Empirical Cycling Podcast

This episode revisits FTP testing. We look at the progressions outlined in the 2018 FTP testing article, intensity domains, FTP, heart rate, and critical power, ramp tests, and defining terms in the sciences. We also look at "training ruts" and their effects on open-ended FTP tests, and methods to avoid those ruts. The podcast concludes with discussing definitions of various thresholds in the scientific literature.

In this episode we discuss preparations for successfully Everesting. With training we discuss periodization, cadence, and bike fit, and logistic preparations include picking the right road, nutrition, gearing, and dealing with mechanical and accident risks.

We answer your questions from the last episode on VO2max training, and, also at listener request, we look at some of last episode's Rønnestad material that got cut out. VO2max questions include: Aspects of position like standing and TT bikes. Transfer of heart adaptations to normal cadence riding. The right cadence, pacing, and terrain for intervals, rest intervals. How Kolie would structure VO2max training for thousands of cyclists at a time. What 30/15s (and other intermittent intervals) do better than raise VO2max. Periodizing VO2max through a season. What does it take to make your training adaptations your "new normal"?

This episode is the focal point of the previous VO2max episodes. We take the physiology from the previous episodes and use it to find easy ways to improve the effectiveness of any VO2max interval set. Ways to change your cadence, interval times, rest times, and interval intensities are discussed. Then we take apart a Ronnestad study on 30/15s and put it in context of VO2max and other fitness adaptations. We conclude with a training philosophy discussion on the physiology of true long term VO2max improvements.​​

In the penultimate episode of the VO2max series, we dive deep into how the heart pumps and adapts, how this stress leads to increased VO2max, and why cyclists may not want to take training cues from cross-country skiing.

Three collegiate conference directors and a board president walk into a bar... hypothetically. This is what it would sound like if it were at all safe to go to a bar. We talk about our fall season cancellations, challenges faced by race promoters, predictions for spring 2021, and reactions to rumors of a Zwift nationals. In the discussion are conference directors Nick Luther of SECCC, Kyle Helson of ACCC, Kolie Moore of ECCC, and ACCC board president Laura Ann Leaton.

This episode explores how and why hemoglobin's function emerges from its structure, which makes it a critical component in the oxygen distribution chain. We also discuss the lungs, why VO2max isn't related to hematocrit, and vascular capacity for blood storage before diving into a classic phlebotomy study that ends with a question mark that hints at the central importance of the heart.

Continuing the VO2max series, we take such a close look into the Fick equation we only cover one of its terms: the arterial-venous O2 difference. We break apart the factors that affect diffusion of oxygen into our muscles, limiters of oxygen utilization, and whether these factors are trainable to potentially improve VO2max.

The slow component of vo2max is often mentioned but seldom discussed. We take a deep dive into the nature of the slow component, including thermodynamics, fiber type, and the size principle.

In the first episode in a VO2max series, we take a deep dive into why VO2max power, or maximal aerobic power (MAP), is not a simple number that can be found in a simple test. We discuss the history, physiological, and methodological underpinnings of ramp tests and what makes them flawed, and what some people have done to try and account for these. Additional methods of MAP testing and tracking and their drawbacks are discussed. We conclude with some practical advice for ways to monitor improvements your own VO2max.