FasCat Cycling Training Tips Podcast

It's that time again: you ask training questions, and we answer. Since we had well over 100 good questions come in this time, we're breaking this episode of Ask a FasCat into two. On this podcast, FasCat Founder Frank Overton tackles questions on subjets like lifting weights, losing weight, boosting FTP & the Boogeyman. Yes, the Boogeyman. Which listener won the custom Castelli FasCat kit for the best question? Listen in and find out. Have you been enjoying the FasCat Podcast? Please leave us a review on the App Store or Google Play. Thanks! You can save 25% off your subscription to Optimize — your year-round training solution with unlimited training plans, meal plans and strength and conditioning videos — with the code 25podcast. https://fascatcoaching.com/pages/app    

At FasCat, we're big believers in the big three for weightlifting for cyclists: the squat, the leg press, and the leg curl. (Done for a 10-week block during the off-season.) But there are plenty of other great exercises out there that can benefit you as a cyclist, too! In this podcast, we talk about the exercises we recommend throughout the year, plus some alternative to the big three, as we realize that some riders may face obstacles with the squat or leg press. Have you been enjoying the FasCat Podcast? Please leave us a review on the App Store or Google Play. Thanks! You can save 25% off your subscription to Optimize — your year-round training solution with unlimited training plans, meal plans and strenght and conditioning videos — with the code 25podcast. https://fascatcoaching.com/pages/app

The off-season is a great time to do a cycling-focused weightlifting regiment in order to be stronger and faster next year. Why should cyclists lift weights? How should cyclists lift weights? And how does strength gained in the gym translate to power on the bike? Frank Overton and Ben Delaney address all these issues and more in this podcast, which is #7 in an 8-part Off-Season How-To series. -- We have many off-season training plans - including weightlifting 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.

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