In this video FasCat coach Isaiah Newkirk, walks us through using your power data to find the right training approach for your upcoming goals through three key steps. Full Transcript with graphics below. Hello everyone, my name is…
FTP is short for Functional Threshold Power and is the maximum amount of watts a rider can make for one hour. FTP Testing is simple to perform with a 20 minute field test. FTP Testing will determine your…
Anaerobic intervals for cycling are short high powered efforts that do not use oxygen. A 1 minute effort performed at 120-150% of the athletes Functional Threshold Power (FTP) is a great example. These intervals are essential to training…
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 you rarely saw one out training.…
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…
How to review your “season” using power data Top athletes are always looking ahead and planning long term. One of the best ways of doing this is by taking time to look back at how your training went…
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,…
Driven athletes and progressive coaches are always seeking the cutting edge of new technology and the introductions of new tools to help them progress. The latest to hit the market is WKO5 – advanced software to analyze training…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 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…
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 workouts in the form of 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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’…
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 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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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:…
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…
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 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,…
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…
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…
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 –…
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…
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…
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…
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 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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:…