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Coaches Kolie, Erica, and Gediminas talk about the most impactful training habits that cyclists can incorporate into their routines, and the ways that these habits can be overdone that end up working against us. We dig into consistency, nutrition quality, health consciousness, coaching relationships, focus, sleep, and more.
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Ten Minute Tips #65: Why Training Or Racing Experience Shouldn't Determine Training Volume10/22/2025
Our coaches address the common question of why your friend may be faster when doing less training than you, as well as why your experience level or race category probably doesn't indicate how much you should train. We look at the different returns on investment with training volume vs intensity, selection and survivor bias in cycling, a survey of power and training volume with racing cyclists in the US, and why comparison can be the thief of joy, but when it can be a useful tool for goal setting. We also answer your listener questions on genetics, time in zone progression, training time as a limiter, and more.
Show Notes How Much Training Do Road Racers in USA Cycling Actually Do? An Observational Study of 543 Athletes, by Racing Category and Gender
This episode is one of our deepest dives ever, into the literature on creatine's effects and tradeoffs with cycling performance, and how the results fare against Kolie's standard for being meaningful, noticeable, or measurable. Because individual studies report such varied results, we instead look at a meta analysis on creatine supplementation in aerobic performance, another on repeated sprints, plus a bonus study with a simulated road race. There's also a brief and explicitly non-expert look at a popular paper on creatine and cognition. Instead of recommending whether cyclists take creatine or not as a binary, we discuss the pros and cons, realistic expectations of effects, and in what cases we would consider supplementation. Plus your listener questions!
Show Notes Effects of Creatine Monohydrate on Endurance Performance in a Trained Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Short-Term Creatine Supplementation and Repeated Sprint Ability-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Effect of 28 days of creatine ingestion on muscle metabolism and performance of a simulated cycling road race Single dose creatine improves cognitive performance and induces changes in cerebral high energy phosphates during sleep deprivation
This episode we start with the old cycling adage "train your weaknesses, race your strengths" as the jumping off point to discuss strategies for diagnosing and training weaknesses in the off season. We decide for whom this would make sense as a strategy, the opportunity cost of training a weakness, low opportunity cost things to train, how race selection factors in, and much more.
This episode we look into the published literature on the surprisingly tight agreement between FTP and RPE and a couple different lab-derived measures of threshold like MLSS and critical power, along with the concept of anchoring. But first we get philosophical about how measurements often become definitions that can lose sight of our valid observations and experience. We wrap up by discussing FTP testing with RPE, plus answer your listener questions on RPE scales and anchors, RPE drift, common mistakes when using RPE, Borg's 6-20 vs 10 point scale, and much more.
Show Notes Psychophysical bases of perceived exertion Anaerobic Threshold Determination in Cycle Ergometer From Rating of Perceived Exertion - PubMed Critical power testing or self-selected cycling: Which one is the best predictor of maximal metabolic steady-state?
This is a deep dive into four papers on hypertrophy and strength training, and use them to find guidelines around how cyclists can improve strength without gaining weight. We evaluate the stimulus and overall impact of eccentric vs concentric contractions, sets and reps, minimum dose for strength improvements, progressive overload, and nutrition.
Show Notes Comparison Between Eccentric vs. Concentric Muscle Actions On Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Effects of different volume-equated resistance training loading strategies on muscular adaptations in well-trained men The Minimum Effective Training Dose Required for 1RM Strength in Powerlifters Effects of high-calorie supplements on body composition and muscular strength following resistance training Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Bayesianism
We take a deep look at ten commonly used ways to test or estimate FTP, and dissect how and why each method does (or is supposed to) work, how often we might expect accurate result and who it'd be accurate for, and the Empirical Cycling standards for test accuracy. We also dig into some data on ramp test accuracy and bias, plus how anaerobic capacity, RPE, and daily fluctuations in performance can play a role in test results. Plus time in zone, %FTP, normalized power, lactate tests, the "Kolie Moore" test, and your listener questions on DFA-alpha1, eFTP, and more.
Ten Minute Tips #62: Why FTP Isn't For Setting Training Zones (And Alternative Approaches)8/24/2025
Our coaches sit down to discuss the downsides of using FTP as an anchor for many types of intervals, how your individual physiology can make those targets suboptimal for the best stimulus, and the many alternative approaches that we use instead. We dig into VO2max, anaerobic and sprint efforts, plus first threshold and endurance riding. Then we answer your questions on minimum effective dose, breaking out of a rut, assessing realistic targets, and more.
Show Notes Building FRC and Pmax with WKO5
Dr. Eric Trexler joins the podcast for a nuanced discussion on energy expenditure and endurance sports. He explains measurement methods, the constrained energy expenditure model and its interpretations, the difficulty of calculating your total energy expenditure and needs and practical solutions, some curious results from papers on energy expenditure in cycling grand tours, and much more.
Show Notes Dr. Eric Trexler at Duke University Eric Trexler on Instagram MASS Research Review Constrained Total Energy Expenditure and Metabolic Adaptation to Physical Activity in Adult Humans Extreme events reveal an alimentary limit on sustained maximal human energy expenditure They Starved So That Others Be Better Fed: Remembering Ancel Keys and the Minnesota Experiment Determination of energy expenditure in professional cyclists using power data: Validation against doubly labeled water Energetics of a World-Tour Female Road Cyclist During a Multistage Race (Tour de France Femmes) Erratum. Total Energy Expenditure and Intake During a 161-km Mountain Ultramarathon The provisioned primate: patterns of obesity across lemurs, monkeys, apes and humans
Our coaches answer your questions on identifying limiters, how to take a rest week on a low volume plan, resuming training after a break, training for fitness vs racing, total time in zone vs structured intervals, the things that cyclists under-optimize, making the most of unusually large training weeks, the benefits of ice cream, and much more.
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