The Waite Endurance Podcast

Interval Training!! Some athletes cringe in the thought of high-intensity training, while other thrive on the idea of going hard. High-intensity intervals are certainly hard, but they need not be ‘go to you puke’ hard. In fact, intervals are most effective when performed at proper intensity levels per the targeted energy system you’re training. Learn the basics of what intervals...

We’ve wrapped up our ‘COVID-19’  Aerobic Threshold Booster Plan and ready to take on the next progression: Anaerobic Threshold Training. Before we dig into the new 6-week training block to sharpen our ‘lockdown fitness’ while we wait for normalcy and racing to resume, we address many of the things we witnessed with our WE Development Junior Team , local athletes we co...

In the midst of “The Great Pause” the world is experiencing as result of the COVID pandemic, we’re taking advantage of the change of pace with an Aerobic Threshold training block . At time of recording, we’re half way through this 6-week training progression. We’ve compiled answers to questions we’ve received from both our own WE Development riders and our adult...

Strength Training has become more widely accepted in the endurance sport world over the last 8-10 years. Most athletes and coaches will now agree that there are valuable benefits to be gained from lifting heavy weights within an endurance sport annual training program. However, the secret to improving your strength from season-to-season only occurs if you perform Strength Maintenance sessions year...

What a crazy couple of weeks we’re all experiencing with the COVID-19 pandemic spreading across the globe and turning our lives upside down. Aside from the bigger issues to be affected by this situation, our racing calendars have been but on hold for at least the immediate 2 months and perhaps a longer unforeseen length of time. Because of this, our training objectives must change! The topic...

Our 2020 Base Builder is done & dusted! In this episode we’re mid-rest week, on vacation in Orlando, Florida taking a load off as we transition between Base Builder and Race Prep phases of the training seasons. We took a moment to run through what we’ve accomplished in our 15th time through Base Builder to identify what went well, what we could improve and the progress made by many...

We’ve made it to the final week of our 15th annual Base Builder Program with week 27! Feels like the exact right time to discuss what comes next, after Base Builder… This week we discuss how we structure our second macro-phase of the training cycle called: Race Prep . Where Base Builder begins with low-intensity training, progressively building over many weeks to high-intensity, moving...

We’re heading into our final progression of our 2020 Base Builder Program with Anaerobic Power. Just two more weeks to go! Our Anaerobic Power energy system is at the upper end of the ‘on-bike’ energy system chain [only surpassed by Peak Power (sprint training)] targeting our maximum power for 1-4 minutes. Although still highly aerobic, these intervals draw heavily upon our anaer...

We’re knee deep into our final tough block of our 2020 Base Builder training program with Vo2 max intervals (and soon to be Anaerobic Power intervals) on the bike, combined with a final heavy lifting push along with increasing volume in the ‘power’ movements in the gym. With these final weeks of challenging training ahead, we ‘re sharing some tactics on how to get through t...

More interval talk this week… we’re addressing Vo2 Max interval training: what it is, common ways to do intervals, and how we go about it. We dig into the nuts & bolts of the upcoming weeks 24 & 25 of Base Builder where we target the Vo2 max energy system. The Vo2 Max energy system comprises 8:00 to 16:00 max power. We break the intervals into sets of 4×2:00 and 4×4:0...

Last weekend’s Leadville 100 MTB lottery stirred up a lot of questions from listeners as they got accepted into this year’s race and ready to embark on their training journey. Our inboxes were flooded with questions so we decided to dedicate this week’s show to answer many of those questions. We also go over Coach Cody’s LeadBoat plan for 2020 and how he plans to prep for t...

We’re into week 22 of our off-season Base Builder training program upping the ante to 32:00 power focused Anaerobic Threshold Intervals (up from 64:00 power targets). We talk about the interval training experiences of our in-house athletes at Sessions:6 and provide deeper insight into the next block of higher intensity intervals coming up. Learn how we manage interval training with both powe...

