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:
Continue reading “Fat, Fasting and Training Adaptation (Podcast #49)”
Tubular tires seem to be going out of style these days, but there is still a very loyal following of people who love the supple feel and unmatched ride quality of a tubular tire. As I noted back in my Vittoria Rubino Pro III review, there's a huge spectrum of tires, from the “lightweight and supple for racing on smooth roads, durable, high volume and puncture resistent for riding gravel grinders, or somewhere in between for everyday training tires.” In the case of Zipp's Tangente Tubulars, we're talking not about a high durability training tire, but a lighter weight racing tubular. And after a season of riding (and racing) Tangentes, here are my thoughts on these “aerodynamic wonders.”
Continue reading “Zipp Tangente Tubular Tire Review”
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:
Continue reading “Strava: Fitness Wonder or Wrecker – Podcast #48”
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:
Continue reading “Efficient Functional Threshold Power (FTP) – Podcast #47”
