Lactate: Your Best Friend or Worst Enemy?

  By Chris Carmichael, CTS Founder and Chief Endurance Officer Several years ago I became more interested in lactate, particularly because both research and experience were suggesting that coaches and sports scientists had been wrong about the stuff. Recent years have seen a renaissance for lactate, but out on the road and in the blogosphere …

Business Booming at CTS Mexico City!

  With a full schedule of indoor cycling classes and one-on-one coaching sessions, CTS Mexico City is growing steadily and providing cyclists and triathletes in the Santa Fe region of Mexico City with the best in professional coaching services. Led by Ricardo Probert and Carlos Ruesga, the newest CTS Training Center also has a thriving …

Which is better: Training With High or Low Carbohydrate Stores?

  By Chris Carmichael Coaching is a push-and-pull between tradition and innovation, between “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” and “Newer is better!”. During my coaching career I’ve been on both sides of that divide, always seeking innovation but wary that innovations that sound good don’t always lead to improved performance. Training when you’re …

Four Tips for Acing Your Next FTP Test

If progress is important to you then measuring and monitoring your performance is critical. We know, for instance, that in the first six months an athlete works with a CTS Coach, the athlete’s Functional Threshold Power (FTP) typically increases by 10%. Increased power isn’t the only way we measure success, but it is certainly an …

This is the Biggest Mistake Cyclists and Triathletes Make on Climbs

  I am very fortunate to participate in a lot of cycling camps, charity rides, group rides, and races; and all that time riding with other athletes can be very informative. A great number of the topics in my weekend blogs and Time-Crunched Athlete books are inspired by conversations and observations from these rides. With …

7 Keys to Take Your Group Ride from Good to Great

  We’re in the home stretch of the 2015 Amgen Tour of California Race Experience and I am incredibly proud of the athletes and staff we have at this event. The course this year has been difficult. The first five stages were each quite long (100-125 miles) and featured lots of wind, and on Stage …