Fascat is created with the mission of sharing our expertise to help athletes ride faster than ever before! Here on your RU-vid channel, we share tips, tricks and stories from experts, athletes and coaches about all aspect that will improve your cycling abilities. We combine our experience with scientifically proven strategies to make you a better cyclist. Whether you prefer gravel racing, cyclocross, mountainbike or bike racing, this channel will has everything you need to improve your performance!
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Great podcast! In the discussion of how many hours of training weekly is done by gravel pros vs World Tour, there's one very important difference, the number of race days. The WT pros have many, many, more race days on their calendars and putting in similar training hours as pro gravel racers just isn't possible. Great content, love your podcasts.
yea, that is totally true. I think its also specificity of training for 5-6 hour races and not 10 hour races. I'd be curious to look at what some of the top multisport pros do for total weekly training volume training for an 8 hour IronMan.
Listened this morning to the pod. Good stuff only I feel you left one big opportunity for time on the bike. Riding to work and back! With traffic and parking it only takes me ten more minutes to ride in then driving and it adds up over the week for volume! I know some people can't show up to work all sweaty but if you can swing it...
Yes! That is a really good point. It also depends on what your training goals are. For example if you are focused on build base or doing intervals. Being in an interval phase is more challenging for commuting than base phase. But overall yes , its a great way to get in a 2 fer 💪 Thanks for listening!
wow you two, amazing accomplishments!...thanks for posting, it's the only way for us far less skilled and capable riders to comprehend what "elite" really means, all the best in future efforts!
Great ride and balls for sending the flyer. I'm curious what the discussion was after the under the bridge near the finish. Did you say I'm not pulling but don't worry I wont be in the sprint...
Amazing ride. After a 45-mile time trial, you deserve to suck the pack's wheel -- not sure if those waving you through, leading to the sprint, were waving for encouragement or taunting. Lifetime didn't cover your ride comprehensively.
Switch to Fillmore valves. They can’t clog. I switched after a ruined ride when nothing would put air into a flat rear. And no more leaky valves either. Huge upgrade to never think about your valves ever again. Sealant goes right in, too. No valve core to remove.
You do realise that you can increase or decrease the intensity of any interval within Erg mode on zwift with companion app? So "on the fly" adjustments ARE possible.
Intensity specifity is vastly overrated. First goal is optimal biological adaptation. Specifity is for immediate race preparation, mostly fine tuning, pacing, mental training.
I only use Erg mode for incremental step tests and HR drift testing. Intervals and endurance just resistance as it allows to adapt to daily form and sprinkle in sprints.
Sweet spot will be higher than true max fat burn that will be zone2. 2 x a wk in sweetspot would be stronger aerobic but not stimulating fully the Anaerobic Metabolism/ lt2 Threshold. That is if youre comparing a 1.7-1.9mmol z2. With less hours yes it makes sense to do s.s.t.
In my case SST as defined at 90% FTP is spot on the 2mmol lactate mark. So yes San Millans definition of around 1.7mmol is just slightly below. My measured FatMax is at 65% VO2max which matches around 57% of MAP (1min increment maximum power) which is pretty close to San Millans definition. I doubt that the additional stress of a lot of SST is worth it, especially since Fat metabolism and thus Mitochondrial activity is already going down a good piece. I can do 3x90min at FatMax and 2x Z5 intervals per week while one hour SST daily leaves me tired next day and destroys me quickly. I do much better polarized than SST based.
I have trained my body to work off Greenbelly Meals 2 Go (660+ Calories and 100 grams of Carbs) before events or long rides. I use Hammer nutrition products, which are sugar-free. I make four gel flasks with 3 oz of gel and 2 oz of water. I also carry 50 oz of water, carbs, and electrolytes mixed in my hydration pack. I keep two water bottles on the bike to pour over my head for heat control.
Always great to have experts on the line, but highly recommend that some of this stuff gets practiced a bit beforehand as this came off very robotic and not this podcasts usual natural flow. Edit: apparently the awkwardness lasted about 1 minute and now they sound great, I was tricked 😅
Important to also factor, the FDA allows for a 20% margin of error on nutrition labels for packaged foods. This means that a food item may contain up to 20% more calories, carbs, or sugars than the label says. For example, a 100-calorie snack could contain up to 120 calories without breaking the law.
In most cases, AI may well give broadly correct answers. But the “presentation” doesn’t match that of a human coach. And don’t neglect the importance of psychological factors which current AI cannot emulate well.
@@FasCatCoaching I appreciate your experiment. It’s truly interesting! At university, I have some students using AI which I encourage as we all should embrace technological progress. However, I also see AI’s shortcomings (generic answers, which are completely satisfactory for beginners up to somewhat advanced levels, but still don’t meet the “excellence” level) and the lack of human touch (encouragement, empathy). = our “jobs” are still relatively safe!
