By Alison Tetrick, Pro Cyclist, Entrepreneur, and CTS Contributing Editor And there I was. Right back where it all started. It was like I never left. A trip down memory lane. I was home, where I grew up in cycling. Where I achieved some of my proudest moments that I still remember fondly. Even though …
Win True follows Scott Mercier’s trajectory from a kid in Telluride, Colorado, to the 1992 US Olympic Team, through his years as a professional cyclist for Saturn and US Postal Service, and his decision to leave the sport rather than participate in doping. Win True is his story of moral courage in the face of …
By Jim Rutberg, CTS Pro Coach, co-author of “Ride Inside“ and “The Time-Crunched Cyclist” Exercise intensity is one of the most important variables that determines the effectiveness of a workout. As a result, most workouts express the target intensity by power output, heart rate, pace, and RPE. What does RPE mean? Rating of …
Nothing ruins a great ride faster than discomfort caused by friction or pressure between you and your saddle. There’s a lot going on in your shorts: pressure from supporting a substantial portion of your bodyweight, heat and moisture from exertion and sweat, and friction from spinning your legs and scooting fore and aft on the …
Cycling does a lot of great things for your body, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t sometimes a pain in the neck… or shoulders… or back. Back pain is one of the most common complaints we hear from cyclists, whether new or experienced, young or old. Strength training and stretching can significantly reduce lower back …
People use cycling to achieve various goals, including health, fitness, competition, fun and adventure. Weight loss often occurs naturally as a consequence of increased hours and miles on the bike. CTS typically approaches weight management from the perspective of improving endurance sport performance, like increasing power-to-weight ratio. However, we recognize weight loss is a primary …
Some workouts just don’t go like you planned. Maybe you visualized pushing the pace at the front of the group ride, or crushing that set of intervals, or spinning along smoothly for hours on end. Instead, you felt sluggish, like you were pedaling squares, or like you couldn’t get out of your own way. Crappy …
Strength training protocols for cyclists have evolved through the years, and the current consensus at CTS is that heavy strength training is recommended for most amateur, Masters, and especially Grand Masters (60+ years old) cyclists. There are exceptions for some highly competitive cyclists and elite riders who may need to sacrifice balanced, well-rounded fitness in …
There is an entire generation of cyclists that views VO2 max as a genetically pre-determined performance ceiling. A more modern and nuanced take shows it to be quite responsive to training. With different types of workouts we can increase VO2 max itself, as well as peak power, fractional utilization, and power duration at VO2 max. That’s …
By Chris Carmichael, CTS Founder and Chief Endurance Officer At the beginning of a new phase of training it is important to get a snapshot of an athlete’s current fitness so you can scale training intensities appropriately. Assessing an athlete’s Functional Threshold Power (FTP) is the most utilized method because FTP testing can be …