FasCat Cycling Training Tips Podcast

This week, we discuss how Strava live segments can “hack” your interval performance by increasing motivation, positive reinforcement, and therefore your power output. A Strava-Val is going as hard as you can like an interval but using the live Strava segment for motivation. Knowing in real time if you are ahead or behind your PR is good for 10-20 more watts of motivation. Kind of like a group ride of one. You can do VO2 Max intervals, anaerobic intervals, climbing intervals, breakaway intervals, time trial intervals and of course sweet spot intervals with this style of training.  The choices are endless and at this time of the year, mid-summer, variety is the spice of life and being motivated to go hard is more than half the battle to staying sharp. 21766Follow the plan that Phil uses to get KOMs across the globe. Here’s how to perform a Strava-Val: #1: Create a Strava account The basic is free and the premium (“Summit’ for $8/month) gets you live segments.  The live segment feature is highly effective for turning yourself inside out during your effort to get your PR. Therefore as a coach, since I like when athletes turn themselves inside out, I like the strava live segment feature a lot   The key feature that I’m talking about is knowing how many seconds you are ahead or behind of getting your PR or that KOM of the segment you are using for an interval. #2 Choose and Star your Segment in Strava Remember the duration of the segment you choose forces specific physiological adaptations: 20 – 60 second segment(s) train your anaerobic ‘glycolytic’ pathway 3 – 6 minute segment(s) train your VO2 Max 8 – 60 minute segment trains your threshold power (TT & Climbing) Choose 20 – 60 second segments if you are a criterium, flat road racer or cyclocross racer Choose 3 – 6 minute segments if you want to raise your FTP and compete in hill road races with 3 – 6 minute climbs Choose 8 – 60 minute segments if you want to climb faster, time trial better or work on your threshold power. Choose 1 – 3 hour segments for gravel or marathon mtb racing Or choose any segment that motivates you! #3 design your workout We recommend Strava-Vals at the point in the season when we think you do not need to do 2 sets of 3 x 3 minutes on 3 minutes off with a 6 minute set break between 265 – 305 watts.  All you need to do is sharpen the sword with 2 or 3 really REALLY hard similar length efforts. Thus – find your segment and plan to go as hard as you can on it two or three times. Really hard – harder than normal intervals hard because a) you are only doing 2 – 3 and b) because Strava , haha. Warm up well in Zone 2 while riding over to your segment and go for it.  After 2 or three of these your ‘interval’ workout is down and you can cruise back home. You can also mix multiple types of energy system efforts based on different segments within each workout to mix it up and replicate race specific efforts…the options are unlimited! Group Ride Strava-Vals for extra credit: I don’t recommend the live segment feature during the effort because you are riding in a group and want to be as safe as possible. Plus if its cyclocross or mountain bike training there may be some technical riding where you want to keep your eyes on the trail! Still, going for that PR and ‘winning your group ride’ is the extra motivation that makes the group ride all the more better. Try it out the next time you want to get that extra 1-2% out of your next interval session! For more podcasts and training tips, visit fascat.wpengine.com/tips! The post Using Strava Live Segments to Perform “Strava-Vals” appeared first on FasCat.

This week we sit down with Jim Miller, USA Cycling’s Chief of Sports Performance and coach to many of USA’s greats such as Tejay van Garderen, Kate Courtney, Kristin Armstrong, and Lawson Craddock to name a few. Jim is the ultimate “coaches coach” and has been coaching elite level cycling for nearly 2 decades, and his work has developed amazing athletes and superstar performances, including world championships and Olympic medals. 39934More Training For Your Limited Time Frank and Jim discuss everything from his coaching philosophy, athletes’ least favorite workout, float tanks, embracing failure, and the approach going into Tokyo 2021. Past Training Tips referenced in the podcast: Whoop Recovery Float Tanks VO2 Intervals: 5 on 5 off (Hickson Holloszy paper) MotorPacing 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 Coaching USA’s Elite and Embracing Failure with Jim Miller appeared first on FasCat.

