Fast Talk

We have another fantastic Q&A episode for you today, with a diverse range of questions. Our guest coach this week is Julie Young, who has appeared before on Fast Talk—episode 91, to be exact. Julie is a former professional cyclist turned coach. Her road racing career stretched over a decade with teams including Saturn and Timex. She continues to race today at a very high level across multiple disciplines, and is currently part of the talented team behind the Kaiser Permanente Sports Medicine Endurance Lab in California. On to the questions:  Erik Olsen from Aarhus, Denmark asks about time to exhaustion and the true definition of fatigue. Luis Arrondo in San Jose, California, wonders if there is a “currency exchange” between adaptation and recuperation. Reuben Kouidri, in Bristol, in the UK, has some goals far in the future, so he wants to know when the goal is a long way away and he doesn't need to peak until 3 years from now, is there a more optimal way to train for maximizing fitness than, for example, that 80:20 polarized ratio? Klemens Plasser in Vienna, Austria asks about glycogen use during exercise, the different exogenous and endogenous sources, and how each is utilized. Dan Draper in Salt Lake City, Utah ponders whether he’d be faster if he cut back or eliminated grains from his diet. James McKay in Yorkshire, England wants to know if a greater fat intake will help him improve performance and health. And finally, Tom Maher in Horwich, the UK, has questions about changes to heart rate in relation to power as he makes his way back from injury. All that and much more today on Fast Talk. Let's make you fast!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You’ve heard us talk about so-called “big gear” training on the program before. Many of you probably incorporate it into your riding, and for a variety of reasons.  What’s surprising is how little research has been done on this low-cadence, high-torque riding. Even the definition of what constitutes “low-cadence” remains hazy. And there are as many ways of incorporating this into your workouts as there are coaches. Threshold, sub-threshold, five minutes, or 20 minutes. There are many possibilities, and as many philosophies. Today we take a closer look at big gear work. What does the research literature say about performance gains and adaptations? What have elite coaches discovered through practice? Are coaches employing something their gut tells them works, and the research has simply yet to catch up? Our guest today is Neal Henderson, head of sport science at Wahoo, and, in his spare time, an elite coach to several WorldTour riders. Neal is one of those coaches who routinely uses big gear work with most of his athletes—from track riders to time trialists, including world champion Rohan Dennis.  We also hear from Sebastian Weber of INSCYD and Jim Miller at USA Cycling, two other highly experienced coaches who utilize big gear workouts with their athletes to great success. Finally, we hear how pro Petr Vakoc incorporates big gear work into his training. Alright, put it in the 53x11. Let's make you fast!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello and welcome to Fast Talk, your source for the science of cycling performance! I'm your host Chris Case. Today, we’re digging into the archive for some season-planning knowledge. Why now when our seasons have been demolished? Because it’s never too early to start soaking in the wisdom of seasoned veterans on how to best map out any season, particularly next year’s. Trevor did several great interviews with four top pros—Toms Skujins, Kiel Reijnen, Joey Rosskopf, and Larry Warbasse—for an article he was writing several years ago, and now we want to share their full wisdom. There’s no other agenda, they just had a lot of good things to say, from starting your season right to picking your moments in that season to peak; from fending off fatigue and overtraining to ending your season right. All that and much more on today’s episode. Let's make you fast!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever woken up early in the morning to go for a ride, skipped breakfast, and thought, “I wonder if that was bad for my training? Or maybe it was good?!” In today’s episode, we try to decipher if there are any advantages or disadvantages to occasionally riding, or exercising in general, in a fasted state. What does “fasted” actually mean, in this context? How’s that help, or hurt, my training? How conclusive is the evidence? And how often should I do it? Those are just some of the questions we’ll try to answer today.  Fasting is one of those subjects that many of you have likely heard mentioned in passing, but whether or not it can lead to true performance gains is another matter. To fast or not to fast, that is the question. Today, we go particularly deep into the details of fasting, from the different types of fasting you can use for both health and performance benefits, to the genetic and cellular mechanisms which could play a role in adaptations.  In essence, there are two overriding questions: Does fasting have health benefits? And does it help in training and performance? The science is pointing towards clear health benefits, but performance and training are less clear. We’ll explore all of that and much more today on Fast Talk. Our primary guest is someone who has spent his research career looking into these very questions. Dr. Brian Carson, of the University of Limerick, in Ireland, is a leading expert on the effects of exercising in a fasted state, as will become patently clear when we dive into the science.  We’ll also hear today from longtime USA Cycling coach Jim Miller, pro roadie Petr Vakoc and pro mountain biker Payson McElveen, leading physiologist Dr. Iñigo San Millan, and neurologist Dr. Dale Bredesen. Put down that cookie. Let’s make you fast.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, Coach Connor and I discuss something that comes up nearly every time we receive an email from one of our devoted listeners, from you. (By the way, please keep sending us questions and voice memos—we love them.)  