We dig deep into a meta analysis' findings on the difference in muscular adaptations between training intensity and volume, especially what we can differentiate between continuous moderate intensity, HIIT, and sprint interval training. We also discuss the paper's findings on one aspect of "mitochondrial function", bullet point some practical takeaways, and answer your listener questions.

Watts Doc #49: Endurance Intensity and Volume

In this episode we recap the big lessons from the last Watts Doc episode and revisit pacing endurance rides in terms of RPE, power, and heart rate, and finding that first threshold. Then we spend a long while considering how to program endurance rides into low, medium, and high volume weeks which we roughly block into <10h, about 15h, and >20h and the considerations we have for each scenario. Then we answer your listener questions on HR zones, the talk test, fueling endurance rides, cadence, whether you should do the occasional high volume week when the opportunity arises, and more.

Ten Minute Tips #37: Pacing And Programming Endurance Rides

For this episode, Kolie and CTS coach Adam Pulford made lists of their most impactful coaching mistakes, how they recognized them, and their fixes. Lists include high intensity, training zones, communication, and more, plus things still ongoing. Also discussed is what makes a good coach, as well as your listener questions on the best coaching mistakes, fatigue management, trusting your coaching clients, and more.

Perspectives #32: Coaching Mistakes, And What Makes A Good Coach

Professor Patrick Smith joins to discuss performance psychology, its role in cycling performance and everyday life, and some of the underlying themes and tools he uses in practice. We also discuss race nerves, negative spirals, some of the stigma around psychology in sports and overcoming it, defining the metrics of success, and more.

Perspectives #33: The Psychology Of Excellence

Coach and returning guest Marinus Petersen rejoins to discuss the pros and cons of different ways to quantify endurance and total training volume and adaptation. We consider TSS, total hours, and work measured in kilojoules, as well as coaching and programming aspects of endurance rides and balancing with interval sessions or races. We also answer your listener questions.

Perspectives #34: Quantifying Training Volume, with Marinus Petersen

Kolie and Rory discuss their lists of the best things to do or avoid to maintain fitness in race season, and balance with appropriate rest. Also touched on are race prioritization, training and progression expectations, methods to estimate and manage fatigue, openers, volume vs intensity, and much more including your listener questions.

Ten Minute Tips #38: Balancing Training And Rest During Race Season

Retired professional road and cyclocross racer and newest Empirical Cycling coach Erica Zaveta joins to share wisdom from twenty years of competition and a decade of coaching. We discuss individualizing training for the high intensity disciplines of criteriums, cyclocross, and mountain biking, along with how and when to take mid season breaks, incorporating skills work, and adding practice crits and cyclocross practices to your program. Plus listener questions as always!

Ten Minute Tips #39: Individualizing Training For Crits, CX, And MTB

We discuss the dos and don'ts of trying new training methods. Whether or not you should try something new, setting a baseline, going all in on one thing, variables to adjust, finding a minimum dose, incorporating rest and fun, diets, vo2max and TTE blocks, and more, including your listener questions.

Ten Minute Tips #41: How To Try New Training Methods

We consider hypoxia inducible factor's muscular response to high intensity exercise before going more in depth in its effects with the next episodes. We break down high intensity training, defining hypoxia vs anaerobic, then dive into a study that investigates its main effects in high intensity execise, as well as individual variation in training response. Plus a couple practical tips for considering this pathway in training, as well as a peek at the adaptive tradeoffs we'll see in future episodes.

Watts Doc #50: Hypoxia And Muscular Adaptation

Kyle returns to the podcast with balloon stories, but skip to 28:00 for the main topic of strength being a skill, and the training implications that this has. We discuss defining strength, goal settings, minimum effective dose for strength improvements, strength maintenance, tradeoffs with aerobic goals, individualizing strength programming, cycling specific programming and exercise choice, and many, many listener questions.

