Training with Power Tips
Switching from Base to Race
Coaching Advice, Training with Power
Now that we’ve hit the home stretch of winter and the first season’s races are on the horizon, intervals looms large for all well prepared cyclists. I’m not talking about sweet spot or tempo intervals; I’m talking full…
The Performance Manager Chart in WKO and TrainingPeaks
Training with Power, TrainingPeaks
Development and Beta Testing of “TSTWKT”, Introduction: Back in the Fall of 2004, I attended USA Cycling’s Coaches Summit where I had the pleasure of seeing Dr. Andy Coggan, Ph.D present on training with power. I had seen…
Make the Most out of Your New PowerMeter
Training with Power
Here are my “3 ways” to make the most out of your new powermeter (originally appeared on VeloNews.com , January 2016) Perform a 20 minute field test to establish a baseline and your wattage based training zones Open up…
TSS Training
Training with Power
TSS Training is a precise way of training in a flexible, fun and productive manner. Its a combination of old school ‘just ride’ and new school power based metrics. TSS or Training Stress Score is a metric that…
Criterium Racing: Watts Up?
Intervals, Training with Power
by Frank Overton A good criterium racer needs experience and lots of anaerobic power. Being fast and fit is only a part of the equation. Strategy, patience, pack positioning, bike handling and luck are just a few strengths…
Climbing Intervals
Intervals, Training with Power
Climbing intervals will help you ride uphill faster for your Strava PR’s, group rides or hilly races. Mountain bikers, Road Racers, Gravel, Fondo’s – any athlete that wants to ride uphill faster will benefit from these climbing intervals.…
Tabata Intervals
Intervals, Training with Power
In the cycling world, the ability to go extremely hard for a short period of time often determines the outcome of a race. From a 10 second finish line sprint at 60kph, to a 30 second, 10% steep climb; raw…
Using your Powermeter for Weight Loss
Nutrition, Training with Power
Did you know you can use your powermeter to help with your weight loss goals? It’s true! The amount of “work” (watts) you throw down during a workout can be translated into kiloJoules (kJ) or calories burned. For…
How to Perform Intervals Properly with a PowerMeter
Intervals, Training with Power
by Frank Overton February 19, 2003! revised February 2016 When I bought my first powermeter in 2001, one of the things I first learned is that intervals are performed so much better by power than by heart rate. In…
How to Perform VO2 Max Intervals with your PowerMeter
Intervals, Training with Power
When the hammer drops on your next group ride it is likely a VO2 effort. I see it all the time in reviewing athlete’s power data: the crux of getting into the break, making the selection, or the…
Three Ways to Improve Functional Threshold Power
Training with Power
Functional Threshold Power or FTP is the maximum wattage an athlete can sustain for 60 minutes and according to Dr. Andrew Coggan, “the single greatest determinant of cycling performance”1. FTP has recently come under attack on ‘the internet’…
Sweet Spot versus Zone 2 Training Plan Design
Sweet Spot, Training with Power
by Frank Overton The physiological benefits of sweet spot training are illustrated in the table below: As you can see, there are more x’s in the sweet spot column than there are in zone 2 and tempo columns…
Training Zones
Intervals, Training with Power
Training zones enable athletes and coaches to achieve precise physiological adaptations from their training. In essence, training zones tell the athlete how hard or easy to pedal in a workout or on a training plan. FasCat uses the seven…
A 20 Minute Power-Based Field Test
Podcasts, Training with Power
One key question we ask ourselves as coaches at FasCat, is if the athlete is responding to the training we have prescribed. Aka, are they getting faster? Our favorite “experiment” to answer this question is a good old…
How to Improve Power Output on the Bike
Training with Power
After planning your season and setting up your A race the next step is to create a training plan to improve your power output. This should include knowing the course and knowing your strengths and weaknesses. For instance,…
Fatigue Dependent Training Plan Design
Training with Power
Fatigue dependent training plan design is a method of prescribing workouts and designing training plans to match an athlete’s expected fatigue in order to optimize training. The hardest workout with the highest wattage occurs first in a block…
Breaking Down the Performance Management Chart + CTL
Training with Power, TrainingPeaks, Videos
Coach Frank drops some knowledge about the basics of the PMC and CTL, and how you can use these tools to forecast and optimize your training as a cyclist. Our full podcast on Master’s CTL can be found…
Video: How to Design Your Own Personal Cycling Training Camp
Training with Power, Videos
With winter seemingly still in full force in many parts of the world, and the season quickly approaching, it’s a good time to consider putting together a cycling training camp to bump up the volume and prepare for…
How to Motorpace for Cycling Performance
Training with Power, Videos
Looking to build your top-end through motorpacing? In this video, Coach Frank outlines everything that you’ll need to know when motorpacing for better cycling performance. Join the discussion on the FasCat Forum.
