Fast Talk Podcast

Can a simple bike race change you forever? Jana, Ryan, Trevor, and Chris describe the lessons they learned in each of their respective N1 Challenges.

Mentors help athletes by providing guidance, teaching a philosophy, and serving as a confidante. Do you need a mentor to reach your full potential?

We examine the pros and cons of using chronic training load (CTL) as well as the ways it can take your endurance sports training off track.

Nerd Lab! In this episode, Mr. Pickels nerds out with Coach Trevor Connor for a deep dive into new scientific research findings.

Making a mid-season assessment of your training, and effectively modifying it (if needed), takes skill and confidence. We discuss how to do it, particularly when it comes to structure, recovery, limited time, and top-end form.

Can cycling twice in one day produce the same benefits as one long ride? Do “two-a-days” yield adaptations you can’t get any other way? We explore.

With regard to physiology principles, what has and has not changed since the 1980s? We compare the science, equipment, and analysis software, then and now. Which decade wins? Stay tuned.

In an age when athletes often focus on the specifics, we address the importance of focusing on the fundamentals: training, recovery, and functioning gear—the things that will bring you the greatest return for your investment of time, sweat, and energy.

We bring you our favorite conversations with exceptional guests from the worlds of physiology, medicine, nutrition, sports psychology, and, of course, cycling.

Certain physiological gains only happen after years of development. We discuss how to design training plans that look two or more years ahead.

We believe modern coaching doesn’t optimally fulfill the needs of the modern athlete. That’s why we’re introducing our community, education, and coaching membership, Fast Talk Laboratories.

We catch up with our friends at The Pro’s Closet, Spencer Powlison and Bruce Lin, to discuss their recent four-week Strava PR Challenge. In the lead up to their attempts, we helped them with training advice and “race-day” strategy tips.

How do you, as an athlete, combine your understanding of sport science and your training and racing experience to most effectively map out your training? That question is the basis for today’s episode, one in which we drift between the philosophical and the practical.

We take a close look at big gear work. What does the literature say about performance gains? What have elite coaches discovered through practice?

We explore how to use a training philosophy to design your program, then use metrics to guide how much, how often, and how difficult those workouts should be.

We bring in Dr. Stephen Seiler, one of the world’s preeminent exercise physiologists, to discuss how to adjust your training now that the world is in a chronic state of disruption.

In this episode we look at the big picture when it comes to training in zones, or ranges, versus training a target number. Because what number is best?

We delve into both the nuances of triathlon and how training for that sport relates to endurance training and cycling generally.