Empirical Cycling Podcast

Empirical Cycling
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Do you want to know how training makes you faster? Listen in. Kolie is a leading expert in endurance, sprint, and strength training for cyclists. Kyle is a NASA scientist and national champion sprinter on the track. Empirical Cycling is a coaching company specializing in individualized training plans for all cycling disciplines. If you like the podcast, please consider a donation at http://www.empiricalcycling.com/donate.html

  1. Watts Doc #58: Creatine's Actual Effects On Cycling Performance

    19 HR AGO

    Watts Doc #58: Creatine's Actual Effects On Cycling Performance

    This episode is one of our deepest dives ever, into the literature on creatine's effects and tradeoffs with cycling performance, and how the results fare against Kolie's standard for being meaningful, noticeable, or measurable. Because individual studies report such varied results, we instead look at a meta analysis on creatine supplementation in aerobic performance, another on repeated sprints, plus a bonus study with a simulated road race. There's also a brief and explicitly non-expert look at a popular paper on creatine and cognition. Instead of recommending whether cyclists take creatine or not as a binary, we discuss the pros and cons, realistic expectations of effects, and in what cases we would consider supplementation. Plus your listener questions!

    1h 59m
  2. Ten Minute Tips #64: Diagnosing And Training Weaknesses In The Off-Season

    2 OCT

    Ten Minute Tips #64: Diagnosing And Training Weaknesses In The Off-Season

    This episode we start with the old cycling adage "train your weaknesses, race your strengths" as the jumping off point to discuss strategies for diagnosing and training weaknesses in the off season. We decide for whom this would make sense as a strategy, the opportunity cost of training a weakness, low opportunity cost things to train, how race selection factors in, and much more.

    1 hr
  3. Watts Doc #57: Finding FTP By Feel Is Easier Than You Think

    24 SEPT

    Watts Doc #57: Finding FTP By Feel Is Easier Than You Think

    This episode we look into the published literature on the surprisingly tight agreement between FTP and RPE and a couple different lab-derived measures of threshold like MLSS and critical power, along with the concept of anchoring. But first we get philosophical about how measurements often become definitions that can lose sight of our valid observations and experience. We wrap up by discussing FTP testing with RPE, plus answer your listener questions on RPE scales and anchors, RPE drift, common mistakes when using RPE, Borg's 6-20 vs 10 point scale, and much more.

    1h 50m
  4. Watts Doc #56: Strength Training Strategies To Avoid Weight Gain

    17 SEPT

    Watts Doc #56: Strength Training Strategies To Avoid Weight Gain

    This is a deep dive into four papers on hypertrophy and strength training, and use them to find guidelines around how cyclists can improve strength without gaining weight. We evaluate the stimulus and overall impact of eccentric vs concentric contractions, sets and reps, minimum dose for strength improvements, progressive overload, and nutrition.

    1h 42m
  5. Ten Minute Tips #63: The Best And Worst Ways To Test FTP

    11 SEPT

    Ten Minute Tips #63: The Best And Worst Ways To Test FTP

    We take a deep look at ten commonly used ways to test or estimate FTP, and dissect how and why each method does (or is supposed to) work, how often we might expect accurate result and who it'd be accurate for, and the Empirical Cycling standards for test accuracy. We also dig into some data on ramp test accuracy and bias, plus how anaerobic capacity, RPE, and daily fluctuations in performance can play a role in test results. Plus time in zone, %FTP, normalized power, lactate tests, the "Kolie Moore" test, and your listener questions on DFA-alpha1, eFTP, and more.

    1h 38m
  6. Ten Minute Tips #62: Why FTP Isn't For Setting Training Zones (And Alternative Approaches)

    25 AUG

    Ten Minute Tips #62: Why FTP Isn't For Setting Training Zones (And Alternative Approaches)

    Our coaches sit down to discuss the downsides of using FTP as an anchor for many types of intervals, how your individual physiology can make those targets suboptimal for the best stimulus, and the many alternative approaches that we use instead. We dig into VO2max, anaerobic and sprint efforts, plus first threshold and endurance riding. Then we answer your questions on minimum effective dose, breaking out of a rut, assessing realistic targets, and more.

    1h 16m
  7. Perspectives #40: Energy Expenditure And Compensation, with Eric Trexler

    17 AUG

    Perspectives #40: Energy Expenditure And Compensation, with Eric Trexler

    Dr. Eric Trexler joins the podcast for a nuanced discussion on energy expenditure and endurance sports. He explains measurement methods, the constrained energy expenditure model and its interpretations, the difficulty of calculating your total energy expenditure and needs and practical solutions, some curious results from papers on energy expenditure in cycling grand tours, and much more.

    1h 54m
  8. Ten Minute Tips #61: Coach Q&A on Limiters, Low Volume Rest Weeks, Resuming Training, Under-Optimized Training, & More

    10 AUG

    Ten Minute Tips #61: Coach Q&A on Limiters, Low Volume Rest Weeks, Resuming Training, Under-Optimized Training, & More

    Our coaches answer your questions on identifying limiters, how to take a rest week on a low volume plan, resuming training after a break, training for fitness vs racing, total time in zone vs structured intervals, the things that cyclists under-optimize, making the most of unusually large training weeks, the benefits of ice cream, and much more.

    1h 38m
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About

Do you want to know how training makes you faster? Listen in. Kolie is a leading expert in endurance, sprint, and strength training for cyclists. Kyle is a NASA scientist and national champion sprinter on the track. Empirical Cycling is a coaching company specializing in individualized training plans for all cycling disciplines. If you like the podcast, please consider a donation at http://www.empiricalcycling.com/donate.html

Information

  • Creator
    Empirical Cycling
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2025
  • Episodes
    176
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    Empirical Cycling Podcast

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