{"id":10471,"date":"2015-09-03T16:22:07","date_gmt":"2015-09-03T23:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.trainerroad.com\/?p=10471"},"modified":"2022-04-07T07:33:33","modified_gmt":"2022-04-07T14:33:33","slug":"ask-a-cycling-coach-002-trainerroad-podcast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/ask-a-cycling-coach-002-trainerroad-podcast\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask a Cycling Coach 002 \u2013 TrainerRoad Podcast"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"lead\">TrainerRoad&#8217;s <em>Ask a Cycling Coach\u00a0<\/em>podcast\u00a0gives you the chance to get answers to your cycling and triathlon training questions with USAC certified coaches Chad Timmerman, Jonathan Lee and special guests. Check out\u00a0a few questions we answered in our latest episode with special guest and TrainerRoad CEO, Nate Pearson.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Listen to the Full Episode<\/h2>\n<p><iframe data-src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/222963014&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<a name=\"hr\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>How should I\u00a0incorporate weightlifting into my\u00a0training?<\/h2>\n<p>Weight training\u00a0for cyclists is a contentious issue for many reasons. While it&#8217;s been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3230645\/\">suggested as something that can combat the common onset of osteoporosis<\/a> in cyclists, it&#8217;s something each athlete needs to consider on a case-by-case basis. Weight training to build strength\u00a0<em>requires<\/em> following proper technique. If this is overlooked, it\u00a0can put you further behind than\u00a0it does to move your cycling fitness and strength forward.<\/p>\n<p>There are tons of different opinions on how to train with weights for cyclists. But, one thing everyone agrees on is that replacing rest days with weight-training is a bad idea.\u00a0If you do choose to train with\u00a0weights,\u00a0combine it with\u00a0your high-intensity interval days.<\/p>\n<p>This is good for a few reasons.<\/p>\n<p>In most cases, your high-intensity interval workouts will be shorter than lower-intensity workouts. This gives you more time to train later in the day.<\/p>\n<p>Most importantly, combining weight training and interval workouts in the same day\u00a0allows you to completely recover on your rest days. Recovery is crucial to building fitness\u00a0in every situation, but it&#8217;s even more\u00a0important\u00a0when you add weight training into the mix.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, listen to your body \u2014 this is perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind when weight training. As always, start out small and measure the effect it has on your fitness and overall wellbeing, then\u00a0make adjustments as you go.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/trainerroad\/ask-a-cycling-coach-002-trainerroad-podcast#t=8:05\">To hear Coach Chad&#8217;s advice on this topic, listen at 8:05.\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h2>What is the best pre-race, mid-race and post-race nutrition?<\/h2>\n<p>This is another one of the most commonly debated topics in cycling. Nutrition is a very personal aspect of training because everyone&#8217;s body is different. Therefore, changes to your eating habits should start small and be measured accordingly. This dose\/response tactic is an effective way to manage your nutrition (not to mention the rest of your training regimen).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/timing-nutrition-training\/\">Pre-<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/timing-nutrition-training\/\">mid-<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/basic-advanced-ingredients-optimal-recovery\/\">post-race nutrition<\/a>\u00a0are commonly accepted yet widely refuted.\u00a0The most important part of nailing your nutrition strategy is to separate circumstances and eliminate variables, all while measuring how your body responds to the changes you make.<\/p>\n<p>Tracking\u00a0your food intake, sleep and stress levels on a daily basis\u00a0will help isolate how\u00a0your pre-, mid- and post-race nutrition is affecting your body. The best environment to experiment with \u00a0different on-the-bike nutrition is on the trainer. You can control more variables as well as measure your performance more precisely than outdoors.<\/p>\n<p>A great way to do this is by changing\u00a0your nutrition throughout\u00a0a recurring weekly workout. For example, if you regularly do a workout with six VO2 max intervals, analyze your power output and heart rate from one week to the next. Then, look for changes in your performance from one week to the next based off what you eat.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to this, keep a close watch on any symptoms of gastrointestinal distress from your new diet. Plus, remember that any change in diet, sleep or stress can also affect your training \u2014 not just diet.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/trainerroad\/ask-a-cycling-coach-002-trainerroad-podcast#t=31:08\">To hear Coach Chad&#8217;s advice on this topic, listen at 31:08.