Our very own Coach Fabiano joins for an deep dive into his most recent articles on RPE and its origins in exercise physiology, workout feedback and what athletes should keep notes on, adaptation and the implications from another meta review as it pertains to well trained athletes and other groups. We then venture into health to discuss VO2max, HRV, the J-shaped curve of training volume, plus your listener questions.

Jem Arnold takes a break from his PhD studies to discuss the implications of a recent meta review and systematic analysis on how training intensity distributions impact VO2max and time trial performance, on which he is a coauthor. We also dig into the methods behind a paper like this, and the statistical distributions of performance itself and how that affects interpretation. We also discuss his doctoral studies on flow limitations in the iliac arteries, the role of NIRS, and long term implications of training with such issues, plus his blog, VO2max training, and more.

As structure for a larger discussion on performance, adaptation, and energy needs, we tackle three myths about burning carbs and fats: that you only need to replace the carbs you burn on a ride, that burning fat on a ride helps you lose weight, and that total energy needs are as simple as converting bike kJ to calories and adding a calculated BMR. We also answer listener questions on efficiency, the origin of the 2000 calorie diet, where your workout carbs go, fueling for ultras, and more.

This episode covers practical cues that we use to be reasonably certain that workouts will have their desired effect, and tease apart the difference relationship between stimulus and adaptation. We give suggestions for the major training modalities including threshold and VO2max, plus strength and hypertrophy. We also discuss ways that these cues could be easily misused, plus the pros and cons of some other potential proxies like fatigue, power, heart rate, RPE, HRV, soreness, TSS, and more.

Our Empirical Cycling coaches have a roundtable discussion on the most under appreciated and impactful big-picture training habits you can make. We discuss progress expectations, goal setting, all or nothing mentality, vicious and virtuous cycles, balancing personal priorities, and many other factors that are within our control to improve. Then we tackle listener questions including improving climbing and low cadence training, high or low "zone 2", what to do about low motivation to ride, fueling early morning riding, and much more.

Finally tackling one of our most requested topics, we discuss the options available for cyclists doing strength training at home with limited or no equipment, and suggestions for cost effective equipment. We go through exercise selection, loading strategies, biomechanical considerations, sets reps and rest schemes, hypertrophy vs strength, sprint power transfer, isometrics, and more. The pros and cons and realities of our suggestions are weighed, a couple thoughts in relation to general health, and many listener questions are answered.

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.