I don't have a power meter but have a heart rate strap. I have a saris wheel on trainer to ride indoors doing zone 2 workouts. I've lost over 70lbs and I'm now at 216 but shooting for 200 by next year. I'm 70yrs old and ride a Surly bridge club touring bike. I'm needing to train to get my stamina and endurance back plus rebuild the muscles in my legs. Hoping to do next year's AIDS Lifecycle 7 day, 545 mile ride from SF to LA and be able to complete all the legs of the ride. Would the Fascat app be of benefit to me to train and get in shape to handle this ride as well as other touring trips I'd like to do...like the GDMBR.
Hey Steve - YES! We'd love to help too. We recommend sweet spot training plans combined with our weight loss meal plan for good combo starter plan. The first month is free - no credit card required here fascatcoaching.com/app
Thanks guys, some great insight, never used a power meter or done an FTP test but won a few 5 hour plus gravel races so must be doing something right, listening to this has inspired me, thanks again from NZ.
Not really. Once I realised I was listening to guff i started FWD get to the key points then didn’t finish the rest of it because it took so long. As for being a jerk, don’t you think feedback is important? Don’t give me the “ooh. We need to advertise” mince either. You don’t need 11 mins of hard sell to promote stuff. And there’s my point… I don’t even know what you were selling because I tuned out. 🤷🏼♂️
@@simmy0newe love feedback but we do not like being called 'bulls**t' - there's better ways to give feedback, is what we are saying. Thank you for listening & watching
Erg mode = the devil's work. Seriously though, indoor training should always be crafted to avoid what I call the "metronome syndrome" as inside should be prep for outdoors and outdoors in invariably stochastic.
I've never done a 5 hour power test. My current best is 270w, but that was after 4 hours at 300w followed by 1 hour of cooldown ride back to the car. 8 hours is 250w, but that's not really anything to write home about. Working on extending the 300w out to 6 hours.
depending on your power to weight ratio, 270 and 250 is SUPER legit. Look at your best races and the power from start to finish - those are the new gravel metrics to hon in on in your training!
@@FasCatCoaching around 80kg, so not super light. I find myself lacking on the short punchy surges, but more at home just sitting down and steadily turning cranks. It blows my mind how strong the top riders are, truly some gifted athletes!
@@HydeMyJekyll do anaerobic work for the short punchy stuff (Zone 6 intervals) and Win in the Kitchen (weight loss meal plans) Are you on the FasCat App? The first month is free
Do you have any thoughts on the Norwegian Method when it comes to training for cycling? One of the reasons I really like ERG mode is that it keeps my intensity stricty within a zone - the major benefit of sweet spot is that it is enough intensity to trigger adaptation without requiring a ton of rest, so I can consistently do productive workouts. When left on my own, I'll totally go unleashed into threshold and vo2 max territory during a group ride or workout ride.
ERG is certinaly good for staying in zones, won't argue about that but also it is a good skill to be able to hold power steady by feel an your 🧠 The answer to your question also lies in the question back to you - what are you training for?
I'm just training to train - trying to get to 4w/kg. Doing so while bike commuting is difficult. I have to slow-roll my commutes to maintain freshness for quality workouts, so adherence to intensity matters. Smashing everyday of the week led to a fitness plateau in 2023 (male, age 40+). I always appreciate the podcast information ✌️ it's always relevant discussion.
Liked the nutrition segment. I set my computer to remind me to drink every 15 minutes and take in a gel every 45 minutes. I also use Flow Formula, and it's been a game changer. Great pod cast, guys.
Seems to be how the pro-peloton is going as it is full tilt from the start. Standard FTP may work to bridge a gap but you have to be there to have anything to bridge.
The world tour riders that are assigned to get in the break are throttling it. The GC guys can surf the peloton and once the break goes they're back to zone 2 for hours until the end
Mtn Dew and a Snickers. Best snack EVAR during a long ride. AMHIK Also very easy to find pretty much anywhere there's a C-store Used to be RC Cola and Moon Pies, but I left SW VA years ago and I haven't seen either since.
we built that into the FasCat app by connecting your wearable data to our AI Coach (CoachCat) to analyze your sleep and HRV data. Every morning CoachCat will analyze will let you know! And of course, you can let CoachCat know how you are feeling and get custom workout recommendations based on your fatigue state
Hi Coaches, thanks for discussing higher efforts without ERG - makes sense. But I didn't hear Z2 with ERG...? I use ERG for my Z2 rides along w/ HR and feel and it helps me avoid overdoing it. Also, what is minimum effective dose of Z2? Thanks
Often times we prescribe zone 2 by heart rate and ERG mode often times leads you down a path of riding too hard or not being able to adjust per if your heart rate is rising during the ride