We’re into the third & final phase of our Strength Base Builder Programming: Stability & Power . Phase 1 was Adaptation; Phase 2 was Strength Build; and Phase 4 will be Maintenance. In Phase 3, we lower the loads and focus on unilateral and/or ‘unstable’ variations of movement in order to increase muscular stability. We discuss added movements in our Core-to-Extremity Set...

Happy New Year! We’re back in 2020 heading into the second half of our annual Base Builder Training Program . In this show we first go over test results from our last round of testing at the end of December. We share some of the data and progress made from our in-house Base Builder athletes along with insights on how to interpret your own test results. Big gains were made in both strength in...

Our first half of Base Builder 2020 is in the books and we’re on holiday break! In this week’s episode, we dig into the second half of our Base Builder training plans: High-Intensity Base! Where the first half targets aerobic HRs, the second half targets power while monitoring HR response as we work our way through the Anaerobic Threshold, Vo2 Max and Anaerobic Power energy systems. Le...

We’re wrapping up block #2 of our 15th annual Base Builder Training Program this week. It’s “testing week” with 1RM strength tests in the gym and Aerobic & Anaerobic Power testing on the bike! We cover the finer points of both, before we head into our 2-week “holiday break” in the training programming. The holiday break is the perfect time to incorporate a t...

This week we discuss what we find to be the most important areas in daily life where we can make changes that will improve our athletic performance (and overall health): Sleep, Diet, Hydration, Planning, and maintaining Life Balance. Improve these elements of your life and you will ultimately improve your performance on the bike. We talk about what we’ve learned over the years, our own exper...

Your Annual Training Plan (ATP) is your road map to you training & racing season. Previous episodes, #16 & #17, we discussed Goal Setting and Race Selection. In part 3 of our Planning Your Season Series of podcasts we discuss some effective strategies in setting up your own ATP for 2020. Balancing training loads, progression, and recovery play important roles in defining your ATP in order...

This week is ‘part-two’ in the Planning Your Season series of episodes where we discuss the process of selecting & prioritizing your races/events for the season ahead. Make the most of your training efforts by selecting events which both interest you and help you achieve your goals. Sifting through the options, giving each event a priority level, and making them fit into your annua...

Goal setting is the topic of discussion this week. It’s time to start thinking (dreaming) of what you want to accomplish over the coming year and years ahead in your pursuit of cycling fitness. We break down the difference between long-term goals and short-term goals, as well outcome vs. process goals and how to best utilize both. We also run through our our own goals for 2020 and the years...

We’re on location this week at Cascade Sports Physical Therapy in Lakewood, Colorado (right next door to Sessions:6 Sport Performance). We sat down with founder and PT, Justin Dudley , to learn more about the importance the role of mobility and strength play, not only in cycling performance, but overall health and quality of life. Learn some basic concepts and tips on how to include mobility...

Cadence (i.e. leg speed) is an important part of the ‘power production formula’. In this episode, we discuss the value of training to improve your cadence in the early parts of the off-season when power production isn’t the primary focus. Your Aerobic Threshold (AeT) is the balance point between your carbohydrate & fat metabolism. This important ‘low-intensity’ th...

And… We’re back! After a 10-day “ride-cation”, we wrap up the 2019 Colorado NICA MTB season and share insights on training & traveling. We finished Block 1 of our 2020 Base Builder with some final long rides and lessons learned on fueling up for the long days. Onto Base Builder Block 2: it’s time for building strength in the gym and adding structure on the bike. F...

With the structured training season right around the corner, it’s almost time for testing on the bike to set benchmarks for the new season ahead. At Sessions:6 we’ve created a more evolved testing protocol for our athletes than the typical “20 minute time trial” for best power. Instead we look at both ends of the energy system spectrum with a sub-maximal aerobic test &...

We’re on location this week at The Bikery at the Brewery … a great new bike shop located on the Breckenridge Brewery property in Littleton, Colorado. Our guest is co-owner, Justin Mattison, ex-DH racer turned bike-fit specialist and bicycle know-how guru; so naturally… we talk bikes. Fall is the best time of year to maintain & upgrade your current bike, or consider selling an...