Coaches on Couches

If you've listened to the show before, you know we love strength training. But, should runners, cyclists, and triathletes really lift heavy? Is there really any benefit? Or is the juice not worth the squeeze? In this episode Coach D and Coach B-Fun break down their thoughts on heavy lifting and offer up some tips on how to avoid some of the common pitfalls of slingin' steel. Shout Outs Chris Watts...

With one of our favorite 50k trail races of the year on the horizon, we figured it best to chat about some of the essential considerations when preparing for a trail ultra marathon. It might be a little late if you are gearing up for Walking Tall 50k, but it's never too late to do some course and race specific prep! Whether you are in the throws of training or just considering taking on an ultra,...

Whether you are a cyclists or a triathlete, you probably have the need...the need...for speed. The time trial isn't called "The Race of Truth" for nothin'. It's simple. Fastest time from A to B. But as simple as it sounds, there are a lot of factors that play into how fast you will travel along the route. So today, we nerd out on all things time trail. Well not all things...we'd be here all day. B...

We aren't pros at this by any means but that's why we have a RDN on staff! This is a topic we take for granted because we've been doing it for so long. We just assume people know they need to eat before and during big training sessions and races. Yet, we constantly get reminded by our newer athletes that it's not as widely known as we thought. Thanks for smacking us out of our bubble! So in this e...

2020 has been a kick in the chamois for a lot of folks. For us endurance athletes, it's meant little to no racing. We've seen a definite split in the cyclist, runners, and triathletes who are intrinsically motivated versus those who have to have a carrot (race/event) in order to train with any kind of structure. While we all love to race, we have witnessed a number of upsides to going through an e...

Let's face it. It's getting hot as hell outside and a lot of us are also training indoors more. Both scenarios bring on lots of that salty liquid we know as sweat. So we are tasking the tough hydration questions to our buddy Andy from Precision Hydration (a fellow salty sweater) so that all of you cyclists, runners, and triathletes out there can nail your hydration during the summer sizzler. This...

Triathletes, this is the one you've all been waiting for. No better place to get your course recon than from a couple of shlubs that ride and run the course on the weekly. You can listen to the out of towners who used Google earth to spot some key landmarks, but GPS mapping software generally sucks at elevation and we know these routes like the back of our hands. And we have veiny hands. So let's...

In this sprint episode we spark a revolt against the use of ERG mode when cycling indoors. If you don't know what ERG mode is, this one may not be for you. But if you are a cyclist or triathlete and spend a reasonable amount of time riding on a smart trainer, we're going to enlighten you and give you all the reasons we believe ERG mode is hindering the quality of your precious training time. If yo...

With no races to be had right now, we have a lot of our runners and triathletes doing max mile assessments right now to gage progress in their training. In this sprint episode of Coaches on Couches we talk with our good buddy and coach Nick Dwyer on the keys to properly pacing a mile race. It's not a sprint, that's for sure. And we knock it all out in 15 minutes. So give it a listen and then go sm...

In endurance sports, proper hydration can make or break your performance on any given day or consecutive days. So in this inaugural SPRINT episode, we talk about the importance and methods behind proper sweat rate testing for cyclists, runners, and triathletes. We just do it in less than 15 minutes. If you enjoy these short and to the point episodes, let us know on Facebook, or in the comments bel...

As long time cycling, running, and triathlon coaches, there are a lot of words and phrases we throw around on a day to day basis. "Going blocks" is a good example of a term that turns heads like a confused puppy. To be honest, we don't even think about the misinterpretations or political correctness when we get into coach mode. But we do realize that a lot of the things we say may be confusing to...

Gyms and pools are closed, races have been canceled, and most people are stuck inside. We've spent the last 2 weeks adapting the training of our cyclists, runners, and triathletes to better suit the present "normal" during the efforts to control the coronavirus outbreak. So we figured in this episode we would break down those changes for each sport, as well as our thoughts on how to make the most...

