Coaches on Couches

Since summer isn't going out without a fight, we are going to drop our main tips and strategies for dealing with extreme heat and humidity. The topic has been swirling the web it seems, and we think we might know a thing or two about a thing or two on this one since we live and train in the armpit of the United States. That's not a jab at Memphis. We love our hometown. It's just hot AF here. First...

For those of you who curse, fear, or soil yourself over a bump in the road, we cover our entire guide for improving your climbing ability. A blueprint for hill domination so to speak. The 4 major keys to making these improvements are: 1. Practice 2. Optimizing Technique and Efficiency (this is where we spend most of our time) 3. Dropping Weight 4. Increasing Power So let's make mole hills out of m...

It never fails that within a "tapering period" (we are not big fans of the term), a lot of athletes lose their ever lovin' minds! They just can't handle changes in volume, plan poorly, freak out, and make stupid mistakes that affect their race performance. NOT YOU! WHY? Because on this episode we are going to talk you through how to taper like a boss and manage the temporary insanity that can go a...

If you race your bike with a group of other people in the same clothing as you, be it a road race, criterium, or on gravel, there are a set of commandments thou shalt follow 95% of the time to insure you all race as a team. Why? A team is stronger than any one individual 95% of the time. It's true that overall team strategies work about 5% of the time in amateur racing, but if you follow these sim...

Guess what? Stuff happens. As a triathlete, cyclist, or runner, if you swim, bike, and/or run fairly often, you are going to have some bad days here and there. Some that are out of your control and some that you could have prevented. It's inevitable. Happens to the best in the world, and the newbie alike. The 3 most important things you can hold on to when coping with a crap day are: 1. You'll lea...

Coming off a couple of stellar Leadville 100 performances, we bring back a previous guest, Hart "He Actually Rode Gears" Robinson, along with his brother from another mother and training partner, David "Hollywood" Collins, to chat quickly about their first major achievement of the year, which was dominating the Dirty Kanza 200. Then we jump right into their preparation and execution of sub 8 and s...

This episode is really three fold. First we briefly run through the changes and improvements to the 2019 USA Triathlon National Championship course in Cleveland, OH. Secondly, we run through when and what cycling equipment to upgrade first if you are looking for performance gains (faster splits, speeds, etc). Lastly, we cover when it's just a better idea to bite the bullet and look into getting a...

This week, we discuss the benefits of having a coach to those who don't consider themselves competitive in their sport. We answer a listener question: "with little hope or desire to become a pro, what are the reasons to train with a coach?" You may not think you're (fill in the blank) enough to work with a coach. But the truth is, if you have a desire to improve in any aspect of health, wellness,...

We all LOVE to race. Some fast. Some long. But for the competitive minded person, racing is the reward! It's why we continue to put in the work week after week. It's why we get up early and train late into the day. It's why we take a pass on some social outings and refrain from...ummmm...lots of things. But, could there be a downside to racing too much? The answer is a resounding YES! We know, say...

This week on the couch we talk to international pro triathlete and all around good guy Timmy Linn @familyfirsttri. We'll be talking about his journey in #triathlon and how he integrates family and maintains the #familyfirst approach to his training and racing. We discuss life in South Korea, how his hobby became much more, and even some tricks in blending training with family time. Join us this we...

Coach D and Coach B-Fun talk about a few products they are presently using or have used based on these criteria: 
1. New Products - How it's going so far
 2. A product or two we can't live without 
3. A product or two we want to smash (these seem to be coming along more frequently) We all love gadgets and gizmo's so this one should be a good ole time. This week we join you for another midsummer ed...

Today we chat with home town hero and reigning US Pro National Road Race Champ Jonny Brown. We cover everything from pros and cons of the pro cycling lifestyle, to how he nabbed the stars and stripes jersey (awesome strategy), to his unwavering support for youth and junior cycling. Make it to the end and he even spills the beans on how much training he does each week. And you heard it first...Tige...