Finding Balance While Fitting Group Rides into Structured Training
Training with Power, Videos
It’s that time of year: you’re coming out of the winter months and going on group rides with your cycling team. While mixing structured training plans with your group ride cycling, it’s critical to find balance in the…
Video: How to Train for a Strava PR or QOM/KOM
Intervals, Training with Power, Videos
In this video, Coach Frank and former pro turned un-professional cyclist Phil Gaimon talk about how to build your Strava training plans, with a focus on winning Strava KOMs or setting your own PR. Shot beautifully in Phil’s…
10 Reasons to Ask Santa for a Powermeter
Training with Power
by Frank Overton, PowerMeter user since 2000 I bought my first powermeter in 2000 following Greg Lemond’s well-publicized use of a powermeter in the 1990s. Back then, you might have seen a powermeter or two at a race, but…
How to Peak for Cyclocross Nationals
Cyclocross, Races, Training with Power
US Cyclocross Nationals is about 8 weeks away (depending on when you are reading this) and there is still time to train ‘get faster’ for the State and National Championships. I like to use the Performance Manager Chart…
FTP is alive and well
Training with Power
Recently I was a guest at VeloNews for their Fast Talk podcast on the subject of FTP (Functional Threshold Power) versus 4DP that the SufferFest recently began marketing. In that podcast I summarized what I stand for as:…
How to Perform an Indoor Field Test
Off-Season Training, Training with Power
Performing a 20-minute field test indoors can be a highly effective and repeatable method for establishing your wattage training zones and measuring your improvement. Execution of the test indoors requires details that we’d like to share in this…
The Effect of Racing at Altitude
Training with Power
by Jake Rytlewski, Associate FasCat Coach Throughout the summer, the western United States plays hosts some of cycling’s hardest races and events. The Leadville 100, FireCracker 50, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, the now-defunct USA Pro Challenge,…
Tulsa Tough Training
Races, Training with Power
Tulsa Tough training is all about anaerobic intervals. Zone 6 intervals 20 – 60 seconds in length + sprints will prepare you optimally for this style of bike racing. When we designed a training plan for Tulsa Tough,…
Setting Up the Performance Manager Chart
Training with Power, TrainingPeaks
The Performance Manager Chart (PMC) is the window to your overall fitness and race-readiness. Get it set up properly and it can be your most powerful training tool! They say a picture is worth a thousand words and…
Maximal Lactate Steady State Testing
Off-Season Training, Training with Power
The FasCat Maximal Lactate Steady State Protocol A long time ago in a galaxy far far away we had a physiology lab and used the gold standard maximal lactate steady state (MLSS) protocol to determine athletes’ Functional Threshold…
Teaching Criterium Tactics Using On Board Cameras
Intervals, Training with Power
by Isaiah Newkirk, July 2016 In cycling, it’s not always the strongest person that wins; it’s the smartest. Conserving energy, exploiting your opponents weaknesses, reading the competition in front of you, and using the race course to your…
Power Demands from US Master’s Road Race Nationals
Races, Training with Power
What it takes to win the Masters 35 – 39 National Road Race Championships, by Coach Jake Rytlewski & performed by Jonathan Jacob, Bissell ABG Giant Congratulations to FasCat athlete Jonathan Jacob, who won the Masters 35 –…
Phil’s File: Tour of California, 2016
Races, Training with Power
