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 Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning Last week, I wrote a teaser article overviewing the most controversial topics in ultramarathon training. If you want a refresher (and the Cliff’s notes version of this blog) go check it out here. This week, I will tackle why you should (or should not) strength train …
By Jason Koop, Head Coach of CTS Ultrarunning Earlier this week, I was invited to a compare-and-contrast interview with another ultrarunning coach that eventually would become the subject of an article. Over the years, I have come to enjoy these types of discussions and debates with coaches both inside and outside of CTS. Particularly when …
By Chris Carmichael CEO/Head Coach of CTS I am 58 years old and I travel a lot and prefer to train at home when I’m in Colorado Springs, CO. Even though I’ve been an endurance athlete all my life, my age means I am prioritizing strength training more than I used to. The frequent challenge: …
Whenever you suggest weight training to a cyclist, runner, or triathlete, one of the athlete’s first concerns is whether putting on additional muscle mass will hurt their sport-specific performance. Will more muscle make you slower by increasing you total bodyweight, or make you faster by increasing your strength and resilience? There are a few ways …
For time-crunched athletes who have limited time to train, going to a gym just doesn’t fit into the schedule. Similarly, many endurance athletes don’t really want to purchase and gather all the necessary equipment to perform strength training exercises at home. As I’ve explained in previous posts, however, strength training is an important component …
By Chris Carmichael Winter is a huge opportunity for a cyclist. Instead of looking at these months as a period of indoor drudgery or outdoor misery, look at them as the period where you can focus on shoring up your weaknesses and building on your strengths as a new season approaches. Strength training can be …