In this episode, the coaches chat about the purpose and importance of the double peak method of training and the mid season transition. It's nearly impossible to hold good fitness for an entire season, which for some can be February to November! It's also nearly impossible to stay uber motivated for months on end. Enter the double peak format! Even if you don't have "goal races" a double peak trai...

This episode we go Q&A style! We've got a few questions we've been holding onto from listeners, including some questions sent in live via Facebook. We're talking anything! Run, bike, tri, speed, grub, philosophy, and anything in the middle. If we don't know the answer, we will make one up! Just kidding. But seriously. Here are a couple of the topics: Saddle sores, gut rot (great conversation start...

This week, coaches D and B-Fun talk about what it takes to withstand an Ironman triathlon. With all the excitement surrounding the possibility of #IMMEMPHIS, a lot of you may be thinking about doing your first iron distance triathlon. Or maybe it's just been on your bucket list. Or maybe you just woke up today and said, yup, I'm gonna do that. In any case, we are here to help. So with that, we tal...

We've been teaching running for well over a decade. Coach Dale's first gig in sport performance was teaching linear acceleration and top speed running mechanics. Running form can be over taught and over complicated, so we are bringing you 3 of the easiest things you can do to improve your running form. The quick version: 1. Improve your line of sight 2. Power your legs with your arm movements 3. L...

This episode could be bit of a controversial one. We will be chatting about what your training age (very different than you chronological age) should say about your training as a whole. We'll define training age, and talk about the different stages in an athletes journey, and how skipping a stage can affect an athlete's longevity, athletic potential, and enjoyment in their chosen sport. As a brief...

It's a bit of a special episode for us. May marks the 10 year anniversary of BPC Coaching. It's been a fun and wild ride helping athletes of all ages and ability levels improve in their health, fitness, and the sports they love. But you don't make it 10 years without gaining a bit of wisdom (yeah we said it...wisdom), making long term observations, and learning specific lessons that there is no re...

We're talking to Brian Williams and Sean Hilsdon, race directors of the Walking Tall 50k/25k trail race, about their 6th born (we don't really know how many kids Sean has). These two guys have put massive time and energy into creating what we believe to be the premier ultra marathon in West TN. This is what you get when you bring together a financial planner and an eagle scout civil engineer. A gr...

Multisport is an A to B race. The clock doesn't stop in T1 and T2 people. So we are going to release our tips for free speed into the wild. We've done dozens of talks and clinics on this subject so we're refining it down to only the things that can make you faster with just a little knowhow and practice. No intervals required. So in this episode we talk about the keys of fast transitions. If you h...

We've talked before (episode 1) about avoiding a heat beat down, but today we are going to talk specifically about the value of sweat sodium testing. We chat about: - What is sweat sodium testing? - Why is sodium so important? - How much sweat sodium concentration varies in athletes - What's the average? - What to do with the numbers once you have them - How we test sweat sodium concentration - Co...

In this episode, Coach D and Coach B-Fun break down what they learned from their best and worst race experiences. From poor hydration, to poor race preparation, to not knowing the competition, we've screwed it all up in our days so you don't have to. It just so happens that we learn a lot more from the races that didn't go as planned. This is a shorter episode with a little story time so get comfy...

In this episode we chat about the most common issues we see when fitting bikes. We've been fitting bikes professionally for the last decade and have seen a lot. Worked through a lot. It hasn't all been pretty, but no bike/rider combo is the same. These issues could be things about the bike, it could be things about the rider. Neither can be ignored if you truly want to be dialed in. We also dive i...

In this episode, we have pro runner, coach, and sport psychology guru Lauren Paquette. And we couldn't be more psyched. Get it? As a multi-time Olympic trialist, Lauren is still traveling the globe taking on the best in the world. We dig a little into her past and personal life as always, but what we really wanted to dive into is how she prepares herself mentally for a big race. How do we best con...

This week on the couch we've got local hometown hero and ITU elite triathlete Seth Rider coming in to chat with us. We've watched in awe as Seth has gone from shaggy-headed junior to getting a hair cut and battling the best in the world while fighting for a spot on the US Olympic team. We'd like to think his success revolves around all the group rides and races we exerted "tough love" on him as a...