Fast Talk

It’s the holidays and if you’re like us, right about now, you’re scrambling for gift ideas. Today we’ll talk about: - The Whoop recovery strap. - The Normatec recovery system. - Power meters. - The Leomo Type-R. Our guests today are coach Colby Pearce along with FasCat owner and coach Frank Overton. In addition, we’ll talk with professional cyclist Rebecca Rusch and Apex Coaching owner Neal Henderson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve been getting a ton of questions from listeners, and many of them have had similar themes. (We appreciate the feedback, look forward to your questions, and generate many future podcast topics from them, so please keep them coming.) While you’re waiting for future episodes with deeper answers, we’d like to give you some short answers now to tide you over. Today we’ll answer questions about diet, the value of short easy rides, sub-threshold work in a polarized training model, and inflammation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you need a coach? Today we’ll talk about the relationship athletes have with their coaches — what makes a good relationship and what makes a bad one. After we’ve defined that relationship, we’ll ask our panel what to look for in a good coach. And, conversely, how to identify a bad coach. Finally, we’ll talk briefly about how much coaching is worth & whether an athlete should stick with the same coach or change occasionally. Our panelists include coach Neal Henderson & endurance athlete Rebecca Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 60 we’re discussing trainers… we’ll tell you why you shouldn’t completely ignore them. For those who love them, we’re going to tell you why riding outside every once in a while is a really good thing. For those in between, today’s episode will offer a wealth of knowledge on how to get the very most out of trainer time. Our guests today are Ciaran O’Grady, Tim Johnson. Trevor also caught up with Jacob Fraser from Zwift and Kevin Poulton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this day and age, most of the common overuse injuries in cycling can be addressed and prevented. It just requires the proper precautions — such as getting regular bike fits and doing off-the-bike strength work. Our primary guest today is Dr. Andy Pruitt. He is a bike fit guru who invented the Body Geometry fit system and continues to design ergonomic products for Specialized. He is the author of “Andy Pruitt’s Complete Medical Guide for Cyclists.” We also speak with Evan Huffman & Colby Pearce. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 58, we talked with Colby Pearce about what it takes to make an attempt at the hour record on the track. Not long after, Pearce set the master’s 45-49 world record with a scorching 50.245 kilometer effort. For this special episode, we caught up with him to discuss his successful attempt, the training he did, the difficulties of selecting gears and training on a track that was different from the one where he set the record, and how he managed the pain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today legend of the cycling industry, Lennard Zinn, shares a variety of factors in frame design including: - The concepts of fork rake, head-tube angle & trail - How these factors act together to make the bike more or less stable - The effects of wheel flop and how it impacts your ability to corner - How understanding rake, trail, and flop can have a significant impact on your performance - The evolution of bike design and how it has been influenced by both fashion & performance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

THE HOUR. Those two words represent many things to many people. Some believe it to be the ultimate test of man and machine: out there on the track, with nowhere to hide, an athlete must come to terms with what he or she is truly capable of. In this episode, we sat down with Colby Pearce to dive deep into the Hour. It’s something Case knows all too well, since he too made an attempt in 2015. It’s Hour Record week at Fast Talk. Let’s make you fast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mindset in cycling is an important and frequently neglected side of our training and racing. In reality, mindset is often all that separates the best from second best and can be the difference between reaching the podium or finishing a race. Our primary guest today is a professor of sports psychology and is a senior teaching professor at Colorado State University, Dr. Brian Butki. We also spoke with Dean Golich, a head coach at Carmichael Training Systems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our featured guest is, of course, Dr. Stephen Seiler, a professor of sports science in Norway, where he has lived for over 20 years. He sits on the executive board of the well-respected European University College for Sports Science. It was his groundbreaking research that helped define the polarized model. We also hear from Dr. John Hawley, another prominent name in the exercise science world from Australia. He talks with us about one of the important, but lesser-known, gains of long rides. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LAST FALL TREVOR AND I CONDUCTED a not-so-controlled study on climbing, and we had the help of a young, talented Colorado rider. His name? Sepp Kuss. At the time of our little experiment, Kuss was about to head to Europe for a training camp with his new WorldTour team, Lotto-NL Jumbo. We’ll also hear from Joe Dombrowski, a leader of the EF Education First-Drapac WorldTour team. Dombrowski was one of Kuss’s chief rivals at the Tour of Utah this year and won the race himself back in 2015. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we’re sitting down with two guests from our sponsor NormaTec to discuss recovery in depth. NormaTec is a medical devices company that also crafts inflatable compression wear for athletes. Are they Space legs? Moon boots? Our primary guests today are two members of the NormaTec team: John Aquadro, NormaTec’s VP of Technology and Operations and Matt Curbeau. Additionally, we’ll hear from Frank Overton, Dr. Andrew Peterson, and Toms Skujins of the Trek-Segafredo WorldTour team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our featured guest is Dr. Stephen Seiler, a professor of sports science in Norway, where he has lived for 22 years. But no, that’s not a Norwegian accent. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas. Dr. Seiler is now on the executive board of the well-respected European University College for Sports Science. We're also joined by Grant Holicky, Andrew Randall, Steve Neal, and Larry Warbasse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This spring Joe Friel released his 5th edition of the "Cyclist's Training Bible." Trevor and I had a chance to talk with Joe about the newest edition. We came to the interview with a list of questions that we felt only touched on the key parts of the book and by the hour mark we were barely a quarter of the way through our list. In addition to Joe Friel, our guests include: Frank Overton, the owner of FastCat coaching here in Boulder, CO; as well as LottoNL-Jumbo rider Sepp Kuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we’ll first touch upon the history of Dirty Kanza. Editor in chief Fred Dreier and Chris had a conversation in a recent VeloNews podcast about the phenomenon that is DK — why it’s become so popular, how it has grown so rapidly, and so forth, so check out that episode if you want more. Here, we’ll scratch the surface to give you a taste of the atmosphere at this race. Chris will also describe his history with the event. Hint: It ain’t pretty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

IN EPISODE 48 WE DELVE into the second part of our series on strategy and training for particular races. This episode is all about hilly road races and winning the GC at a stage race. We caught up with two members of Rally Pro Cycling. Kiel Reijnen shares thoughts on how the region you come from helps determine what style of racing you may like and Toms Skujins discusses how grand tour GC riders and classics riders have to train differently. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today knows all about peaking — both as a coach and as an athlete. He’s an hour record holder, an Olympian, a thinker, a tinkerer, and someone with massive amounts of experience as an athlete. Colby Pearce’s many many qualifications are too long to list here so we’ll let Colby detail them himself in a minute. Also sharing his thoughts we have Robert Pickels and the head physiologist at Pearl Izumi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ll discuss the difference between a ketogenic diet and a high-fat/low-carbohydrate diet, and why the latter may be the more important one to discuss. Our primary guest is a researcher who has become one of the most well-known faces of the high-fat movement — Dr. Timothy Noakes. Dr. Noakes has been at the center of endurance science and sports nutrition research for decades. He wrote, among other books, the very popular “Lore of Running” in the 1980s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

IT’S OFTEN OVERLOOKED. Sometimes forgotten. But it never should be. Recovery is just as important to strong performances as your daily workouts and weekly riding volume. Our guests today are Dr. Paul Gastin, Brent Bookwalter, Mac Cassin, and Frank Overton. We’ll also hear from Armando Mastracci, the founder of Xert training software, about the potential to use training software to give us clues about our recovery state. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is all about data. Our guest is the lead engineer for TrainingPeaks and their coach-focused software package WKO4, Tim Cusick. We’ll also hear from Armando Mastracci, developer of Xert Training software; Dean Golich, a head coach at Carmichael Training Systems; and finally, we’ll touch base with Joe Dombrowski, of the EF Education First-Drapac WorldTour team, to get his take on how pros are reacting to the data revolution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we take a deep dive into race strategy and tactics, and the necessary skills and training you need to excel at bike racing. In this two-part series, we’ll first touch upon flat races where the sprinter tends to win. Today we’re joined by two veterans of both European and American racing from Rally Pro Cycling - team manager Pat McCarty and one of Team Rally’s leaders, Evan Huffman. We also speak with Kiel Reijnen, of Trek-Segafrado. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is all about power. We are lucky to have Hunter Allen, a veteran coach who, as our main guest; along with Dr. Andrew Coggan, wrote the original book on training with power in 2006: “Training and Racing with a Power Meter.” In this episode, we’ll also hear from Dean Golich, a head coach at Carmichael Training Systems who has worked for years with world champion and WorldTour-caliber cyclists. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is our first edition of “Ask Fast Talk.” Because we receive so many compelling questions from Fast Talk listeners, we will begin devoting frequent episodes to answering your questions. On today’s episode, we discuss the following: the importance of aerobic threshold training and the physiological adaptations that take place from doing so; should FTP be based on one’s very best race effort or on a test; dealing with muscle soreness after weight training; training in extreme cold; and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we take a deep dive into a subject that Case knows well, and that our guest, Lennard Zinn, has lived for the last five years: Heart arrhythmias in endurance athletes. Chris and Lennard, along with Dr. John Mandrola, wrote a book entitled “The Haywire Heart” that details how and why long-term endurance exercise could cause a variety of heart arrhythmias. We’ll also hear from Jeremy Powers, who dealt with his own heart arrhythmia this past cyclocross season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we’ll look at the changes that have taken place in cycling legend Ned Overend, and how he’s been able to remain strong through the years, with an emphasis on recovery and staying healthy. In addition, we’ll