 10 Week, 4 Phase, Cycling Specific. Sweet Spot Part 1, 2, and 3: building a “Hemi-Powered Aerobic Engine”. Race Specific Intervals. For more information about the COMPLETE FasCat Off-Season Program, please read the descriptions below. 1. Annual Training Program (ATP) The image below is an example of an Annual Training Plan in TrainingPeaks that we develop for our athletes.  This is the 10,000-foot view that outlines goals and when the 4 training phases will occur. We use this overview to identify timeframes for performance testing, and to work backwards from “A” races. A common coach question is ‘when do you want to be your fastest?” When is your “A race”.  These answers help determine when to begin the on season training, when to build base, and when to switch from base to race. We call this a worksheet because it is a work in progress, its fluid and may be changed. Goal setting is a process, often times an athlete’s race program is ironed out by late February here in Colorado.  2021 may be much different.  Earlier for warmer weather states such as California, Texas, & Arizona.  We use the ATP to stay focused as the coach & athlete designing training programs in 4-week blocks. 2. Fall Foundation, Aerobic Endurance The Fall time frame is an opportunity to work on one’s weaknesses and carry a level of fitness into the winter months.  It may be a time to start losing weight, ride a fixed gear or get in some big rides before the winter forces many of us indoors.  For some athletes cyclocross racing may be used for training.   We also use this time for muscle endurance work in the form of Muscle Tension Intervals aka MTi’s.  It is VERY IMPORTANT to note that this is a time where our coaches are creative with training and flexibility is key.  Compared to the Spring, training is relaxed and low key.  Our coaches tend to stay away from intervals and instead encourage fun group rides, riding from the bottom to top of various climbs, “Strava Hunting”, and so forth.  If the athlete is a ‘roadie’ he or she may be encouraged to mountain bike or to dabble in cyclocross racing.  If an athlete’s climate dictates short rides over the winter, we will use the Fall as a time to ‘get fit’ so as to carry a significant amount of adaptations into the winter months.   For those familiar with TSTWKT we will raise the athlete’s Chronic Training Load (CTL), prescribe a regeneration block and test at the end of the block to set an off season power at threshold (FTP) benchmark. (Purchase the 3 week $29 Training Plan HERE) For our athletes that are severely affected by daylight savings (Sunday November 1st, 2015) we will often schedule the Fall Foundation to end just prior to daylight savings so that the next block of training (Resistance Training) occurs in the gym where daylight is not a factor. 3. Resistance Training, 10 weeks & 4 Phases: Cycling Specific Adaptation > Hypertrophy > Strength > Power with the last two phases coupled to on the bike neuromuscular work.  Anyone can lift weights but remember that our 10-week cycling specific resistance program is speed specific and therefore effective for improving power output on the bike.  We also use this time to work on muscle imbalances, core strength and flexibility. (Buy our 6 week Training Plan HERE) We work with our athletes to time the resistance training program to overlap with the worst weather riding months.  It’s important to remember that resistance training is not for everyone and we interview our athletes carefully before recommending the training. If you want fight age related decline in performance (the O.L.D.s) lift weights. You’ll also improve your sprint, climbing, ability to attack & counterattack – to be explosive, then our resistance training program is the place to start. 4. Advanced Aerobic Endurance: “Base”: building a “Hemi-Powered Aerobic Engine” We take the traditional ‘piles of miles’ and use power based training & metrics to help you make the most out of your time to train.  After all, who’s got 12  hours or more a week to train like the pro’s?  Our training plan design follows a fatigue dependent model starting with Sweet Spot methodologies to raise CTL (Chronic Training Load).  Ramp rates are specific to how much time the athletes has to dedicate to training each week.  We spend a significant amount of time determining the athlete’s work & family schedules to create a balanced and productive training plan. (View our 6 week Sweet Spot Part 1 Training Plan HERE) (After completing our 6 week Sweet Spot Part 1 plan, move on to Sweet Spot Part 2: Training Plan) (When you complete Sweet Spot Part 2, buy the Sweet Spot Part 3 Training Plan HERE) During the work week, Monday thru Fridays (for those of us with traditional 9 to 5 careers) we focus on shorter, highly focused advanced aerobic endurance workouts: sweet spot and tempo steady state and variable power all suitable to be completed outdoors or indoors or Zwift.  On the weekends, athletes do their longer rides whether those are in small groups or solo by TSS or AmEX rides.  During the “Base” Phase we use every creative trick in the book to plan out the best custom training program for each athlete we work with.  We track the size of the athlete’s base with the performance manager chart in TrainingPeaks – one’s Chronic Training Load or CTL. The bigger the base an athlete can build the faster and more powerful they will be.  Building a big base takes time and that’s why we are talking about it in August.  How much time? Approximately 18 weeks or 4 1/2 months.   Athlete’s could build less base but they will be less fast.  Those that carve out the time including the time to lift beforehand are the ones that reach their potential.  The athletes that shortcut their ‘base’ are the ones that miss the opportunity to perform with a hemi-powered aerobic engine. 5. Pre-Season Interval Work to Increase Race Specific Power Output This is the final phase of the off season where we dot the “i”s and cross the “t”s.   By this time frame we have identified what kind of races and events the athlete will compete in and we prescribe intervals to increase their ability to make power for the durations specific to performing well in those events. Aka race winning power output.  We employ a race specific interval training program to take athletes to their next level.  For those with powermeters, these are the workouts we’ll monitor closely to measure improvement and stay on top of fatigue. (During the pre-season, you’ll be ready to move on to our 6 week $49 Interval Plan HERE) As an example, for athletes whose goals involve criteriums we’ll work heavily on their anaerobic power outputs.  For time trialists, we’ll concentrate on threshold intervals down in the athlete’s aerodynamic position on the time trial bike.  Lastly, this is the phase where we’ll prescribe a field test or have athletes come into the lab to determine their maximal lactate steady state (MLSS).  In our experience we are used to seeing improvements in power at threshold anywhere between 3 and 20%. When the off season is all said and done, athletes begin the cycling season with an increased FTP (Functional Threshold Power) and an increased ability to produce power specific to their goals.  Additionally, athlete’s are more confident and optimistic about the season and are likely to enjoy the sport more. 2190Ready to get started? Purchase our complete 32-week off-season training program today!   Join our *FREE* Athlete Forum to nerd out with FasCat coaches and athletes about your FTP, race data, power based training, or anything related to going fast on the bike! Show Notes: Post Season Break Review Your Season to Set Goals for Next Year Master’s CTL Podcast Weight Lifting for Cycling Switch from Base to Race Race Specific Intervals Wattbike https://wattbike.com/us?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=FasCat&utm_con- tent=01_september_2020 Comments The post Off Season Training for Cyclists appeared first on FasCat.