training

Home/Tag: training

Strava: Fitness Wonder or Wrecker – Podcast #48

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:

(more…)

Tags: , , , |

Efficient Functional Threshold Power (FTP) – Podcast #47

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:

(more…)

Tags: , , , , |

Effective “Off Season” Training – Podcast #46

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:

(more…)

Tags: , , , , |

Lost Art of the Group Ride – Podcast #45

Everyone loves a group ride, right?  Group rides are chances to catch up with friends, get in a good workout, chase a  few stronger riders or tear the legs off your riding buddies.  But a group ride is as much a dance as it is a ride, and there are a number of things you SHOULD have learned along your journey as a cyclist. Whether you are a group riding sage or a newly minted rookie, you should observe the rules, the etiquette and the sanctity of the holiest of Sunday cycling practices (aside from watching the pros on Eurosport, of course…)

In today's episode of the Tailwind Coaching Podcast, I'll wax poetic on those things that you need to have learned in order to execute the perfect group ride, and I'll cover a couple of things in the cycling news sphere that caught my attention.

That said, today's podcast will include:

(more…)

Tags: , , , , |

Strength Training For Cyclists – Part 2 (Podcast #43)

In part 1 of “Strength Training For Cyclists” I talked about how your body adapts to different kinds of exercise.  We learned about the concept of different pathways that create physiological adaptation and a touched on a couple of ways these pathways interact with one another, turning you into a sharp physical specimen where there used to be couch potato.

But there was a problem: I covered all these concepts about how your body uses some common physiological mechanisms to build fitness in different muscle types, that's true.  But the one thing not talked about was how to put all that sciency stuff together.  I'll tackle that in detail in today's podcast, so click through the break and check out the show notes.

(more…)

Tags: , , , , , |
Copyright Tailwind Coaching 2012-2017 | All Rights Reserved | Tailwind Coaching is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.