This week Frank talks about the 3 ways he advises athletes to use Zwift as a Training Tool. They include: #1 Using Alpe Du Zwift #2 ERG Mode # 3 Group Rides and Races Save 25% on your next training plan with code 25podcast 39836More Training For Your Limited Time What if you had a one hour climb out your backyard to train on? Well now you do with Zwift’s Alpe D Zwift. We’ll talk about using the Alpe du Zwift as a training tool – not necessarily playing the game and racing… but as a training tool to help you follow your training plan and workout better.  Bringing some enhancements to FTFP’ing. The Alpe is a great way to use terrain to help you make better watts.    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. The post Zwift as a Training Tool appeared first on FasCat.

We are honored to talk about sweet spot training with Dr. Andy Coggan, Ph.D on this podcast.  Dr. Coggan is an Associate Professor of Kinesiology at Indiana University’s School of Health and Human Sciences.  IU has a doctoral program in Kinesiology so if there’s a young cyclist out there that wants to study how to get faster, IU’s Department of Kinesiology could be the place for you. 39701More Training For Your Limited Time Andy and Frank go way back to the early days of USA Cycling Coaches Education Program primarily from the power based training seminars and clinics.  In 2004 Andy presented at the Coaches Summit at USA Cycling’s headquarter’s in Colorado Springs, CO and introduced a power based impulse – response performance model. The term sweet spot training was born a few months later from a group of coaches working to validate the model which would later become the Performance Manager Chart in TrainingPeaks and WKO. Andy is also the co-author of “Training and Racing with a Powermeter” along with Hunter Allen. Of course we reference the sweet spot graph, address the arbitrary units from the y-axis and the expected physiological adaptations from training in Zones 1 – 7. We also reference two important OG exercise physiology studies here: Effect of training on enzyme activity and fiber composition of human skeletal muscle Gollnick PD, Armstrong RB, Saltin B, Saubert CW 4th, Sembrowich WL, Shepherd RE. J Appl Physiol. 1973 Jan;34(1):107-11. Linear increase in aerobic power induced by a strenuous program of endurance exercise. Hickson RC, Bomze HA, Holloszy JO. J Appl Physiol Respir Environ Exerc Physiol. 1977 Mar;42(3):372-6. You can read about and listen to the story behind the performance manager chart, TSTWKT,  here. 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 Sweet Spot Training with Dr. Andy Coggan, Ph.D appeared first on FasCat.

The podcast this week is another installment of our Ask FasCat series, where we answer listener questions! Thank you to everyone who submitted questions via our forum, and congratulations to the 3 question-askers we selected to win a FasCat T-shirt! Listen in to see if you won… This go around we answered questions ranging from FTP adjustments for indoor vs. outdoor riding, making the jump from a new cyclist into a cat. 2 or 3, nutrition during the Coronavirus outbreak, moving to elevation from sea level, going after KOMs in training, and plenty more!  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. 39556Gravel Team T-Shirt Show Notes, Training Tips & Previous Podcasts Referenced: Timing is Everything FTP is Alive and Well The Effect of Altitude on Cycling Bassett, D.R. Jr., C.R. Kyle, L. Passfield, J.P. Broker, and E.R. Burke. Comparing cycling world hour records, 1967-1996: modeling with empirical data. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 31:1665-76, 1999. Using the Performance Manager Chart The 20 minute Field Test  Indoor 20 minute Field Test  Amity Rockwell and Peter Stetina Podcasts on Dirty Kanza pacing Strava-Vals Interval Intensity: going as hard as you can Gravel Then and Now, Pearl iZUMi blog post Save 25% on your next training plan with code 25podcast.  Our Gravel Team’s Jersey, Bibs, Hats and T Shirts are in stock and shipping out daily! The post Ask FasCat #9 — FTP Indoors vs. Outdoors, Corona Nutrition, and Timing is Everything appeared first on FasCat.