hear from Dr. Jason Glowney, head of medicine at the University of Colorado Sports Medicine and Performance Center. We’ll also hear from Fast Talk regular Frank Overton, owner of FasCat coaching; and finally, we’ll hear from Glenn Swan, a three-time masters national champion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Fast Talk, we’ll attempt to unlock the mysteries of fatigue. Is it just lactic acid pooling in your legs, as your high school coach probably told you? The answer is actually a lot more complex than you’d think.Our guests include Dr. Stephen Cheung, an exercise physiologist and professor in the kinesiology department at Brock University in St. Catherine’s, Ontario. We’ll also hear from talented climber Sepp Kuss, a neo-pro with LottoNL-Jumbo, who will talk about his limits when ra Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re taking on the always-controversial subject of nutrition. Why is it so controversial? First, it’s very personal: Many people, trained or untrained, have strong opinions on the subject, and a lot of heated debate revolves around what is healthy and what is best for performance. We’ve had a few prominent guests on Fast Talk previously, and they’ve given their opinions on the subject. But thus far we have strayed away from revealing our thoughts — until now. In this podcast, we’ll discuss what we think is healthy and what isn’t. We’ll talk about what foods to eat, we’ll take on the question of wheat, nutrient density, and sugar. Unlike other episodes, in this show Coach Trevor Connor will not only be the co-host, he’ll also be the guest of honor. His research in graduate school focused on many of these topics, and what he’ll share are his educated opinions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To start, we turned ourselves into mad scientists and convinced WorldTour pro Sepp Kuss (LottoNL-Jumbo) to join us. We rode several time trials up a few Boulder climbs in our quest for answers. Joining us for the podcast is Ryan Kohler of the University of Colorado Sports Medicine and Performance Center, who helped with the experiments on the road. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This podcast covers the physiological effects of training in the cold, from muscle damage to the increased caloric demands. We also discuss tips and tricks to set up your bike, stay warm, and even keep your bottles from freezing. And if it’s just too darn cold, we explain the best way to balance time indoors on the trainer with outdoor rides. We speak with Dr. Stephen Cheung, Dr. Iñigo San Millan, Trek-Segafredo pro rider Kiel Reijnen, and former cyclocross champion Tim Johnson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Fast Talk, we tackle the always-popular topic of climbing. A listener in Iowa asked if he could become a better climber. We’re joined by a collection of talented riders and coaches: Sepp Kuss, newly signed with the LottoNL-Jumbo WorldTour squad; Dr. Iñigo San Millan, director of the University of Colorado Sports Medicine and Performance Center; as well as fantastic climbers Joe Dombrowski and Ned Overend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recently, a big debate kicked up on the Internet. Some cycling experts stated that Functional Threshold Power (FTP) was dead. Many of the big names in training got involved in the debate of the value of FTP, as well as what is and isn’t current when it comes to creating a rider’s power profile and determining their training zones. We didn’t get involved in the debate–we consider everyone in the debate to be friends at Fast Talk–but we also couldn’t resist a good scientific question. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We cyclists can get a little lost in the weight room. We are joined by Jess Elliott, who is the sports performance coach and biomechanist at the University of Colorado Sports Medicine and Performance Center. She helps us understand the fundamentals of strength workouts in the weight room: what to do, how to do it, and how many times to lift those big hunks of iron. Plus, we speak with pro rider Brent Bookwalter (BMC) about how he fits weight lifting into his busy travel schedule. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Illness can be a big setback for cyclists at all levels. What causes us to get sick, and how do we avoid it? If we train too hard, will it ruin our immune system, or can we power through it and ride with the sniffles? We are joined by Dr. Jason Glowney of CU Sports Medicine to answer these questions and better understand the science of illness and how it can make us better, healthier cyclists. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coach Trevor Connor and Caley Fretz examine the chemistry that occurs in our muscles while riding and racing. They talk to Dr. Iñigo San Millán, who is the director of Colorado University’s exercise physiology lab. Best of all, they give you practical advice for your own training to help make that burn go away — or at least make you faster even if it hurts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The VeloNews Fast Talk podcast is your source for the best advice and most interesting insight on what it takes to become a better cyclist. Listen in as VeloNews columnist Trevor Connor and editor Caley Fretz discuss a range of topics, including training, physiology, technology, and more. What will bikes look like in five years? What will they ride like? We and joined by VN tech crew Dan Cavallari and Kristen Legan to dig into the future of bikes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The VeloNews Fast Talk podcast is your source for the best advice and most interesting insight on what it takes to become a better cyclist. Taking time off can feel strange, but it’s absolutely necessary. Why do you need an off-season? We sit down with Dr. Andy Pruitt to discuss the physiological and psychological needs of athletes, and how an off-season is crucial to meeting those needs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who should you trust? How can you verify? There’s a lot of training advice out there, often contradictory, so what’s the best