Back pain is a common complaint among all adults. Although active individuals (including runners) are less likely to experience lower back pain than the sedentary population, plenty of athletes and runners suffer from low back pain on a regular basis. Some of the causes relate to our activities of daily living (or lack thereof), but …
Topics Covered In This Episode: Top 5 factors for faster climbing: pacing, increasing power to weight ratio, wise equipment choices, course intel, personal intel How to use Strava as a pacing and KOM/QOM planning tool Using RPE to gauge pacing and sustainability Are you a Steady or Punchy climber? Pacing for climbs you have never …
By Jim Rutberg, CTS Pro Coach, co-author “The Time-Crunched Cyclist” and “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning” As summer turns to fall, many cyclists shift their attention from road, gravel, and mountain bike events to cyclocross. Held on closed courses in local parks, cyclocross is a perfect way to get a great workout, satisfy your competitive drive, and …
For everything that happens in life, our responses are heavily influenced by principles we establish based on our values and experiences. When it comes to improving performance and outcomes in sport or life, I recommend abiding by these seven principles. Find your inspiration Inspired athletes always perform better. Whether you’re extremely fit or just starting …
Topics Covered In This Episode: What can I do to boost immune system? Why do I get sick after big races? Innate immunity vs adaptive immunity Basic biology of the human immune system History of the “Open window theory” How to decrease illness risk associated with training Managing sleep to protect your immune function Managing …
When I first met my wife she was training for her very first half marathon. Like many before her and countless since, she had picked up a book from preeminent marathoner and author Jeff Galloway and organized her training around programs in the book. Galloway’s methods center around two principles: weekly progressive overload and a …
By Jim Rutberg, CTS Pro Coach, co-author of “The Time-Crunched Cyclist”, “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning”, and “Ride Inside“ We’ve arrived at the time of the year when athletes are wrapping up their summer seasons and looking forward to the next steps in their training and competition calendars. For most coached athletes, these are great conversations about …
Of all the disciplines within cycling, cyclocross is exceptionally well suited to Time-Crunched Cyclists. The events are intense but short, and the season is relatively short as well. This means a Time-Crunched Cyclist can use the cyclocross training plan and principles described in “The Time-Crunched Cyclist, 3rd Edition” to create race-winning fitness for the upcoming ‘cross …
Topics Covered In This Episode: Determining key workouts vs. everything else What to do when you miss a key workout Example: Missed a key Tuesday interval workout Example: Missed a key Thursday workout before big weekend Example: Missed long ride on a weekend day Adjusting training start times based on recovery-duration-between-key-workouts When to do or …
The cheeky answer to, “How many hours should I ride my bike?” is, of course, “As many as possible.” But that really isn’t true. More hours on the bike doesn’t automatically lead to improved fitness, greater weight loss, improved cardiovascular health, reduced chronic disease risk, improved mental health, or any of the other potential …