Ten Minute Tips #42: The Training Implications Of Strength As A Skill

A study knocking out HIF1alpha in mice reveals a counterintuitive relationship between markers of phenotype like fat oxidation, mitochondria markers, capillary density, and fiber type, and not having improved baseline performance. This uncovers an interesting relationship between the HIF pathway and oxidative metabolism, and how seemingly opposing adaptations are complementary.

Watts Doc #51: The Complicated Relationship Between Performance and Phenotype

We discuss everything sweetspot. How do we define it, what kind of training is it, what's the nature of progression, how much is too much, upsides and downsides including time efficiency, fueling, over/unders, and more. We also answer tons of listener questions, like if it can raise FTP, if it's overrated or underrated, sweetspot for sprinters, how long you can hold it relative to your FTP, and much, much more.

Ten Minute Tips #44: What's So Sweet About Sweetspot

This episode plays out one of Kolie's coaching thought experiments: what's the simplest training plan possible that would probably be effective for the largest number of people? We each present our plan and then critique them, once again realizing how difficult it is to create a plan without our usual tool of athlete feedback. This starts a discussion about the best potential audience for each plan, the different needs of beginner, intermediate, and advanced athletes.

Ten Minute Tips #45: The Simplest Training Plan Thought Experiment

Dr. Traci Carson joints to discuss low energy availability and relative energy deficiency in sport, or LEA and RED-S. We consider their origin in the female athlete triad, some differences in female and male physiology and symptoms, the fuzziness of energy intake, symptom overlap with fat loss diets, the need for carbohydrates, the relationship to similar conditions like overtraining syndrome, social considerations and assessing cycling's broader awareness on these issues, and much more. Be sure to check the podcast notes to read the linked papers at https://www.empiricalcycling.com/podcast-episodes/perspectives-36-the-consequences-of-chronic-underfueling-with-traci-carson

Perspectives #36: The Consequences Of Chronic Underfueling, with Traci Carson

Finally tackling one of our most requested topics, we discuss the options available for cyclists doing strength training at home with limited or no equipment, and suggestions for cost effective equipment. We go through exercise selection, loading strategies, biomechanical considerations, sets reps and rest schemes, hypertrophy vs strength, sprint power transfer, isometrics, and more. The pros and cons and realities of our suggestions are weighed, a couple thoughts in relation to general health, and many listener questions are answered.

Ten Minute Tips #47: Strength Training With Limited Equipment

This episode covers practical cues that we use to be reasonably certain that workouts will have their desired effect, and tease apart the difference relationship between stimulus and adaptation. We give suggestions for the major training modalities including threshold and VO2max, plus strength and hypertrophy. We also discuss ways that these cues could be easily misused, plus the pros and cons of some other potential proxies like fatigue, power, heart rate, RPE, HRV, soreness, TSS, and more.

Ten Minute Tips #49: Practical Proxies For Stimulus

Jem Arnold takes a break from his PhD studies to discuss the implications of a recent meta review and systematic analysis on how training intensity distributions impact VO2max and time trial performance, on which he is a coauthor. We also dig into the methods behind a paper like this, and the statistical distributions of performance itself and how that affects interpretation. We also discuss his doctoral studies on flow limitations in the iliac arteries, the role of NIRS, and long term implications of training with such issues, plus his blog, VO2max training, and more.

Perspectives #38: Training Intensity Distributions, NIRS, and Iliac Arteries, with Jem Arnold

Concluding the series on hypoxia inducible factor in skeletal muscle, we go in depth with a paper investigating regulation pathways that blunt HIF's effects in well trained athletes, plus speculate as to whether the Pasteur effect is something worth worrying about while considering other evidence and parallel adaptive pathways. We also ponder some practical takeaways for very well trained endurance athletes as well as for those earlier in their training career.

Watts Doc #52: Hypoxia Inducible Factor's Diminishing Returns

While the definition of a junk mile is still debated, we do our best to come up with a definition, analyze it in relation to training adaptations, and what should be done. We touch on volume, intensity, group rides, mental health, fatigue and security blankets, training camps, recovery, hyper-optimization, and lots more.

Ten Minute Tips #54: The Truth About Junk Miles

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

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