The whole gravel team is here to check in with the FasCat community about setting intermediate goals using virtual communities to keep the motivation high and training moving forward for the next few months.  You still have your A race goals and long term goals, we just don’t know (yet ) how the timing of those goals relates to your training. So in the meantime we present ways to have fun, ride alone, stay fit and improve while we get thru this pause and quarantine!  We share what is going in our own communities, our coaching goals with our athletes, the benefits of Strava and Zwift in current times, how our recent Cervelo Gravel Rush Zwift event went, and plenty more. It was a fun conversation – we hope this brings you some entertainment and wisdom to your day. You still have your A race goals and long term goals, we just don’t how the timing of those goals. 39182Gravel Team T-Shirt Show Notes Use: FasCat2020 to buy your Panaracer GravelKings Join the FasCat Strava Club Whoop Recovery Group: Use Team code = ‘COMM-7F3229 Join Us next Thursday April 2nd @ 1:10 MDT for the ‘Zwift // Cervelo Gravel Rush Series: “Beat Coach Jake Challenge” Watopia “Sand and Sequoias” Route :: 12.6 miles – Beat Jake’s time of 31:32 309watts Watopia Alpe Du Zwift :: 7.5 miles – Jake’s time of 39:48 330 watts Reminder we’re doing a Q&A episode next week – submit your questions! Via Instagram, the forum, or help@fascat.wpengine.com. And as always, help us out by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and save 25% on your next training plan with code 25podcast.  Our Gravel Team’s Jersey, Bibs, Hats and T Shirts are in stock and shipping out daily! The post Setting Intermediate Training Goals using Virtual Communities appeared first on FasCat.

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade as the saying goes. With the cycling season put on hold until May () there’s now plenty of time to get faster. Two life situations dictate your training approach: do you have less time to train + more stress / more ‘life stuff’ do you have more time now that you’re working from home Depending on your life situation, we recommend adopting a training style and strategy to match what you have going on plus what you have once this is all over: a low volume/ high intensity interval style of training or a sweet spot part 3 style more base/ more CTL training strategy We’ve even created a Corona Training Plan, (which is free with discount code #FtFP at checkout) to help you follow the plan. But this conversation extends beyond a global pandemic affecting our training and racing, lots of things can impact our consistency, such as weather, races being cancelled for a variety of reasons, or even just “life stuff”. We discuss the differences between indoor and outdoor training plans, the specifics of the Corona and Sweet Spot plans, and even throw in some tips on keeping up the Winning in the Kitchen habit during quarantine 36616Weather the Coronavirus with our Indoor Corona VO2 Plan. The Corona Style of Training uses a ‘fresher is faster’ training plan design model – the traditional low volume. high intensity approach.  Other key features are: the 3 > 4 > 5 VO2 Progression (see below) AmEX Rides Using your power data from a 2 x 10 workout to pace yourself properly for a 20 minute field test why we use heart rate during the prescribed Zone 2 rides The FasCat Gravel Team’s Hat T Shirts and Cycling Jerseys we mentioned in the pod may be purchased thru the links – order up , we are shipping daily! For more, check out all of our training plans, training tips, gravel team merch, and more over at http://fascat.wpengine.com The post COVID-19 Training appeared first on FasCat.

