Empirical Cycling Podcast
Empirical Cycling
Do you want to know how training makes you faster? Listen in. Kolie is a leading expert in endurance, sprint, and strength training for cyclists. Kyle is a NASA scientist and national champion sprinter on the track.
Empirical Cycling is a coaching company specializing in individualized training plans for all cycling disciplines. If you like the podcast, please consider a donation at http://www.empiricalcycling.com/donate.html
Empirical Cycling is a coaching company specializing in individualized training plans for all cycling disciplines. If you like the podcast, please consider a donation at http://www.empiricalcycling.com/donate.html
Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 24, 2021 • 30min
Ten Minute Tips #11: Integrating Physiology Into Coaching
This episode is Kolie's practical view on integrating physiology into a pragmatic training philosophy. Focused on coaches and self-coached athletes who are applying scientific learning to their coaching.
Feb 14, 2021 • 40min
Perspectives #1: The Challenges of Self Coaching, with Alex Carmona
In the first episode of the Perspectives series, Empirical Cycling coaches Kolie and Alex discuss self coaching, the challenges of training and motivation during COVID, the value of knowing thyself, among many other topics.
Jan 26, 2021 • 1h 13min
Watts Doc #30: What Limits Fat Use
This episode takes a wide angle view of the chain of events between starting exercise and successfully burning fat, and where the main bottlenecks are in that process. Nuances discussed are the differences between adipose tissue and intramuscular fats, energy demand rates, diet, and potential training strategies to improve fat utilization at most exercise intensities.
Jan 13, 2021 • 59min
Watts Doc #29: Why Fat Oxidation Is Anaerobic
This episode begins a series on metabolism with the process of oxidizing fatty acids for energy, and why the process is anaerobic. We also discuss fats vs lipids, different types of fatty acids, and take a deep dive into the periodic table to explain why oxygen loves electrons so much.
Dec 23, 2020 • 1h 18min
2020 Best of Instagram AMA Questions
To wrap up 2020, we went through all the questions asked for Kolie's weekend story AMAs and picked our favorites to expand on. The list of questions are in the show notes at empiricalcycling.com, in order of appearance.
Dec 17, 2020 • 19min
Ten Minute Tips #10: How To Read A Scientific Paper
In this first extended Ten Minute Tips, Kyle uses the extra time well to review his strategies to effectively read, digest, and understand any scientific paper. If you read papers along with us for the Watts Doc episodes, this may be a good playbook to pull from.
Cover art on this is an example of "data massage" as mentioned in the episode.
Dec 5, 2020 • 1h 20min
Watts Doc #28: Why HIT May Not Make You Faster
This episode looks at some cellular mechanisms of how HIT training leads to adaptation, or maybe doesn't. Ryanodine receptors, free radicals, calcium, the size principle, fluorescent mouse muscles, and more!
Nov 26, 2020 • 1h 16min
Watts Doc #27: Training Repeated Sprint Ability
This episode compares several types of steady state endurance training to the ability to perform repeated efforts above threshold and sprints. It outlines some of the science behind the different adaptations, training strategies to improve your ability, and suggested methods to track this specific type of fitness.
Oct 26, 2020 • 1h 54min
100k AMA
To celebrate 100k podcast listens, we asked for questions on r/velo and we got some great ones! This is a wide ranging and fun episode that covers how Kolie and Kyle feel about steady z3 rides, whether anaerobic capacity or FTP is the limiter, a few controversial training opinions, lifting, sprinting, the indoor equivalent to outdoor, and many other things.
Oct 20, 2020 • 13min
Ten Minute Tips #9: Drills To Hone Your Sprint Technique
In this extra long episode of Ten Minute Tips, Kolie shares the why and how of his two favorite technique drills to perfect your sprint. Newton's third law and learning to relax means big gears, little gears, and big power!