With events being canceled all over the world due to the coronavirus pandemic, we figured we would offer up some tips and "coping mechanisms" for how to deal with your grief and loss. More so how to simply make lemonade out of lemons. So if your season has been affected by COVID-19, wash your hands, sit on your toilet paper mountain, and join us for another episode of Coaches on Couches! Shout Out...

In this episode we've got our good buddy Kirsten Sass (aka the smiling assassin, aka the Sassinator) on the couch....finally. Kirsten has won just about every championship there is in multisport and is now focusing her efforts on helping visually impaired athlete Amy Dixon qualify for a spot in the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo. We talk about her very humble beginnings in triathlon, her method for imp...

Simply put, there is an insane amount of conflicting information out there in the world of nutrition right now. The confusion is multiplied for cyclist, runners, and triathletes that think they are already doing a pretty good job with their day to day nutrition. Plant based? Ketogenic? Vegetarian? Whole 30? Beach Body? Kangatarian? WTF!? It's a thing. In this episode we are going to try to wade th...

This episode is less on performance enhancement and more on enhancing the experience of training and racing. We recently purchased a couple of adventure vans build by the good people at VanDOit in Blue Springs, MO. The truth is we did a ton of research before pulling the trigger and spending our hard earned dollars with VanDOit. But for every cyclist, runner, or triathlete, a camper van or adventu...

In this episode we chat about the pros and cons of choosing to coach yourself, versus choosing a free or paid training plan, versus hiring a coach. There are a lot of factors that go into choosing which is best for you. Things like budget, spare time, and the learning curve of each will play a big role on the route you should go. So if you are a cyclist, triathlete, or runner staring down a big se...

Some cyclist, runners, and triathletes just are not morning people. Which is odd, because most races start at the butt crack of dawn. But generally speaking, if you don't knock out some training in the early morning, the chances of it happening diminish with every hour that passes. So on this episode we are going to give you some tips and methods on how you can change and create new routines that...

Back by popular demand we are dropping our 2019 holiday gifts for the cyclist, runner, or triathlete in your life. Or just something nice for yourself. We all know that's why you'll listen. We break the gifts down by price point starting at the sub $20 mark. Each coach gives their recommendations for things they personally use and love so you are sure to score brownie points with any of these idea...

In this episode we are going to guide you cyclists, runners, and triathletes through the most difficult time of year for consistent training and decent nutrition. Lend us your ears and we'll prepare you for battle. No, we can't help you with your family. Control the controllables people! We're breaking it up into the two major sides that can go wrong over these busy holiday months, training and nu...

Today on the couch we are going to give you our exact recipe for making massive gains on the bike over the winter. This usually means a decent amount of indoor training due to colder weather and less daylight. But that's not an excuse to hibernate! Nobody wants to revive their base fitness every single spring. On the contrary, a lot of athletes commit to do the work, and when group rides and racin...

It's that time of the year. Long sleeves, short sleeves, no sleeves. Shorts, tights, thermals. Thick gloves, or just the liners. If I overdo it I'll be soaking wet. If I under do it I'll freeze, or at best be the person with the bloody nipple kit. Fear not, we're here to walk you through the magic of layering...yes, via some simple layering techniques you too can survive almost any training and ra...

Fire fighter, soon to be father, master movie quoter. We're going to talk about Bobby' Weakley's transition...ummm...from mountain bike specialist to ironman finisher. And yes, we start off with WHY. Then the HOW. It wasn't an easy road to travel. Ridicule from his co-workers and mountain bike buddies. Learning to swim as an adult. Running on road when there's a perfectly good trail nearby. Tough...

Today on the couch we are going to chat about how a cyclist can incorporate running into their training regimen without completely demolishing themselves and losing fitness due to injury. The aerobic engine is there, but the durability is not...just yet. So if you are a 2 wheeler that wants to get more bang for your time crunched buck, build some bone density, and maintain a high level of fitness...

Since so many people are closing out their seasons (while others continue to race anything they can find) we are going to talk about the importance of the off season. First we will define what an off season actually is, then we'll chat about what it should be geared toward, and why what you do in the off season is what really moves the performance needle for the following year. If you are a fall a...