Power Data Analysis by Frank Overton, May 2016 FasCat Athlete Phil Gaimon is racing the 2016 Tour of California for Cannondale Pro Cycling and Coach Frank is dissecting his power data and asking questions about what was going on in…
Phil Gaimon FasCat Athlete Interview
Coaching Advice, Training with Power
Interview by the FasCat Coaches, February 2016 FasCat Athlete and Team Cannondale Rider, Phil Gaimon is back in the European peloton for 2016 and off to a good start having just finished Provence and Haut Var. We asked Phil for his take…
Road Racing Tactics and Strategies
Training with Power
by the FasCat Coaches Here are our core road racing tactics for the Category 3/4/5, Collegiate and Masters racer. Allen: If you have never been fed in a feed zone before, practice how to do it. Make sure your…
Criterium Race Tactics and Strategies
Intervals, Training with Power
by the FasCat Coaches, March 2016 Every week the FasCat Coaches get together to discuss and share ways to help out our athletes. We cover a variety of topics like off season and resistance training, indoor trainer workouts, TSS, the Performance Manager…
The Difference between Road and Mountain Bike Power Output
Training with Power
The Difference between Road and Mountain Bike Power Output and What Your Training Should Do About it. Cyclists and the industry as a whole know about the power demands of road racing, but in comparison, we don’t know…
Tempo Training
Intervals, Sweet Spot, Training with Power
by Frank Overton, January 25th, 2005 I made it out the door with about 90 min to spare before darkness and black ice would set in. What type of ride did I do? How do you go about…
F One Aerodynamics: How Lance’s wind tunnel tests can improve your time trialing 7.05.04
Training with Power
For several years now, Scott Daubert has been the US Postal team’s go-to guy for anything Trek bike related and more. If you’ve seen OLN’s Lance Chronicles you’ve seen Scott in the thick of things in the University…
Estes Park Stage Race: an SRM analysis of Will Frischkorn’s GC and stage wins 8.31.04
Races, Training with Power
Four years later, Frischkorn was in a similar race winning breakaway during stage stage 3 of the 2008 Tour de France. He nearly won the stage, finishing 2nd. The long breakaway at Estes Park is a good example…
Power Based Impulse-Response Performance Model 7.19.05
Training with Power
I hope everyone is enjoying the Tour de France and PEZ’s unique coverage as much as I am. With the Alps and Pyrenees behind us, it is quite evident which riders had form, lost their form, or found…
Christian Vande Velde’s 2006 Tour de France: an analysis using TSS and the Performance Manager Chart 7.19.07
Training with Power
Imagine that everyday for the past 2 weeks as you head off to work you feel more tired than the day before. Each day at work has been relentless and its only going to get worse because next…
Post Tour of California Interview with Tom Zirbel 2.26.08
Training with Power
Congrats on your time trial at the Tour of California. Was that your best TT ever? If so, could you describe why? If ‘best tt ever’ means: took corners perfect, effort doled out perfectly so that I was…
Why Buy a PowerMeter from FasCat
Training with Power
Any retailer can sell you a powermeter; however only FasCat can show you how to use it by coaching you for FREE for one month. Buy a powermeter from us and we’ll be able to tell you what…
Phil Gaimon, Professional Cyclist Team Garmin, Interview
Coaching Advice, Training with Power
FasCat Athlete Phil Gaimon spent a rest day answering the FasCat Coaches questions on training, cookies, host housing, Frankie Andreu, beer, the suck o meter, his VO2, skinny jeans, razors, Strava, mentors and his CTL. Read on: Coach Nadia:…