way for an athlete figure out what to do? We are joined by pro cyclist Sepp Kuss and the founder of FasCat coaching, Frank Overton, to dig into dealing with contradictory advice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For decades (almost a century, in fact), we’ve been told that cramping is caused by electrolyte imbalance or bad hydration. But new science suggests that this probably isn’t why you cramp during exercise. So why do you cramp? It all comes down to something called altered neuromuscular control. And how do you stop it? Well, that’s where things get even trickier. We called up the world’s leading athletic cramping expert to find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The difference between a fast tire and a slow tire can be ten or more watts. So how should you optimize your tire selection and tire pressure? The science behind fast tires has evolved rapidly in recent years, so Trevor Connor and Caley Fretz called in tech writer Kristen Legan to dig into the latest research. This episode of Fast Talk is presented by Quarq. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is it possible to stay fit and fast all year round? We talk to former pro and team director Mike Creed about the toll that cycling takes on a body. He also discusses the mentality required to endure bad days on a bike, which happen far more often than good days. Plus, we speak with Cannondale-Drapac pro Toms Skujins and Trek-Segafredo pro Kiel Reijnen about how they plan their seasons, schedule training and avoid the dreaded burn-out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forget what you thought you knew about sports nutrition. We speak with Dr. John Hawley, one of the top experts in the world about the cutting edge trends in sports nutrition. Hawley also debunks myths about Ketogenic diets and explains the difference between race and training nutrition. Plus, we talk to Cannondale-Drapac’s Toms Skujins and national champion Joey Rosskopf about how they use nutrition in the real world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever turned on a Tour de France stage and found yourself wondering what the heck is going on? Why are these riders off the front? Shouldn’t that team be chasing? In this special Fast Talk episode, we are joined by Cannondale-Drapac pro rider Toms Skujins to discuss the intricacies of racing strategy. Plus, we’ll give you a few ways you can translate Tour de France tactics into your local races. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the heat of summer getting you down? Fast Talk is here to help. Coach Trevor Connor and Caley Fretz are joined once again by Rob Pickels, a physiologist who is currently studying ways to make clothing work better in hot weather. The panel discusses the mechanisms that cause your performance to drop when your body gets too hot, how to trick these mechanisms, and why you don’t want to. Finally, Fast Talk digs into the best ways to stay cool and safe when the mercury rises. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You need to sprint faster. Everyone does, except maybe Marcel Kittel and Mark Cavendish. Though sprinting ability is largely a function of genetics, there are still tons of ways to get more out of your finishing kick, from positioning to neuromuscular training to simply showing up at the finish line fresher. We discuss the ins and outs of sprint technique and training, and are joined by two-time national criterium champion Eric Young for some pro tips. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What numbers do you use to describe your rides? Some cyclists keep it simple with mileage and time. Others delve into TSS, FTP, or kJ to quantify a day of training. We talk to Dirk Friel of TrainingPeaks to explain how cyclists can use the data to make your workouts more effective and productive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Your body is ready to race, but is your bike ready? We are joined by VeloNews’s tech team of Dan Cavallari and Kristen Legan to dig into the tech side of proper race preparation. What should you do to your bike to make it race-ready? Where can you find the biggest gains for the least cash? What do you need to have in your race bag? The panel tackles these questions and many more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The breakaway. It is perhaps the noblest form of victory, and the most difficult. Joining and then winning from breakaways is as much art as science, as much tactical awareness as strength. In this episode, we are joined by Cannondale-Drapac’s escape ace Toms Skuijns, winner of two breakaway stages of the Amgen Tour of California, as well as VeloNews managing editor Chris Case, to discuss the tips, tricks, and tactics needed to make a breakaway move stick. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone has a warm-up routine, which is sometimes simple, and sometimes very complex. But what are we actually achieving with a pre-race routine? Is it helping us or actually hurting our potential to perform? We go in-depth on the science behind warm-ups and provide tips on how to get the most out of your next race by tailoring your routine to the event and your own needs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Should you eat gummy bears like Peter Sagan? Maybe. In this episode, we are joined by Dan Cavallari and Stacy Sims, founder of Osmo who now works with Nuun, to discuss the difference between food and fuel — what you should be eating on the bike, and off. We cover everything from the basics of sugars to osmotic gut pressure to the benefits (or lack thereof) of red algae. Some of the conclusions just might surprise you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Which is better, sweet spot training or polarized training? To find out, we invited in proponents of each type of training — FasCat’s Frank Overton on the sweet spot side, and Boulder Center for Sports Medicine’s Ryan Kohler to advocate for a polarized model — and let them have at it. Don’t know what Sweet Spot or polarized training are? Don’t worry, that’s covered first. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices