Empirical Cycling
  • Home
  • Coaching & Services
    • Coaching & Consultations
    • Testimonials
    • Contact
    • About Our Coaches
  • Results
  • Podcast
    • Podcast Episodes
    • Donate
  • Education
    • Articles & Webinars
    • Empirical Cycling Library
Podcast merch!

​Listen and subscribe:

RSS FEED
ITUNES
Soundcloud
Stitcher
Spotify
​If the episodes below don't load, turn off your ad blocker.
There are no ads.
If you think free coaching is worth a couple bucks,
​please consider a donation.
Picture

Watts Doc #40: Endurance Adaptation Is Not Substrate Oxidation

10/26/2022

0 Comments

 
Empirical Cycling Podcast · Watts Doc #40: Endurance Adaptation Is Not Substrate Oxidation
This episode breaks down the origins of endurance performance and how cells control substrate oxidation. We review a paper looking at the difference in adaptive aerobic signals when participants used significantly different amounts of fat and carbs at the same intensity. We then look at the role of mitochondria in cellular energetics, the pivotal role they play in aerobic endurance adaptations, and finally what the training implications are. Plus we answer your listener questions submitted to Kolie's Instagram.
​
Show Notes
Carbohydrate improves exercise capacity but does not affect subcellular lipid droplet morphology, AMPK and p53 signalling in human skeletal muscle

Regulation of skeletal muscle mitochondrial fatty acid metabolism in lean and obese individuals

Metabolic adaptations to short-term training are expressed early in submaximal exercise
​

Biochemical adaptations in muscle
0 Comments

Watts Doc #39: Why You Probably Can't Hold Your FTP For An Hour

8/15/2022

0 Comments

 
Empirical Cycling Podcast · Watts Doc #39: Why You Probably Can't Hold Your FTP For An Hour
Think your FTP is the power you can hold for 60 minutes? Think again! We dig into a classic Billat paper on time to exhaustion (TTE) and training threshold by adding time in zone. Then we discuss into the metabolic implications of these results, how they align with real world experience, and how this affects training and assessment of its effectiveness. Finally, we answer your questions as asked in Kolie's Instagram stories @empiricalcycling.

Show Notes
​Billat TTE paper on masters runners
​Introduction to TTE in WKO5
​
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Watts Doc #38: Phosphocreatine Is A Critical Aerobic Energy System

6/3/2022

0 Comments

 
Empirical Cycling Podcast · Watts Doc #38: Phosphocreatine Is A Critical Aerobic Energy System
While the phosphocreatine energy system is well known for sprinting, it also has another crucial role as part of the aerobic energy system. We delve into creatine's part in not only temporal energy buffering, but spatial too, and how cells are organized to support this and how badly organisms suffer without it. Then we look at more research showing that the aerobic recovery of phosphocreatine is highly correlated with repeated sprint power, and come to some practical conclusions we can make from the research.

Show Notes
"Conveyor Belt" paper: Mitochondrial creatine kinase in human health and disease
Impaired voluntary running capacity of creatine kinase-deficient mice
Relationship between different measures of aerobic fitness and repeated-sprint ability in elite soccer players
The Recovery of Repeated-Sprint Exercise Is Associated with PCr Resynthesis, while Muscle pH and EMG Amplitude Remain Depressed
​
You're Training Too Hard For Criteriums -- Here's Why
Picture
The "creatine conveyor belt" main pathway.
Picture
The mitochondrial structure of embedded creatine kinase enzymes to aid energy buffering.
0 Comments

Watts Doc #37: Your Fast Twitch Fibers Probably As Aerobic As Your Slow Twitch

3/17/2022

0 Comments

 
Empirical Cycling Podcast · Watts Doc #37: Your Fast Twitch Fibers Probably As Aerobic As Your Slow Twitch
Does your training zone determine the fiber type used? Does fiber type determine aerobic or anaerobic pathways, carbs or fats? We answer these questions by looking at evidence and concepts that show that fast twitch fibers can be just as aerobically capable as slow twitch fibers, nearly as good at burning fats, and why that might be. We dissect a paper on elite cross-country skiers, and another paper on whether or not fast twitch fibers had been recruited at relatively low intensity. In-depth discussion follows on fiber type distribution, muscle mass recruitment and force availability, why endurance athletes defy the expected metabolic properties of fast twitch fibers, and why these expectations may have started with cats.
​
Show Notes
XC Skiers paper
The Muscle Fiber Profiles, Mitochondrial Content, and Enzyme Activities of the Exceptionally Well-Trained Arm and Leg Muscles of Elite Cross-Country Skiers

Ramp test muscle recruitment paper
Progressive metabolite changes in individual human muscle fibers with increasing work rates
Picture
Figure 2 from XC ski paper, showing HAD and CS activity of arm and leg muscle samples against MHC1 proportion in those samples.
Picture
Figure showing metabolite changes at rest and after ramp test stages to 2 below LT (t2), 3 above LT (t3), and to exhaustion (t4).
0 Comments

Watts Doc #35: Fatmax Fallacies

12/14/2021

0 Comments

 
Empirical Cycling Podcast · Watts Doc #35: Fatmax Fallacies
In this episode we look at what fatmax is, where the promise lies, and what validity there is. Do you get better at burning fat by burning more fat? Do you lose more weight by burning more fat? How does e=mc^2 relate to the energy stored in food? This episode answers all these questions and more.​

Show Notes
2001 Jeukendreup and Achten fatmax paper
Elevated calcium and mitochondrial biogenesis in rat muscle (full text)

Papers not referenced in main podcast:
Exercise: It's the real thing!
Maximal fat oxidation during exercise in trained me
Picture
Idealized fatmax curve, from original Jeukendrup and Achten paper
0 Comments

Watts Doc #34: Why Keto Is Not The Diet You're Looking For

11/14/2021

0 Comments

 
Empirical Cycling Podcast · Watts Doc #34: Why Keto Is Not The Diet You're Looking For
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.​
​
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
0 Comments

Watts Doc #33: Fats vs Carbs Part II - Carnitine and VLamax

9/24/2021

0 Comments

 
Empirical Cycling Podcast · Watts Doc #33: Fats vs Carbs Part II - Carnitine and VLamax
We look deeper into how the body chooses to use carbohydrates and fats, and specifically when and how carbohydrates inhibit fat oxidation.  This serves as a jumping off point to take a critical look at VLamax and how it may, or may not, affect your FTP.​

Show Notes
Study on increased gene expression following endurance exercise
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19705999/
Picture
Acetyl buffering via carnitine frees CoA for continued pyruvate shuttling into the Krebs cycle.

Picture
Malonyl-CoA inhibition of CPT1.
0 Comments

Watts Doc #32: What Is Aerobic? Fats vs Carbs

8/3/2021

0 Comments

 
Empirical Cycling Podcast · Watts Doc #32: What Is Aerobic? Fats vs Carbs
What does it really mean to burn something aerobically? This episode concludes the first phase of this series by looking at both the Krebs cycle and the electron transport chain, and putting them in perspective. In what way is burning fats or carbs aerobic, and how aerobically different are they from each other?
​
​Show Notes
Picture
The Krebs cycle
Picture
The electron transport chain and abbreviated Krebs cycle together
0 Comments

Watts Doc #31: How and Why We Burn Carbs

2/24/2021

0 Comments

 
Empirical Cycling Podcast · Watts Doc #31: How and Why We Burn Carbs
This episode starts by looking at the chemical mechanisms of glycolysis, the stepwise dismantling of glucose for energy, and finishes with some big picture learnings about this deceptively simple pathway.
​
Show Notes
Picture
Glycolysis with straight chain sugars in Fischer projection
Picture
Glycolysis with NADH/NAD+ cycle
Picture
Free energy change of glycolysis. Note reactions 6 and 7 are coupled. Via https://slideplayer.com/slide/8083993/
Picture
Energy levels of glycolytic intermediates, via http://www.columbia.edu/cu/biology/courses/c2005/lectures/lec9_10.html
0 Comments

Watts Doc #30: What Limits Fat Use

1/26/2021

0 Comments

 
Empirical Cycling Podcast · Watts Doc #30: What Limits Fat Use
This episode takes a wide angle view of the chain of events between starting exercise and successfully burning fat, and where the main bottlenecks are in that process. Nuances discussed are the differences between adipose tissue and intramuscular fats, energy demand rates, diet, and potential training strategies to improve fat utilization at most exercise intensities.​

Show Notes
https://www.proteinatlas.org/
https://www.brenda-enzymes.org/

Effect of physical training on the capacity to secrete epinephrine
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3281927/

Regulation of endogenous fat and carbohydrate metabolism in relation to exercise intensity and duration
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8214047/

Fat metabolism during low-intensity exercise in endurance-trained and untrained men
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7810637/

Beta-blockade and lipolysis during endurance exercise
​https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8223828/

The different relationship of VO2max to muscle mitochondria in humans and quadrupedal animals
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2218095/
Picture
Lipolysis reaction
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019

    Categories

    All
    Adaptation Series
    Ai
    Antioxidants
    Athletes
    Base
    Biochemistry
    Broscience
    Calcium
    Cgm
    Concurrenttraining
    Creatine
    Ctl
    Data
    Diet
    ECcoach
    Efficiency
    Electron Transport Chain
    Fatmax
    Free Radicals
    Ftp
    Glycogen
    Heart
    Hiit
    Illness
    Interview
    Keto
    Krebscycle
    Lactate
    Low Carb
    MAP
    Metabolism
    Metabolism Series
    Milestone
    Mitochondria
    Mtor
    Musclephysiology
    Myths
    Nutrition
    Overtraining
    Over Unders
    Perspectives
    Pgc1 Alpha
    Pgc1-alpha
    Physics
    Polarized
    Psychology
    Racing
    Ramp Test
    Recovery
    RPE
    Size Principle
    Slow Component
    Sprinting
    Strength
    Studentunion
    Substrates
    Supplements
    Sweetspot
    Tapering
    Tenminutetips
    Testing
    Timecrunched
    Timetrial
    Track
    Training
    Triathlon
    Ttt
    Ultra
    Vlamax
    Vo2max
    Vo2maxseries
    Volume
    Wattsdoc
    Zones
    Zwift

    RSS Feed

Copyright © 2023
  • Home
  • Coaching & Services
    • Coaching & Consultations
    • Testimonials
    • Contact
    • About Our Coaches
  • Results
  • Podcast
    • Podcast Episodes
    • Donate
  • Education
    • Articles & Webinars
    • Empirical Cycling Library