Fast Talk Podcast

How do you, as an athlete, combine your understanding of sport science and your training and racing experience to most effectively map out your training? That question is the basis for today’s episode, one in which we drift between the philosophical and the practical.

Dr. James Hull, a leading expert on the science of breathing, joins us to talk about respiration and improving performance through breathing.

Our new Head Coach Ryan Kohler answers listener questions on weight loss, metabolism, mountain bike descending, and 5×5 interval workouts.

Cycling coaches Melanie McQuaid, Grant Holicky, and Ryan Kohler discuss the differences, similarities, nuances, and challenges of coaching beginner athletes versus veteran amateurs. 

Dr. Stephen Seiler discusses the distinction between overtraining, overreaching, and burnout.

Guest coach Julie Young answers questions from listeners on fatigue, peaking, returning from injury, and sports nutrition.

We take a close look at big gear work. What does the literature say about performance gains? What have elite coaches discovered through practice?

Trevor did several great interviews with four top pros—Toms Skujins, Kiel Reijnen, Joey Rosskopf, and Larry Warbasse—for an article he was writing several years ago, and now we want to share their full wisdom.

We try to decipher if there are any advantages or disadvantages to occasionally exercising in a fasted state.

How accurate are threshold numbers? And why is it so difficult to find accurate threshold numbers? We discuss several common ways to find your threshold and their pros and cons.

What’s better: a bigger engine or one that’s tuned for a specific goal race? USA Cycling’s performance director Jim Miller shares his training philosophy.

Q&A on FTP testing, structuring recovery weeks, and the sustainability of base training, with guest coach Steve Neal

We explore how to use a training philosophy to design your program, then use metrics to guide how much, how often, and how difficult those workouts should be.

In this Q&A episode, guest Grant Holicky discusses sweat rate, polarized training for cyclocross, VLamax, and recovery tools.

We hit the art of cornering and descending from many sides with Emile Abraham, a 12-time national champion known for cornering and descending.

Rambleur Rising coach and elite gravel racer Kristen Legan answers your many insightful questions on the art of listening to your body, ketogenic diets, glucose transport, and much more.

Today, it’s all about performance off-road. Yes, we’re talking mountain bikes. And we’ve recruited some of the most talented folks in the sport to help us decipher this niche of cycling, from race craft, to technique, to training, and everything in between.

in Q&A episode, we cover a broad spectrum of topics including sugar consumption and its health effects, safe rates to increase volume, the pros and cons of group rides, the efficacy of topical bicarbonate products, and much more.