In light of the recent COVID-19 outbreak, the timing of your training for the 2020 cycling season has changed. Races are in question, stress is high, and a lot of us are wondering how to proceed with our seasons with so much being up in the air. So we decided to sit down and chat about the age old question: what should we do when our races get cancelled? How do we proceed when plans change? A lot of us are in this position, so we hope that this clears some of the worry and unknown when it comes to the next few weeks of the season. #KeepCalmAndFtFPOn . Here are 3 training scenarios if your plans have changed per our “Timing is Everything” Podcast: 35684Start building fitness and increasing FTP with our best-selling Sweet Spot plan. #1 your next race is in 6-10 weeks (and/or you have MORE time to train): Keep raising your CTL (Chronic Training Load) – everybody benefits from a ‘bigger base’ so keep building. In other words go from ‘race’ back to ‘base’ [reverse!] . In this case we advocate a Sweet Spot Part 3 training plan approach. With a ramp rate of 3-4 TSS per week you now have the opportunity to take your CTL 12 – 16 TSS/day higher from 75 – 90 (for example) which will make a big difference in not only your endurance but also your power output. #2 your next race is in 6-10 weeks (and you have LESS time to train): For example, your kids are home from school and you can’t ride outdoors like normal. In this case you may adopt a ‘go harder to compensate for less time to train’ approach to your goals from an interval training plan like the ones here. #3 you are a cyclocross’er in the off season and don’t want to go to the gym anymore [#flattenthecurve] We advocate making your own home gym with the strength and conditioning movements we prescribe in our 10 week resistance training plan.  You’ll have to let go of the squat, leg press and leg curl from the plan and double down on these strength and conditioning movements and routines Nino’s Coach Brandon’s #secretTraining 5 minute Plank Your REVO Physiotherapy Hydrate & Skate band exercises EC Fit Strength and Conditioning App YogaGlo I feel great and FAST Right Now: Good (!) & congratulations! Sounds like your training is working (you’ve been #FtFP’ing). Here are a few things you can do to flex your muscle: #1 measure how much faster you are with a 20 minute Field Test – not the ‘funnest’ so perhaps # 2 is your jam #2 go for your favorite Strava segment for a PR – take a page out of FasCat Athlete Phil Gaimon’s playbook and test yourself agains your previous best. We hope these suggestions and podcast help – that’s what we’re here for: to help you go faster on the bike.  Should you have anymore questions, concerns, dilemmas, obstacles, etc… reach out to your FasCat Coach, hire one or goto our athlete forum and post your question – we’d be glad to try and help! The post What to Do When Your Race is Cancelled appeared first on FasCat.

We’re starting a gravel team! That’s right, the FasCat Coaching Gravel Team will be a thing this year, and we’re here to tell you all about it! Coaches Frank, Jake, Isaiah, and Jackson will be traveling to six gravel events this year, including Mid-South, Belgian Waffle Ride, Dirty Kanza, Crusher in the Tushar, Steamboat Gravel, and Rebecca’s Private Idaho. With the help of some awesome brand partners, a sweet FasCat sprinter van, and an Apple Genius Bar-esque expo set up, we’ll be out at the races walking the walk to help you get faster. We’ll be providing expert level guidance on training, nutrition, and equipment, providing Normatec recovery, and more. 35426Make 2020 your best gravel season ever with FasCat’s Gravel Racing Plan. The goal is to engage with YOU, the race participants to share war stories from the races, connect with the awesome gravel community, represent our brand partners, and support your training and racing goals. For all things gravel team related, including the team, more on our brand partners, and training, check out our page at https://fascat.wpengine.com/gravel-team/ The FasCat Gravel Team is made possible by our fantastic podcast listeners, training plan customers, forum users, and our amazing brand partners: Excel Sports Cervelo Bicycles Panaracer GU Energy PEARL iZUMi Normatec HED Wheels We’ll see you on the groads! The post Announcing the FasCat Coaching Gravel Team appeared first on FasCat.

This week Frank and Jackson sit down to help each other out and answer some questions. Jackson is training for his first Dirty Kanza, and asked Frank to coach him through the overview of the next 3 months of preparation. Things like: Macro-scale training plan design, weekly and monthly hours on the bike Training camp ideas What DK simulation rides should look like How to incorporate intensity and tapering for an event like Dirty Kanza 35024Make 2020 your best gravel season ever with FasCat’s Gravel Racing Plan. And then to repay Frank’s wisdom, Jackson helped Frank with some questions about plant-based nutrition, such as: How much protein should I have per meal? What are some potential things I may be missing? What about the Impossible Burger? Is it healthy? We have a great back and forth conversation about these topics, and hopefully you can glean some valuable information for your own training, racing, and nutrition goals! Notable resources and mentions: DK talk with Amity Rockwell and Pete Stetina Vitamin B12: https://plantbaseddietitian.com/vitamin-b12-recommendations/ and Jackson’s preferred supplement: https://lovecomplement.com/ Jackson’s podcast: http://bit.ly/intheflowpod Idiot’s Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition Plant Based Sports Nutrition NutritionFacts.org  The post Frank and Jackson Talk Dirty Kanza and How to Go Plant-Based appeared first on FasCat.