Let’s cut to the chase: if you’re not seeing improvements within your season as an aging athlete, adjustments must be made. This is keeping in mind that training, and thereby training adaptation, is cyclical in nature. So the magnitude of improvements will be largely dependent on what level of athlete you already are. Nonetheless, there…
We want results and we want them fast. So how do we get them? In sports science theory, empirical research now backed with scientific evidence identifies a way our bodies achieve the desired metabolic and muscular response of increased aerobic capabilities and strength. The methodology and actual training adaptation that gets you there is supercompensation.…
Alcohol is intimately related to cycling and racing in general. Post-ride trail brews, podium champagne and “recovery beers” are all a regular part of our cycling vernacular and culture, but if you’re trying to take your training seriously, should they be? The effects of alcohol on performance can be narrowed down to two things: how…
Big wins don’t just happen. They’re the culmination of tens, often hundreds of smaller everyday wins that mold you into a stronger, faster cyclist. These small wins, better known as marginal gains, can help you overcome that all-too-often frustratingly small gap between winning and losing on race day. To help you bridge that gap, I’ve…
There are some races you can go into with confidence without a lot of prior training — a 100-200 mile bike race is not one of them. These one-day epics take a lot of preparation. And we’re not just talking about getting your body in good physical shape either. There’s equipment, your bike set up…
Despite her talent, Liz Lyles never wanted to be a professional triathlete in her twenties. She wanted a family. After the self-described homebody proudly had her two gorgeous kiddos with her husband Chip, she finally decided it was her time to do what so many athletes dream about: turn her passion into her career. That…
The goal of every cyclist is to optimize their power-to-weight ratio (w/kg). More power with less weight is going to make you faster —but how do you know if you are losing the right type of weight? Today’s post explores three methods cyclists can employ to measure their weight loss with precision. Overview Fat does…
Entering winter, as well as transitioning out of the cold-weather months and into spring, are the times riders ask us most to explain the differences between testing their Functional Threshold Power (FTP) outdoors versus indoors. The truth is, there are a lot of variances between the two approaches. However, the goal of assessing FTP is…
We started Ask a Cycling Coach with one goal in mind: to give cyclists — TrainerRoad users or not — the information they need to make the most of their training and achieve their goals. More than 150,000 listens later, we’re introducing a page dedicated to our podcast, along with a few new ways to ask…
“How do you like to recover after training hard or an event?,” is the lone question that caused an avalanche of deeply thoughtful and unique responses. Before I go any further, let me give you some back history. Prior to sitting down to write this post, I asked this question on Slack, a messaging platform…