Making Shift Happen

Food has no morality - it isn't "good" or "bad." Food just is. Your relationship with food can dictate a lot. So, this episode explores some questions you can ask yourself to further dive deeper into what this looks like for you. Some other episodes that explore food and nutrition include: 19. Should You Have Restriction or Restraint with Food? 20. Q+A How to Manage Training and Fuel Yourself as a...

How you warm-up for your strength session can ultimately dictate how well your strength session goes. if you start off your training session with some aches, pains, and tightness, how good do you think your workout will feel? A thorough and specific warm-up helps you ease into your training by quieting any soreness, increasing your range of motion, and getting you primed to move. A couple of other...

Watts are what measures your power on the bike. In order to move your bike, you need to apply force to the pedals, which is what generates power (or watts) on the bike.  If you think of it in terms of an equation: Power = force (the pressure applied to the pedals) / time (cadence or RPM you pedal). No matter how you apply power to the pedals, you want to be EFFICIENT when you do so. This means you...

Your core strength is crucial for everything you do with your body. It helps you generate stability, power, and keep your body safe in all planes of movement. Listen to this episode to learn why the core is crucial for everything and what some exercises are that can help you get more stability and strength in your core. These other episodes may interest you, so check them out: 20. Q+A How to Manag...

All too often, athletes focus on their lower body strength for mountain biking, neglecting upper body strength altogether. This not only puts you at risk for injury, but it also reduces your power and ability to perform at the top of your potential. Listen to this episode to understand WHY upper body strength is needed in mountain biking (and really any cycling-specific sport). A few other episode...

Like last week's episode outlined, stress happens, but you can manage it as best as you are able to by setting your non-negotiables to handle stress. Non-negotiables don't have to be complex, and they should align with your overarching goals - helping you to always keep your goal the goal. A few other episodes may interest you, so check these out: 35. 10 Ways to  Handle Stressful Weeks 10. Get Mor...

Stress happens, and unfortunately, your life cannot be completely stress-free. These ten tips on how to handle stress in your moments of overwhelm can be key in helping keep you on track for your goals. So, instead of wishing for no stress at all, try to find ways you can manage your stress as best as possible. A few other episodes may interest you, so check these out: 10. Get More Done by Batchin...

Losing is a word that holds a fair amount of negativity. What if you can shift your mindset about losing? What if you can consider if you lost or if you got beat? There is a difference. A few other episodes may interest you, so check these out: Episode 7. Is Strength Training Important for Cyclists? (this is a sign for you to sign-up to learn more about the #ShredStrong program I'm launching in Oc...

Let's talk about the importance of the often-neglected art of how to prep on race day: the warm-up. It's the phase of your training and racing that you almost always want to skip. Well, don't do that. Skipping a proper warm-up can leave you feeling much less ready and primed to GO on race day. So, try to make this a priority on your next race day or at your next training ride or session. Here's a...

In this episode, I talk about how balance impacts performance as well as the importance of balance training for your overall health. I also include ways that you can implement balance into your current training using some simple differences. These other episodes may interest you: Episode 7. Is Strength Training Important for Cyclists? (this will show you why you need to sign up for the #ShredStron...

In today's episode, I answer some questions I've received recently from you listeners about collagen protein. I just love you all for sending these questions into me, so keep sending them in! You can email me or DM me on Instagram. I talk about these studies in this episode: 24-week study on the use of collagen hydrolysate as a dietary supplement in athletes with activity-related joint pain Collag...

Race to finish mentality could be the missing link for you on race day. Stop cutting yourself short by not finishing a race, or stopping the race because of a challenge that you cannot control. Instead, embrace the race to finish mentality and approach and see what a difference it can make to the stress you place on yourself. Here are some other episodes that may interest you: Episode 29. Overcomi...

Your indoor bike rides can be optimal no matter the season. In fact, indoor bike training does not have to be boring or monotonous. It's actually a great time to focus on your efficiency and power output by using the 4 tips I share in this episode. Here are some other episodes that may interest you: Episode 13. Box Breathing and Other Ways to Manage Your Stress (this is a great episode if you find...

In this episode, I sat down with professional mountain bike coach, Joanna Yates, to talk all about overcoming fear on and off the bike. Here are some other episodes that you may find relevant to mindset and training: Episode 20. Q+A: How to Fuel Yourself as a Mountain Biker Episode 7. Is Strength Training Important for Cyclists? You can learn more about Joanna and book a coaching session with her...

Using this simple recovery tool will be such a game changer for you and your training. I outline how you can simply and effectively tap into something that you already do after your training in order to de-regulate your nervous system from the stressors you experience. Here are other episodes that may help you when it comes to rest and recovery: Episode 26: How to Know When to Train or Take a Rest...

Do you know when to take a rest day or train? While rest days are important to your overall progress, you may not know when or how to determine if you should take a rest day. In this episode, I outline 5 simple tips to help guide you to decide if it's better for a rest day or to train. Here are other episodes you may find helpful, one of which I reference in the episode: Episode 25: Take a Damn Re...

You should take a damn rest day. The mentality of “go hard or go home” and “constantly grinding” or “no pain, no gain” needs to die. Doing more does not mean that you are doing the best or doing what your body needs when it comes to training and fitness. All too often, I have athletes come to me who are working out 7 days a week. Yes, 7 days a week. They feel that they are not worthy of a day off....

It's getting hot in here! In today's episode, I talk about how to stay cool in hot weather, and offer some of my best tips on staying cool when the mercury rises. I mention the following items in this episode, so check them out here: Mission cooling buffs Polar water bottles (made in Colorado) Skratch Labs electrolyte mixes are my go-to Nuun Endurance is another decent hydration mix Stay cooler th...

What do you HAVE to versus GET to do? Our words are powerful. Try replacing this one simple statement (have to versus get to) this week and see what an impact it makes. Sometimes, this simple word and mindset shift can help you make more space and time for your own needs. But, for times when it doesn't, check out this episode on what to do when you're not motivated to train or do anything. Tell me...

In this episode, I follow-up on last week's episode, outlining an even simpler method to build the 'perfect' meal for your goals. This method uses your hand and not a food scale, making it even simpler and easier. Bringing awareness to what and how much you eat is crucial for you to get to your goals. (Plus, it's less of a headache.) The simplest way to bring awareness to what and how much you're...

In this episode, we're talking about how to build the 'perfect' meal for your goals and current situation. I see way too many folks not eating enough throughout the day to sustain their energy levels, and they wonder why they have an energy crash in the afternoon regardless if they've gotten ample sleep. The key here is to keep your meals fairly balanced with protein, carbs, and fats, especially u...

Welcome to episode 20! This is monumental, so I'm trying something new in this episode by doing a Q+A format. Today, I'm answering questions sent in by my listeners about how to manage training and fuel yourself as a mountain biker and more. All too often, you can risk overtraining when you're training for a race or event, plus it can be tough to manage stomach issues on top of optimally fueling y...

Should You Have Restriction or Restraint with Food? In this episode, I talk about how restriction or restraint with food can have varying outcomes with your diet. Restricting too much can lead you down a turbulent road of indulgence and bingeing that can further lead you down the road of yo-yo dieting (which is never any fun). Restraint, on the other hand, could be exactly what you seek for progre...

In this episode, I talk about how you should focus on progress not expectations. All too often, you likely focus on your expectations of what you THINK your progress should be, which can be way off base from where progress should be for you. Or, you ignore the progress you've made altogether thus far. Does that sound like a good plan for you and your progress? No, not really. If you want to follow...

In this episode, I talk about why and how you should try to start each day with a blank slate. This is a fresh perspective on the old philosophy of tabula rasa, or having a "blank slate," when it comes to experiences and preconceived notions. It's the idea that we learn through our experiences and hold onto those preconceived notions from those experiences. This idea of starting the day with a bla...