So, what is it that is nearly universally included in every piece of correspondence we receive? Well, it’s some indication of a listener’s “threshold.” Often that figure is stated as if it is an absolute or as if it’s 100-percent accurate. And that’s what we want to address today: How accurate are these numbers, really? It turns out, not very. And as an extension of that, we also discuss just how difficult it is to get an accurate figure, for myriad reasons. We’ll discuss several of the most common ways to determine your threshold, and the advantages and disadvantages of each.   Coincidentally, we were already planning to record this episode when Trevor received an unpublished review by a team out of Auckland, New Zealand, led by researcher Ed Maunder at the Sports Performance Research Institute of the Auckland University of Technology. The review is a fantastic summary of this very concept, but since it isn’t yet published, we can’t discuss the findings just yet. That said, the group had a lot of great points that helped shape this episode, thus we do need to give them full credit for those ideas in this show. Once the review is published, we’ll do a second episode in which we’ll interview the researchers and discuss their review. One of the fascinating concepts we look forward to discussing with them is how “durability” factors into threshold measurements. Stay tuned.   Now, let's make you fast!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello and welcome to Fast Talk, your source for the science of cycling performance! I'm your host Chris Case.   I’ll set the stage for today’s episode with an analogy. And apologies to those of you who don’t enjoy our car engine analogies; alas, we’re sticking with it on this episode. We ask the simple question: Which has the greatest chance of consistently producing the best performances: a powerful, finely-tuned, race-inspired engine—take your pick from Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, and especially if you’re an F1 fan, Mercedes—or a heavily modified Honda Civic that you hope can compete at that goal race you’ve been preparing for?  Bringing it back to cycling terms, is it more beneficial to build a robust, complete physiological engine and then apply it to, or activate it for, different race situations, or is it better to work on specific attributes of your engine given the specific demands of a particular race? The answer, it turns out, has as much to do with training philosophy as it does to physiological principles. In today’s episode, we analyze which is more appropriate for you, and which leads to the best performances, and the best athletes. It’ll likely become pretty clear where Coach Connor and our main guest, Jim Miller, stand on the matter.   Jim, as Chief of Sports Performance, leads USA Cycling’s Athlete Development programs. In his previous role with USA Cycling, after a two-year hiatus took him to TrainingPeaks, Miller helped the United States earn 14 Olympic medals and numerous world championship titles since 2001. The list of athletes Jim has coached over the years is too long to read here, but notably includes Tejay van Garderen, Kate Courtney, Kristin Armstrong, and Lawson Craddock, to name a few. His coaching experience isn’t solely focused on the elite of the elite, however. Jim also works with athletes whose backgrounds or goals are unique, and they’re often from the amateur or master’s ranks. Not surprisingly, Jim has found the most success with the amateurs he coaches by applying the same principles he does to world champions. We’ll hear about those successes today. We’ll also take a compelling tangent into the importance of psychology and mental capacity to success. On today’s episode, we’ll also hear from American pro Kiel Reijnen, data analyst and coach Tim Cusick, and WorldTour physiologist Inigo San Millan. All that and much more, today on Fast Talk. Let's make you fast!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello and welcome to Fast Talk, your source for the science of cycling performance! I'm your host Chris Case, and today Coach Connor and I are joined by Coach Steve Neal of The Cycling Gym, which now resides exclusively in the virtual world: https://online.thecyclinggym.com/. Let’s get into the questions. Our first question comes from Dan S., as a follow-up to episode 113 on recovery period lengths: “What do you make of the FTP test protocols that call for a 5-minute maximal effort followed by a 5-minute recovery followed by a 20-minute FTP measurement effort? Is the 20 minutes representative of what an athlete could do for a 60-minute FTP test and, thus, what their FTP training power zones should be?”  A second question from Dan S. on body fat and hypothermia: “First, are athletes with lower body fat composition more susceptible to hypothermia? Second, is there a notable difference in chilling effect when either wetness or wind are added?” James K. wants to know how to structure a rest week: “How should I structure the rest week to get the most from it? Should I have multiple days completely off? Any opener intervals?” Our next question comes from Ellis P. of Rugby, England. He, like many this year, has had to pivot after his target event was cancelled. He wants to know how to adjust his training: “Can you ‘build’ forever?” he asks. “I need both a very good aerobic and anaerobic system to be at the sharp end of the field. Initially my events were far enough apart that I could peak for U23 Nationals, take a break and then base/build/peak for the National Hill Climb Championships. With my original goal not taking place, can I base/build/base/build until September when I will start racing Hill Climb TTs in prep, or should I still take a break and reset? I don’t and won’t need a mental break, it’s only a physical break I’m concerned with. Given I haven’t ‘peaked’ yet this year do I need to take time off? Essentially, what I’m asking is do you need to change your training regularly/can your body get tired of one type of training even if you’re progressing that type of training (e.g. longer intervals)?” Israeli coach Dror H. asks about rest between VO2max efforts: “During your recent episode on rest periods between intervals with Sebastian Weber (FT113), you raised a point about the impact of recovery time between intervals on lactate removal and performance in the next intervals. Specifically, you mentioned Dr. Seiler’s article which showed no difference between 2 minutes and 4 minutes rest period. According to Dr. Weber, the reason why there was no difference is that in both cases the ATP-Phosphocreatine system recovered to the same level and the lactate levels were pretty much the same. So, from a physiological perspective 2 minutes and 4 minutes rest are almost the same. Now comes the question: In the case of 8-minute VO2max efforts, should we recover much longer to be able to generate similar power each time?” Finally, Devin K. wants to know: “What is happening when you ‘blow up’ on a ride?”  