By Chris Carmichael, Founder and Head Coach of CTS While cycling plays a central role in our lives, for the general public interest in bicycles comes and goes in waves. Ridership and new bike sales are soaring in 2020 as more people turn to cycling for transportation, recreation, exercise, and commerce in response to the …
By Chris Carmichael CEO/Head Coach of CTS I always try to reduce the number of components or tasks in a cyclist’s workouts. I’d rather you do a few things very well than a bunch of things not so well. This means I keep warm ups simple, prescribe easy-to-execute (but sometimes very strenuous) interval sets, …
By Chris Carmichael, Founder and Head Coach of CTS Creativity is the name of the game when it comes to staying fit or gaining fitness during worldwide ‘Stay at home’ orders. Like many of you, my social media feeds and email inbox have been filled with all manner of indoor cycling and at-home strength workouts. …
By Chris Carmichael CEO/Head Coach of CTS I got a call from an athlete this week, as he was walking from one meeting to the next, exclaiming with glee that he had 90 whole minutes to work out that afternoon! That might be a normal Tuesday for you, but we’ve been shoehorning 45-minute training sessions …
By Chris Carmichael, Founder and Head Coach of CTS I started noticing it about halfway down the Col de la Madeleine. In the group I was with, riders started shaking out their hands on the straightaways between switchbacks. Even with disk brakes, the effort of gripping the bars and using the brakes for such a …
By Chris Carmichael CEO/Head Coach of CTS I felt a twinge in my right leg this week when I read 4-time Tour de France Champion Chris Froome crashed and broke his femur. I broke my femur in the winter of 1986, and although every fracture, surgery, and recovery is unique, there’s no getting around the …
By Mara Abbott Olympian and CTS Contributing Editor By now, I hope many of you are deep into your D40 challenge. If you missed out and haven’t started yet, it really isn’t too late – you could still either commit to a pro-rated version to boost your fitness before the New Year, or extend your own …
By Mara Abbott Olympian and CTS Contributing Editor As many of readers here know, as soon as you get a coach you have an ever-present voice eager to explain training principles and the physiological changes you will experience if you follow the plan. I have been a coached athlete for most of my life – …
December is Feats of Strength Month at CTS! Each December, my coaches, employees, and I have a friendly competition around a particular strength training exercise. This year we’re having a plank contest, and we want you to participate as well! The rules are simple: accumulate as much time in the plank position as you …
As I travel around the country participating in a variety of events I am constantly surprised by the nutritional choices I see athletes making prior to workouts. If you want to have a great ride, hike, run, or strength workout, here are the 6 worst pre-workout foods and habits for cyclists, runners, and triathletes …