So did you notice an improvement in fitness if you starting doing the ISM Z2 training? I have not problem with consistent training and recovery and am 46yo. Is this something that takes months to adapt to or years?
The good Dr suggests training camps are not a good idea.
In my experience, (n=1), I have gradually moved my Zone 2 training up in power over the last 2 years. Currently at near Ventilatory Threshold, similar to what ISM describes. Last year at these power levels my pulse was 10 to 15 beats higher than this year. Haven’t noticed it getting any easier though
This is great. This IS the interview that @empiricalcycling failed to nail
I actually asked my coach about the whole “it’s not feeling any easier” thing. I have gotten stronger, LT1 is much higher than before, and I can ride at it for a long long time. But its not easy…
Apparently it comes down to muscle force. While your body might be able to produce that power for a sustained time, it’s apparently still the force being produced that you’re feeling.
Hence it still feels hard, even though it’s sustainable.
Once you get even higher LT1/VT1 you’re also burning a shit load of energy, so thats another aspect.
I guess Andy is Garmin guy then. ![]()
No love loss for Wahoo.
I’d say he is generation SRM

No love for quite a few folks, Brooks, Friel, all-you-have-to-train-at-fatmax-folks …
and not to forget Seiler!
Good that he encourages skepticism and critical thinking. Applying that, it’s a good reminder that he has just as much skin/ego in the game as any of us. ![]()
I’d say his ego his a “tiny bit” above “as any of us” … however, in contrast to all the social media darlings out there, his publication list is impressive. And these are high quality studies. When it comes to what science can actually tell us, he’s one of the few I would trust.
There was this podcast with legend Ed Coyle. Both, AC and SS did their PhDs in his lab. When asked about this he talked exclusively about AC. What a brilliant mind, what an athlete. Not a single word about SS. I found this quite telling. Of course, he probaly hasn’t seen the evil side of AC when going berserk on internet forums. Never really understood why he wasted his time with simple minds like us.
It’s so funny that this was all a hobby for him. He made his living working as a researcher in medical schools. Yet, his name looms large for any cycling nerd that has trained with power.
I love these Coggan interviews. There is no secret sauce, no secret intensity, no secret zone, you can’t just ride slow all day in zone 2 and get fast (specificity), there is no lower aerobic threshold, ride more if you want to get faster, when your progress stalls out change your training, …
In case anyone missed them, Kolie Moore did two long episodes with Coggan that were great.
I’m guessing its because he is a competitive cyclist, and wants to share some of his insights. Thankful he does.
He did say something new this time, something along the lines of: Above 15h, all you need to do is ride. “All roads Lead to Rome”.
That was a reference to the Mike Joyner interview (also very good) where they were talking about three different runners in the Toyko Olympics that used three different training methods yet all achieved essentially the same fitness:
Which is a bold statement for a scientist, 3 treatments with n=1 each ![]()
This is a good episode, too!
This was in the “Do people do zone 2 partly because it’s easy?” section. This specific reference starts around 1:19:00 with a discussion of his son training 10 hours a week (swimming), and some other schools are training 20 hours a week. He and his wife are convinced their son will get faster if he trained more hours, but how much more? On an individual basis the only way to know is to do more until you crack. Coggan’s experience/instinct is that somewhere around the 15 hour/week mark is where you start to trade intensity for volume. All roads lead to Rome. Lets say you are training 15 hours/week, and you want to get better, you gotta go hard. Thats not pleasant. So how much motivation do you have to have, to do that 52 weeks a year? Or is it easier to just ride more and have fun? All roads lead to Rome.
This individual - me - it feels like I crack before 15 hours. But I haven’t been in high school since the 70s
Again the point is at the individual level, you figure it out.
Also enjoyed the ‘broad strokes’ discussion (around 1:05:00) on 3 types of adaptations:
- typeA: increase maximal power or force
- typeB1: increase fatigue resistance during high intensity, non-sustainable exercise
- typeB2: increase fatigue resistance during lower intensity, prolonged exercise
He keeps talking about “reversibility”, in the context of big training principles, do you know what is he talking about?