\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h2>What should my cadence be?<\/h2>\n<p>Similar to the previous topics, cadence varies from person to person as well. Your cadence may vary significantly from your friends and competitors based on two things:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Your physiology.<\/li>\n<li>Your specific cycling discipline.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Considering these two factors will help you determine the range for\u00a0your ideal cadence.<\/p>\n<p>Many people suggest riding at\u00a085-95 RPM. While this is a fairly reliable recommendation, there are plenty of instances where this doesn&#8217;t apply. Steep climbs or high speed descents will make it difficult to stay within this RPM range, but knowing\u00a0the effects that these situations will have on your body is half the battle.<\/p>\n<p>Slower cadences place greater stress on your muscles fibers, in turn causing excess fatigue. On the contrary, an excessively high cadence taxes your cardiovascular system \u2014 causing unnecessary tension in your body and robbing power from the muscles you need\u00a0to pedal your bike.<\/p>\n<p>In most cases, new cyclists will find it difficult to maintain anything above 90 RPM without bouncing. This in turn causes them\u00a0to spin more slowly.\u00a0Fortunately, this changes with time as riders build\u00a0increased muscle control and core strength.<\/p>\n<p>As riders build stability and comfort at\u00a0a wide variety of cadences, they&#8217;re able to ride\u00a0within their limits. They&#8217;re able to pass stress from their<em> low-cadence,<\/em>\u00a0<em>musculoskeletal system<\/em>\u00a0to their <em>high-cadence, cardiovascular system\u00a0<\/em>across various course profiles.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s important to consider that the best cyclists are efficient in a wide range of RPMs \u2014 no matter their cycling discipline.\u00a0You can see this in action in criterium races, mountain bike racing and cyclocross. They all demand surges, steep pitches and efficiency riding in varied terrains.<\/p>\n<p>However, even if you don&#8217;t participate in these disciplines,\u00a0every cyclist can benefits\u00a0from exploring\u00a0their cadence limits.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/trainerroad\/ask-a-cycling-coach-002-trainerroad-podcast#t=51:15\">To hear Coach Chad&#8217;s advice on this topic, listen at 51:15.\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Additional Notes<\/h2>\n<p>We answered a lot of questions in this week&#8217;s <em>Ask a Cycling Coach\u00a0<\/em>podcast.\u00a0You can learn more about these topics with the\u00a0resources below:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/ask-chad-transitioning-from-off-season-to-in-season\/\">What to do or change when picking structured training back up after time off<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/cycling\/plans\/category\/18-road\">How to train for a sportive or gran fondo<\/a><\/li>\n<li>In the saddle and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/how-to-improve-riding-out-of-the-saddle\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">out of the saddle<\/a> efforts during FTP tests<\/li>\n<li>How to train before your training plan is scheduled to begin<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/cycling\/plans\">How to increase five-minute power while maintaining steady-state power<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/ask-chad-recovery-weeks\/\">How to make the most of recovery days<\/a><\/li>\n<li>How to use\u00a0VO2 Max data with power-based training<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"lead\">If you have a\u00a0question that you&#8217;d like to ask Coach Chad, <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/1ya3EOx0tWRpwlF8TfxdcKL2UeESgBoEAwpLVmwrlt3g\/viewform?usp=send_form\">submit your question here<\/a>. We&#8217;ll do our best to answer them on\u00a0the next episode of the Ask a Cycling Coach podcast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TrainerRoad&#8217;s Ask a Cycling Coach\u00a0podcast\u00a0gives you the chance to get answers to your cycling and triathlon training questions with USAC certified coaches Chad Timmerman, Jonathan Lee and special guests. Check out\u00a0a few questions we answered in our latest episode with special guest and TrainerRoad CEO, Nate Pearson. Listen to the Full Episode How should I\u00a0incorporate&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":10641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3460,5],"tags":[43,92,120,122,193,242,246,265,446,450,498,518,537,543,571,578,599,616,673,758,771,774],"class_list":["post-10471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ask-a-cycling-coach-podcast","category-training","tag-ask-a-cycling-coach","tag-cadence","tag-coach","tag-coaching","tag-drink","tag-food","tag-ftp","tag-gran-fondo","tag-nutrition","tag-off-season","tag-podcast","tag-questions","tag-recovery","tag-rest","tag-seated","tag-short-power","tag-sportive","tag-standing","tag-threshold","tag-vo2","tag-weight","tag-weights"],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}