Kolie and new Empirical Cycling coach Cory sit down for a discussion on previous coaching relationships, cultivating new ones, training and racing experience, and coaching red flags. They also get into Cory's motocross experience, technical aspects of criterium bike setup, and the difficulties of Zwift racing while living in a car.

This episode takes a bird's eye view on periodizing strength training in your season including adaptation, hypertrophy, strength, maintenance if needed, and even more specific periodization suggestions for lifting into the season. How and when one might plan these phases, how long they would last, and other tangents such as single leg specific phases, deadlift choice, and a bonus rant on whether or not you should do plyometrics for cycling.

​Show Notes

​Podcast listeners voted on our topic to celebrate 200k listens! In this purely editorial episode, we list our top 5 best and worst workouts, discuss what makes them good or bad, and how one might fix them. On the lists are ramp tests, group rides, using FTP as an anchor intensity, all out efforts, and many more.

If you've ever thought about using the ketogenic diet for cycling, you may want to listen in. We look at a pair of modern classic studies that compare traditional high carbohydrate diets to periodized low carb and keto. This includes a study with, and a study without a carbohydrate re-adaptation period.​
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Show Notes
Low carbohydrate, high fat diet impairs exercise economy and negates the performance benefit from intensified training in elite race walkers
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5407976

Crisis of confidence averted: Impairment of exercise economy and performance in elite race walkers by ketogenic low carbohydrate, high fat (LCHF) diet is reproducible
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7272074

​Wonder how many reps to do in the gym? How many sets? This episode will help. We discuss typical set and rep ranges, how good they are for strength, hypertrophy, or maintenance, as well as in the context of periodization.

This discussion focuses on cyclists choosing exercises for strength training, and the hosts mostly stay on track. Topics included are high and low bar back squats vs front squat, lifting shoes, injury concerns, weight belts, and the bilateral deficit.

Show Notes
A Coaching Perspective on Modern Training Metrics and Return from Injury and Illness
(Author's link, open text until 9 December 2021)