Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast - Presented by TrainerRoad

Cryotherapy is a recovery modality that is gaining popularity, but what does science say about its effectiveness? We’ll cover this as well as a look into scientifically-backed hydration strategies, what low heart rate means during races, and more. TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE (0:49) Keegan’s Unbound Experience (04:12) Does cryotherapy make you faster? (31:51) Why do I have low heart rate during...

Join us as we analyze Keegan Swenson’s and Alex Wild’s race performances at Unbound Gravel 2022. TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE (1:04) Keegan’s race review (19:00) Alex’s race review RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE https://trainerroad.cc/3tt3BeG   TRY TRAINERROAD RISK FREE FOR 30 DAYS! TrainerRoad is the #1 cycling training app. No other cycling app is more effective. Over 13,000 positive revi...

Hannah Otto joins us to cover all that she’s learned from her racing so far this season, as well as a discussion on how to maximize the effect of recovery weeks, whether endurance bikes are actually slower than race bikes, and much more.   TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE   (0:33) What Hannah has learned from her Spring 2022 race season (31:24) Amber and Hannah’s tips for racing to win (39:47) Unbou...

Amber, Coach Chad, and Coach Jonathan cover how shortening or increasing the intensity of rest between intervals affects adaptations, what the least amount of training is that you can do to get faster or maintain fitness, Ambers tips for how to build a race plan, and more importantly, how to stick to it or adapt mid-race, and much more. Join us for Episode 365 of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast!  ...

Power-to-weight ratios are a helpful indicator of performance potential, but they can wreak havoc on athlete’s expectations and mental state. Join us for a deep dive into why W/kg may not perfectly represent your potential, as well as discussions on the point of Specialty Phase training and how to use it, how to pace hilly ultra-endurance events and more!   TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE   (1:22)...

What can you do to enter a parasympathetic state as quickly as possible post-training, and why is it so hard to achieve sometimes? We’ll cover this and how to build fitness that withstands and doles out attacks, if Epsom salt baths are beneficial for cyclists, and much more in Episode 363 of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast!   TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE   (01:25) Do epsom salt baths help recove...

Amber, Ivy, and Nate join Coach Jonathan for a discussion on what coaches mean when they say “consistency”, why it matters, and how to prioritize it, how to break away from a strong field, why cyclists have tight hips and what to do about it and much more. Tune in now for Episode 362 of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast!   TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE   (02:23) What is training consistency and why...

What is the best type of training to maintain fitness, how to match your nutrition plan to your event, and are complete rest days necessary? Join Coach Chad, Amber, Nate, and Jonathan for these discussions and much more!   TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE   (04:07) What’s the best type of training to maintain fitness? (27:05) How to match your nutrition plan to your event (50:19) Do you need complet...

Coach Chad, Amber, Nate, and Jonathan discuss what causes high heart rate during training, the effect of altitude on tapering and the specialty phase of training, anaerobic work capacity and much more in Episode 360 of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast!   TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE   (6:44) What causes high heart rate during training? (24:29) Why tubeless tires are not fixing flats in road races...

What effect does body hair have on evaporative cooling, how to find the minimum effective dose with heat training, should openers depend on your event type or your preferences, and much more in Episode 359 of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast!   TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE   (01:52) How does body hair affect evaporative cooling? (11:49) How to find the minimum effective dose with heat training? (...

Is BFR training your missing piece to getting faster? Coach Chad, Amber, and Jonathan cover this along with pedaling technique, whether cold weather causes cramps, and much more in Episode 358 of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast!   TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE   (03:37) Does blood flow restriction (BFR) training make you faster? (57:15) Intermission: Host Challenges/Events Discussion 01:06:04 How...

Ivy and Nate join Coach Jonathan for multiple questions on nutrition that will give you actionable tips for big improvements, as well as discussions on multi-day event pacing, race anxiety, and new possible podcast host events and challenges!   TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE   (5:30) Dropper posts and other innovations in bike racing (21:20) How to manage pre-race anxiety (47:55) How to pace yours...

Amber Pierce and Alex Wild join Coach Jonathan for a guide on how to crush long climbs, sleep’s effect on training adaptations, and whether it matters if you train at a specific time of day with consistency. Tune in and share this episode with your friends!   TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE   (4:25) Does training time consistency matter? (22:17) Pacing marathon MTB and gravel courses like the Tahoe...

Hannah Otto, Coach Chad, Ivy, and Jonathan discuss the point of anaerobic training and how strength training affects it, why different people need to warm up differently and guidance for your next warmup, how to use both indoor and outdoor training to get faster and much more. Tune in now to Episode 355 of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast!   TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE (01:14) What happens to ou...

Amber, Ivy, and Coach Jonathan discuss what HRV is, how it’s used in endurance sports, what it means if your HRV is low or high, what your HRV should be, the objective of threshold training and pro tips on how to get better at it, how to have productive conversations on sensitive nutrition issues with endurance athletes and much more. Join us live on YouTube for Episode 354 of the Ask a Cycling Co...

Amber, Coach Jonathan, and Pivot Cycles / DT Swiss’s Hanna Otto join us for a discussion on whether amateurs should train like pros, the crossover effects of aerobic and anaerobic training in different zones, tips from Hannah on technique and equipment choice, and much more. Tune in for Episode 353 of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast!   TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE   (0:57) What Hannah learned fr...

Coach Chad, Amber, Nate, and Jonathan take a deep dive into stretching, if it makes you faster, how you should do it, and more in Episode 352 of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast. Tune in for this and discussions on heat training, bodyweight vs. weighted strength training and much more!   TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE   19:49 Deep Dive on Stretching 01:27:49 How to heat train at various budgets 1:3...

Santa Cruz’s Keegan Swenson, Amber Pierce, and Ivy Audrain join Coach Jonathan for a discussion on what they do to maintain consistency, how to manage expectations after disappointing early season races, what to do if you’ve experienced a lot of improvement in the Base Phase, Keegan’s plans for the course record at Epic Rides’ 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo and much more!   TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPIS...

Amber, Ivy, and Nate join Coach Jonathan for discussions on rider type discovery and development, as well as riding the line between functional and non-functional overreaching. Listen now for these discussions and much more! – TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE 0:00 Welcome!  01:37 No more testing! AI FTP Detection is available now 41:57 Functional vs. non-functional overreaching 01:07:12 Discovering...

Coach Chad, Amber Pierce, and Hannah Finchamp join Coach Jonathan for a deep dive into protein for cyclists, discussing how much endurance athletes of all kinds should be taking in, if you should ingest it on the bike, plant-based alternatives and more. We’ll also dig deep into VO2Max training, training stress and much more. -------------------------------------------- TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISO...

The original crew is back! Amber, Chad, Nate and Jonathan discuss the concept of gaining weight to get faster, how to manage motivation amidst canceled goal events, how to keep your training on track while fasting and much more. -------------------------------------------- TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE - Tri challenge update from the hosts - Should you gain weight to get faster? - How to keep you...

Amber Pierce, Alex Wild, Ivy Audrain, and Coach Jonathan go deep on how to come back to training after illness, when you should start adding races to your calendar, how to use early season training camps to boost your fitness and much more. Join us for Episode 347 of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast! -------------------------------------------- TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE - Is FTP testing accura...

Amber Pierce, Hannah Finchamp, and Nate Pearson join us for an in-depth guide on goal setting and achieving, as well as a discussion on Hannah’s plans at Unbound Gravel, injury prevention and much more. Join us for Episode 346 of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast! -------------------------------------------- TOPICS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE - Hannah’s new team! - Amber’s guide to goal setting and achi...

We covered the science behind mixing strength training and endurance training in Episode 341, and now we’ll cover practical suggestions of how you can best fit them into your training schedule, which exercises are best, and get input from pro athletes on what they do. Join us for a discussion on this, high volume training, goal setting and much more in Episode 345 of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcas...

Jim Miller is the Chief of Sports Performance at USA Cycling and has coached more Olympic cycling medal winning athletes than any other coach in US history. Jim is a 5x Olympic Team Member and has coached his athletes to 5 Olympic medals, 6 World Championships, 10 World Championship Podiums and upwards of 60 National Championships, receiving the Order of Ikkos three times and USOC Coach of the Yea...