Welcome to the Tailwind Coaching podcast archives. You’ll find all the back editions of the Tailwind Coaching Podcast along with show notes and any downloads that accompany them. Feel free to peruse the archives and share the episodes with your friends. You can also subscribe to the Tailwind Coaching Podcast on iTunes, and if you do, leave a review and tell me what you think.
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Have you ever heard that your body doesn't get stronger through training? It's an odd thing to think about, but it's inherently true. Training is the overloading stimulus that (hopefully) pushes your body beyond it's comfort zone. Once you've pushed beyond the constraints of your fitness you need to allow the body to repair the damage that has been done to it and build it stronger for the next challenge. But the recovery phase is something that many cyclists completely ignore, opting instead to sit on the sofa or worse, go for a recovery ride that turns into a workout.
In today's 50th episode of the Tailwind Coaching Podcast, I'll detail some of the do's and don'ts of recovery, including:
Getting fat. That's the last thing anyone wants to hear over the off season, especially during the holidays. The simple fact is that the holidays are notorious for being able to pack the pounds onto a cyclist. There are parties aplenty, goodies in the office (usually in the form of high-calorie desserts), feasts with family and the ever-present alcoholic beverage, just begging for you to imbibe.
It's easy to overdo it during the off season and find yourself in a hole come January. But there is a way to start melting off those excess inches that doesn't involve giving up tasty meals of spending hours per day on the trainer. And that simple way involves putting a little more fat in your gullet.
What?!
You heard me right. If you understand the physiology of how our body processes the fuel it is given, you'll be able to make some smart dietary choices. And if you stick with some of those changes for the long term, you'll realize some performance benefits as well.
In this episode of the Tailwind Coaching Podcast, I'll get into some of the science behind nutrition and exercise adaptation. You'll find the following information discussed in this episode:
There's no question that social media has infiltrated every facet of our lifestyle. From the best cycling hashtags on Instagram to the ubiquitous “butt shot” of the local Sunday group ride that is posted on Facebook, we have an insatiable need to connect with others on social networking. Cycling is no different, as evidenced by the rise of Strava, the largest cycling social media sharing site out there today. But Strava is far more than people just sharing their rides and their achievements online: it has become the driving force behind many people's cycling experiences. Offering almost monthly challenges and goals (often revolving around excessive mileage or vertical gain) and offering virtual rewards in the form of “badges”, Strava has become the impetus for people to train.
How has that success and impetus impacted us as a cycling culture? How has it changed the way we train? And of course, the ultimate question remains: have those changes been for the better or worse? That's what I'll explore on this edition of the Tailwind Coaching Podcast, including topics such as:
In this age of power meters and quantified training, athletes spend hours upon hours, days upon days poring over power files and searching for a way to get ahead of the competition. They hope against hope that there's a magic bullet out there that will suddenly catapult them to the front of the pack. And all too often, they believe that magic bullet is raising their functional threshold power (abbreviated as FTP.) But is a simple number the key to destroying your rivals on the Sunday group ride, the Saturday criterium or the Tuesday Night Worlds?
In today's podcast I discuss the concept of efficiency as it relates to FTP or what I refer to as “Efficient Threshold Power”. I'll talk about some of the following concepts:
With the onset of cold and damp weather many cyclists abandon outdoor riding in favor of sitting on the sofa. Granted, with the NFL season half way done and the drama heating up like an episode of “The League”, it may sound really fun to just kick your heels back for a few months and give in to holiday laziness. But should you really just back completely off activity for a few months to recover? Should you spend it doing nothing but 12 ounce curls (I.E. drinking copious amounts of beer?) Should you throttle your activity back so much that you put on 10 pounds of insulation? Well, I'm going to say, unequivocally…
NO!
You should be spending your off season (or “not so” off season, as I talked about back in podcast #27) doing something that will ensure your success in the coming months. This could be cross training, this could be hitting the gym and lifting some big heavy things, or it could mean sitting on the indoor trainer. But which of those things will help you create an effective off season?
In today's podcast I'll talk about building a solid base of fitness during the cold months. I'll cover:
