8 minutes of full-gas work. 14% VO2 max gain. But only if you do them right on the CoachCat training app. Your first 7 days FREE: https://fascatcoaching.com/app

Dr. Izumi Tabata's 1996 study proved that 20-second efforts at supramaximal intensity produce more anaerobic capacity AND VO2 max gains than traditional steady-state training, and in a fraction of the time. In this training tip, Coach Frank Overton breaks down the exact workout 20+ years of FasCat athletes have used to win races: 3 sets of 8 × 20 seconds at 170% of FTP, with 10 seconds rest and 10 minutes between sets.

There's a RIGHT way to do Tabatas and a WRONG way that wastes the workout. This video covers both, with the pacing strategy, terrain selection, ERG-mode trap, and mental tips you need to actually finish all 24 reps and get the adaptation Dr. Tabata's research promised.

📊 THE WORKOUT (found in the CoachCat app)

3 sets × 8 reps 20 seconds at 170% of FTP

10 seconds easy between reps

10 minutes rest between sets

Flat road. Fresh legs.

ERG OFF

🧠 THE SCIENCE Tabata, I., et al. (1996). "Effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO2max." Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 28(10), 1327–1330.

📖 KEEP LEARNING → Full Tabata blog post: https://fascatcoaching.com/blogs/training-tips/tabata-intervals/ →

The Right Way and Wrong Way to do Cycling Intervals: https://youtu.be/-7Ui3MORgbk →

All FasCat training tips: https://fascatcoaching.com/blogs/training-tips

🐾 ABOUT FASCAT & COACHCAT FasCat Coaching has been turning amateur cyclists into faster, fitter, race-ready athletes for over 20 years. Coach Frank Overton invented Sweet Spot Training, holds US Patent #7202067B2, and built CoachCat — the AI-powered cycling coaching app that prescribes workouts like this one automatically, based on your data, your goals, and 20 years of proven FasCat methodology.

1:1 coaching & training plans: https://fascatcoaching.com

Instagram: @fascatcoaching

Work hard. Ride fast. Have fun. And as always — FtFP. #TabataIntervals #VO2Max #CyclingTraining #CoachCat #FasCat #SweetSpotTraining #HIITforCyclists #CyclingIntervals #FTP #BikeRacing #AnaerobicCapacity #CyclingCoaching #BikeTraining #IndoorCycling #PowerMeter

Build a custom cycling training plan in 5 questions. For a visual walk through of the custom plan builder watch this podcast on our youTube channel here https://youtu.be/nO94dhqgjBg

In this podcast & video, Coach Frank walks you through the new CoachCat Custom Training Plan Builder. We use over 100 of our coach-built training plans as phases of your training — Sweet Spot base, builds, intervals, weight lifting, and event-specific phases for road, gravel, fondo, century, time trial, triathlon, mountain bike, cyclocross, and crits — and stitch them together based on your answers to 5 simple questions:

1️⃣ Your fitness level and how many hours a week you can train

2️⃣ What you're training for

3️⃣ When that goal is

4️⃣ Whether you want to include strength training

5️⃣ Your availability — including the days you can't train and your preferred long ride day

The result: the right phase at the right time, lined up to your goal date, fit to your week.

What's new in this builder:

→ Specify the days you can't train (3, 4, or 5 days a week — your call)

→ Choose your long ride day (Saturday default, but pick any day)

→ Climbing-specific training if your event has climbs

→ Smart strength training: 10-week lifting in Fall/Winter, maintenance in Spring/Summer

Plus, a closer look at:

Event-specific phases for every cycling discipline

Why timing your peak matters

The strength training question — and why most athletes get it wrong

Already training with CoachCat? Click "Build a Custom Plan" inside the app — your plan also comes with a complimentary coaching consultation to verify the build and suggest improvements.

🚴 About FasCat & CoachCat

FasCat Coaching has been training cyclists for 20+ years. CoachCat is our AI-powered coaching app that delivers personalized training, daily check-ins, and the same coaching methodology we've used with World Tour pros and amateurs alike — at a fraction of the cost of 1:1 coaching.

🔗 Links → Build your custom plan: https://fascatcoaching.com/app

→ Browse training plans: https://fascatcoaching.com/collections/training-plans/

→ FasCat Training Tips blog: https://fascatcoaching.com/blogs/training-tips

Are you doing your zone 4, 5, and 6 intervals as hard as you can? Try CoachCat free: https://fascatcoaching.com/app

In this video, Coach Frank shows you how to go full gas and get more out of your intervals — more watts, more physiological benefits, and more race craft. Plus the 3 best zone 4, 5, and 6 interval workouts we prescribe to our 1:1 coaching athletes and in the CoachCat app. 🚴

THE 3 WORKOUTS

Zone 4 Threshold: 3 x 8 minutes @ 103-110% FTP

Zone 5 VO2 Max: 2 sets of 2 x 3 minutes @ 106-120% FTP

Zone 6 Anaerobic: 2 sets of 3 x 1 minute @ 120%+ FTP

🐱 TRAIN WITH COACHCAT Your AI cycling coach built on 20 years of FasCat methodology. CoachCat builds your custom training plan, prescribes these exact intervals at the right time, tells you what wattages to hit, and analyzes your power data after every ride.

👉 Start your free week: https://fascatcoaching.com/app

🏆 WORK WITH A FASCAT COACH 1:1

Ready for personalized coaching? Our coaches work with athletes from World Tour pros to weekend warriors.

👉 https://fascatcoaching.com/coaching

00:00 Introduction

00:50 SmartTrainers = DumbTrainers

01:17 What "Full Gas" Means

01:56 The Art of Pacing

03:07 Turn ERG Mode Off

03:25 Imperfect is better than "Perfect"

03:44 Outside is Better ‼️

04:33 Coach Frank's 3 Favorite Zone 4 Interval Workout

06:16 Favorite VO2 Max workout

06:51 Zone 6

Are you a master's cyclist trying to get faster but feel like something is missing from mainstream advice? Train this way FREE for 1 Month https://fascatcoaching.com/app

In this video, Coach Frank breaks down the 5 most important training rules for cyclists over 40, 50, and 60+ , and more importantly, what Bicycling Magazine didn't have space to tell you.

Frank was recently featured in their article on coaching older cyclists, and while they nailed the headlines, there's a lot more nuance that can make or break your performance. Today, Coach Frank is giving you the full coaching perspective.

🚴‍♂️ What You'll Learn:

- Why more miles ≠ more fitness (and how to balance training with recovery)

- The truth about high-intensity (Zone 6) work for older athletes

- How to strength train the right way (without sabotaging your riding)

- Why you don't need a race to train with purpose

- The #1 mistake masters cyclists make: taking extended breaks

⚠️ Stick Around for Rule #5

If you take winters off, skip riding on vacation, or think breaks help you reset… this could be holding you back more than you realize.

📖 Read the Original Article https://www.bicycling.com/training/a70723113/older-cyclist-training-rules/

🤖 Want Help Applying This?

Try the CoachCat AI Coach:

✅ Personalized training plan

✅ Feedback on your workouts

✅ Built specifically for masters athletes

👉 Start your FREE 30-day trial (includes coaching consultation): https://fascatcoaching.com/app or Hire a FasCa Coach: https://fascatcoaching.com/pages/hire-a-coach

💬 Let Us Know: Which of these 5 rules are you already following—and which one surprised you the most?

👍 If this helped, hit like and subscribe for more training tips for masters cyclists. Work Hard. Ride Fast. Have Fun. FtFP.

Coach Frank describes a 3 month Unbound training plan that you can follow FREE for 30 days → https://fascatcoaching.com/app

Develop your Diesel Watt power by knowing how to train it in March, April, and May to arrive in Emporia fresh, fit, and ready to send it.

Whether you're lining up for the 200, 100, or XL, this video covers the training concepts that have helped thousands of FasCat athletes finish strong,from sweet spot base building to full gravel simulation rides to the art of a proper taper.

You'll learn:

• the Gravel Power Workout (the single best workout for gravel racers)
• how to build your long ride from 2.5 hours to 5+,
• why Flint Hills repeats matter, and
• what race-winning power data from Ian Boswell, Pete Stetina, and Cam Jones tells us about pacing Unbound.

📱 The CoachCat app gives you a custom Unbound training plan, AI coaching to adjust on the fly, and nutrition guidance — all free for 30 days.

🚴 Let us know what distance are you riding at Unbound 2026?

#UnboundGravel #UnboundGravel2026 #GravelTraining #FasCatCoaching #CoachCat #SweetSpotTraining #DieselWatts #GravelSimulationRide #FlintHills #EmporiaKansas #GravelPowerWorkout #HowToTrainForUnbound #GravelRacing #CyclingTraining

Are you making this gravel pacing mistake? It could be costing you 30 minutes or more — and you won't even feel it happening until it's too late.

In this video, Coach Frank breaks down the #1 pacing mistake I see in gravel race power files, why it happens, and exactly how to fix it. I'll show you the one tactical decision you need to make in the first hour of your next gravel race that could save you 30 minutes — without being any more fit than you already are.

What you'll learn:

- Why gravel racing is really a time trial (and why that changes everything)

- How to use Intensity Factor (IF) as your real-time pacing gauge - The art of "self-dropping" — and why the tortoise always beats the hare

- A 4-step process for finding the right group without blowing up

- First-hour IF targets for every race duration from 2 to 8+ hours

Want course-specific pacing instructions in watts for YOUR next gravel race? CoachCat's AI can give you section-by-section wattage targets so you always know what's too hard and what's just right.

🚀 Start your free trial: https://fascatcoaching.com/app

Learn how not to be the Group Ride Hero and Train the Right Way, Free for 30 days → https://fascatcoaching.com/app

One of the most common mistakes cyclists make is piling on high-intensity intervals before they've finished building their aerobic base. It feels great in February. You're flying on the group ride. You're winning town line sprints.

But by May, when racing and big events actually matter, you're flat, stale, and wondering what happened.

In this video, Coach Frank Overton from FasCat Coaching shows you how to bridge the gap between base season and race season the right way.

You don't need to live in Zone 2 forever. But you also shouldn't be smashing yourself with full-gas workouts every week.

The answer?

A smart, controlled progression that introduces just enough Zone 4, 5, and 6 intensity to wake up speed while still building durability and aerobic strength.

Inside, Frank walks through four proven winter workouts from the CoachCat training system:

🐆 The Cheetah Pounce – Sweet Spot control with explosive attacks. Practice commitment and fast-twitch recruitment without blowing up recovery.

🎯 Sprint → Stalk & Catch – Learn how to handle the surges that drop riders in real races and group rides.

📊 The Three 8's – A powerful combination of testing and training that reveals your true ability and builds fatigue resistance.

💳 The AmEx Ride – FasCat's signature terrain-driven session. No timers, no ERG, just smart execution and a mission: don't come home without your prescribed OTS.

These workouts help you:

✔ build the engine

✔ touch high power

✔ improve repeatability

✔ arrive in spring ready for true interval work

Instead of peaking early, you'll keep stacking fitness when it counts.

If you're following a structured plan, this is the step many athletes miss.

Try These Workouts Yourself They're available inside the CoachCat AI app, where you can follow your training plan, track OTS and LEVEL, and get guidance based on your real data.

👉 Start your free 30-day trial https://fascatcoaching.com/app

Have questions about winter training or how to balance intensity with base work?

Drop them in the comments. And tell us:

Which workout looks the hardest?

Which one would you skip if you could? 😈

Getting sick or injured during a training block doesn't have to ruin your season.

Try Coaching (AI or 1:1) Free for the 1st 30 days → https://fascatcoaching.com/

In this video, Coach Frank breaks down how to use your coaching in the event of sickness or injury without making things worse and without losing weeks of fitness to a preventable layoff.

You'll learn a simple 6-step process used with real coached athletes to:

✅ decide when to rest vs train

✅ adjust intensity and volume

✅ avoid overdoing it

✅ revise your training plan

✅ rebuild day by day

Most athletes don't lose fitness from missing a few workouts — they lose it by pushing through pain or sickness and turning small issues into multi-week layoffs. This video shows you how to avoid that mistake.

We'll also show you how CoachCat, our AI Coach, handles illness, injury, and "something feels off" situations by revising the training plan automatically when life happens.

––––––––––––––

Try CoachCat Free for 30 Days: https://fascatcoaching.com/app

Work with a 1:1 Coach Free for 30 Days (limited offer)

https://fascatcoaching.com/pages/hire-a-coach

What is CoachCat? CoachCat is an AI Coach that builds custom training plans, analyzes your power files, revises workouts automatically, and helps you train smarter all year round.

Learn how to eat right for your cycling. Most cyclists try to lose weight by eating less and riding more and that doesn't work.

Get the Go Fast Grocery List mentioned in this video for FREE → https://fascatcoaching.com/app

In this video, Coach Frank breaks down the #1 nutrition mistake most cyclists make and explains why watts per kilo don't improve on the bike… they start in the kitchen. This video introduces our long-standing FasCat concept called Winning in the Kitchen: a simple, sustainable approach to performance nutrition and weight loss that works for real cyclists with real lives. You'll learn:

• why you can't out-ride bad nutrition

• the 80/20 rule of weight loss for cyclists

• the Go Fast vs Go Slow food framework

• why grocery shopping matters more than recipes

• how to avoid "Losing in the Breakroom"

• what Winning in the Kitchen actually looks like day-to-day

• and one of our favorite cyclist meals: Salmon Watts

This is not calorie counting. It's not a fad diet. And it won't sabotage your training. It's how cyclists fuel smarter, lose weight sustainably, and improve watts per kilo.

🛒 Want help putting this into practice? When you start a free trial of the CoachCat app, you'll get: our Go FasCat Grocery List, Performance-focused meal plans and nutrition guidance built around the Winning in the Kitchen framework including "How Much you Should Eat" before that big ride tomorrow.

👉 Start your free trial here: https://fascatcoaching.com/app

The base training advice you've been getting from social media and indoor riding platforms is wrong.

Riding only Zone 2 all winter doesn't work for cyclists with less than 8 hours a week to train. Riding hard indoors doesn't work either. In this video, Coach Frank Overton (aka BigCat) breaks down how to build a REAL aerobic base on just 4–8 hours per week, using the Sweet Spot training methodology he has pioneered for the past 20 years.

You'll learn:

1️⃣ Where base training actually fits in your annual plan

2️⃣ Why Zone 2-only training fails when volume is low

3️⃣ The biggest base-training mistakes cyclists make indoors

4️⃣ Why Sweet Spot delivers more aerobic gains per minute

5️⃣ How to measure base fitness using OTS & Level

6️⃣ What a real month of base training looks like (calendar example)

This is the same approach we've used for over 20 years to help time-crunched amateur cyclists get stronger, more durable, and faster without burning out.

🎁 FREE BASE TRAINING + GIVEAWAY

If you listen to the end, you can get

✅ A full month of base training for free

✅ A chance to win a FREE YEAR of the CoachCat app

How to enter the giveaway: Start a free 30-day trial using the link below

Comment "CoachCat" on this video (plus any questions or thoughts)

No purchase necessary. One winner will be randomly selected and announced in the comments 5 days after this video goes live.

Even if you don't win, you'll still get full access to this month of base training for free.

👉 Start your free trial here: https://www.FasCatCoaching.com