Kolie, Kyle, and Rory go deep into why "the science says" may not be what the science actually says. We discuss the difficulty of the task, the statistical and group-average nature of most results, the fallacy of division, what counts as evidence-based practice, motivations behind clickbait titles and more bullish stances, and where we'd like to see the field of exercise science go in the future.

Billy Ryan of Aware Performance joins to discuss performance psychology. He gives practical guidelines and skills for training and racing, while uncovering their underlying methodology. We cover negative thoughts and feelings around performance, being rigidly flexible, mental focus, confidence vs competence, shaken confidence, and much more. Then we go deep on listener questions.

This upload fixes the audio cutoff problem from the previous upload.

Dr. Traci Carson joints to discuss low energy availability and relative energy deficiency in sport, or LEA and RED-S. We consider their origin in the female athlete triad, some differences in female and male physiology and symptoms, the fuzziness of energy intake, symptom overlap with fat loss diets, the need for carbohydrates, the relationship to similar conditions like overtraining syndrome, social considerations and assessing cycling's broader awareness on these issues, and much more. Be sure to check the podcast notes to read the linked papers at https://www.empiricalcycling.com/podcast-episodes/perspectives-36-the-consequences-of-chronic-underfueling-with-traci-carson

This episode plays out one of Kolie's coaching thought experiments: what's the simplest training plan possible that would probably be effective for the largest number of people? We each present our plan and then critique them, once again realizing how difficult it is to create a plan without our usual tool of athlete feedback. This starts a discussion about the best potential audience for each plan, the different needs of beginner, intermediate, and advanced athletes.

We discuss everything sweetspot. How do we define it, what kind of training is it, what's the nature of progression, how much is too much, upsides and downsides including time efficiency, fueling, over/unders, and more. We also answer tons of listener questions, like if it can raise FTP, if it's overrated or underrated, sweetspot for sprinters, how long you can hold it relative to your FTP, and much, much more.

A study knocking out HIF1alpha in mice reveals a counterintuitive relationship between markers of phenotype like fat oxidation, mitochondria markers, capillary density, and fiber type, and not having improved baseline performance. This uncovers an interesting relationship between the HIF pathway and oxidative metabolism, and how seemingly opposing adaptations are complementary.

This episode, seven Empirical Cycling coaches discuss their professional and personal experience with off season breaks. Balancing downtime and rest with fun and unstructured riding, plus some rules of thumb to make the most out of these potentially daunting times of the season. Then we answer a huge list of listener questions on whether sprinters can be good TTers, favorite workouts, coaching principles and athlete relationships, volume vs intensity, periodizing sprint training, lifting RPE, and much more.

Kyle returns to the podcast with balloon stories, but skip to 28:00 for the main topic of strength being a skill, and the training implications that this has. We discuss defining strength, goal settings, minimum effective dose for strength improvements, strength maintenance, tradeoffs with aerobic goals, individualizing strength programming, cycling specific programming and exercise choice, and many, many listener questions.

This episode we discuss Cole's evolution as a cyclist and our relationship between coach and athlete. From making lifelong friends in collegiate cycling, gaining over 100w of FTP, winning a national championship, realizing and encouraging agency as a coached athlete, balancing life priorities and the value of low stress environments, relationships with bodyweight and food, lifting weights, and much more.

We consider hypoxia inducible factor's muscular response to high intensity exercise before going more in depth in its effects with the next episodes. We break down high intensity training, defining hypoxia vs anaerobic, then dive into a study that investigates its main effects in high intensity execise, as well as individual variation in training response. Plus a couple practical tips for considering this pathway in training, as well as a peek at the adaptive tradeoffs we'll see in future episodes.