Let's make you fast!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Which cycling shoes should I buy? This may seem like a straightforward question. But the better thing to ask is: Which shoes are right for my feet? If you’ve been a professional cyclist with extensive experience as a bike fitter, like show host Colby Pearce, the answer to that more complex question becomes an hour-long podcast, filled with the nuances of human anatomy. There are several questions about your physiology and biomechanics that need to be answered before you can select the ideal shoe for you, and for the purpose of your rides.Dial that Boa in—but not too tight.There’s much to be learned in today’s episode of Cycling in Alignment.REFERENCESLake 403s – https://lakecycling.com/products/cx-403?variant=30307106029662Device that expands toe-box – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B4SKS82?tag=duckduckgo-osx-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1Cycling Tips Podcast about Bont shoes: https://cyclingtips.com/2015/05/bont-vaypor-s-shoe-review/Bont Helix – https://www.bontcycling.com/products/road/helix/index.htmlBontrager XXX – https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/bike-clothing/cycling-shoes/road-bike-shoes/bontrager-xxx-road-cycling-shoe/p/25000/Lintamen – https://www.lintaman.com/Hanseeno – https://hanseeno.com/collections/performance/products/u100g-shoeswww.feetfreex.com/Treadlabs orthotics – https://treadlabs.com/Superfeet orthotics – https://www.superfeet.com/en-usIcebug orthotics – https://icebug.com/insolesG8 orthotics – https://www.g8performance.com/Colby’s Site – http://www.colbypearce.com/Email – cyclinginalignment@fastlabs.comInstagram – https://www.instagram.com/cyclinginalignment/Twitter – https://twitter.com/CyclinginAlign_Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/cyclinginalignment-110271017351743 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re taking a good long look at training metrics. We’ve released previous episodes on how to use different numbers, what many of them mean, and how they’re calculated. Today, we tie it together into one package, with a master of data analytics, Tim Cusick, who is not only the product leader for TrainingPeaks’ WKO platform, but also an elite cycling coach of athletes including Amber Neben and Rebecca Rusch. As Tim likes to say, if each ride you do is a single note, to get the most out of your training, you want to string those rides together in the most elegant way. That is, you want to make music. I love that analogy for the art of training and coaching. To set the stage for our conversation, it’s helpful to understand that even a data aficionado like Tim fully understands that metrics are not the be-all-end-all—the power of numbers is in their ability to effectively inform the decision-making process. Athletes and coaches should use data to learn more about how best to train, but the data cannot be the solution unto itself.  It’s also helpful to define some terminology. Most of you will have heard of stress, or external load; then there’s strain, the internal load applied to a system; and finally TSS, or training stress score, which we will define and dissect. Likewise, you’re likely familiar with the PMC in TrainingPeaks. The performance management chart shows trends in your season. Finally, Tim often mentions the “content” of the work used to generate these different metrics. What he means by that is the composition of the training rides, whether they’re intense or easy, long or hard, and so forth.  To tie it all together, today’s episode is about utilizing a training philosophy to design the right type of workouts—the content—then using the metrics as a guide to inform how much, how often, and how difficult those rides should be. Voila, you’ve got some Mozart, hopefully. Maybe if you’re Trevor is more like Celine Dion or Shania Twain. (They’re Canadian) On the program today, we also hear from a host of other prominent figures about how they use, or don’t use, all the metrics we have available today. Guests include physiologist Jared Berg, pro mountain biker Payson McElveen, the legend himself Ned Overend, WorldTour veteran Brent Bookwalter, and Xert creator Armando Mastracci. Time to crunch some numbers, and fill out the all-important comments field. Let's make you fast!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today’s Q&A episode we invited coach and co-owner of Forever Endurance, Grant Holicky, to join us for a lengthy discussion on a myriad of topics.  First, we converse about sweat rates. Ernest Boskovic references our discussion in episode 111 with Dr. Cheung, and asks several intriguing questions. (It makes us believe we’ll soon invite Dr. Cheung back to the program for a full episode on the subject.) Here are a few of Ernest’s questions: What is the relationship of sweat rate to intensity? What is the relationship of sweat rate to intensity? Is it a linear relationship? What is the relationship of sweat rate to core temperature? What is the relationship of sweat rate to dehydration?  We then discuss how to use polarized training for cyclocross. Can it be done? Should you stop polarizing at some point and bring in more specificity? Or should you become even more polarized as the season approaches? Next, we discuss ROS and the differences between pros and amateurs.  Then we jump into VLAmax. Devin Knickerbocker asks why it is that having a higher VlaMax means your endurance performance suffers? We then chat about big gear work on the flats: there is value in high-torque intervals, so how does one execute such intervals properly, particularly in flat areas of the world or on the trainer? Finally, we converse about recovery tools—when and how to use them most effectively.  All that and much more in today’s episode. Let’s make you fast!   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices