Pavcast

Us cyclists, we love a good coffee. Whether that is pre-morning intervals or at the cafe stop with the club, we seemingly can’t get enough. Yet, caffeine can play a role in cycling performance, and not always a positive one.

In this special episode featuring good friend and client, Guy Stapleford, we talk through the best ways to utilise caffeine to improve your cycling performance.

Links to further resources:

- More of my training content: https://coachpav.com/category/cycling-training/

- Info on world caffeine consumption: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1750-3841.2010.01561.x/full

- Info on cross-training: https://coachpav.com/cycling-training/your-cross-training-guide/

- More of my nutrition content: https://coachpav.com/category/cycling-nutrition/

- Accurately gauging your commitment: https://coachpav.com/cycling-mentality/how-to-accurately-gauge-your-commitment-level/

- Accurately setting goals: https://coachpav.com/cycling-training/how-to-prioritise-your-cycling-events/

If you are a regular reader of my blog, or have followed me online, you will have heard me state the importance of personalising your cycling training. In the main, the way to personalise your training will be to look at your individual phenotypes and construct training accordingly.

Phenotypes play a massive role in how I work as a coach. While there are other factors I consider, the following blog post might open your eyes to the depths that I, and other good coaches, will go to when building your training or coaching plan.

Discussed in this podcast episode. What are phenotypes, including what are the main phenotypes considered in cycling training, establishing baselines for cycling specific phenotypes, and what are the other factors considered in cycling training; age, gender, heat or climate, and altitude. Adapting your cycling training for your phenotypes and getting help.

Links to further resources:

- Link to my blog: https://coachpav.com/blog/

- Link to my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pavbryan/

- Link to the Oxford Languages definition of phenotypes: https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/

- Link to blog on stretching: https://coachpav.com/cycling-training/why-you-should-get-bent-and-stretch/

- Link to blog on base endurance: https://coachpav.com/cycling-training/how-to-improve-your-base-fitness/

- Link to info on coaching: https://coachpav.com/coaching/

- Link to info on heat adaptation training: https://coachpav.com/cycling-training/how-to-train-and-race-in-heat/

- Link to blog on goal setting: https://coachpav.com/cycling-mentality/the-importance-of-goal-setting-for-cycling-training/

- Link to information on commitment: https://coachpav.com/cycling-mentality/how-to-accurately-gauge-your-commitment-level/

- Link to info on recovery: https://coachpav.com/cycling-training/how-to-optimise-recovery-for-cycling-training/

- Link to info on consultations: https://coachpav.com/coaching/

A study by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation found that in 2017, the worldwide need for blood was 304,711,244 units, but the supply was only 272,270,243.

A different study from the World Health Organization said that 3 in 4 people worldwide are physically active and around 1 in 5 consider themself an athlete and train for a specific sport or event.

With these two studies in mind, it’s no wonder why so many cyclists risk their cycling performance by donating blood as, if they stopped, there could be a severe challenge in bridging the gap.

I want you to understand that I’m not suggesting you do not donate blood, I’m suggesting why you shouldn't, and, if you are someone who feels compelled to, how to do this without damaging your cycling performance.

Discussed in this podcast episode. The effects of blood donations on cycling performance, including the reasons cyclists should keep hold of their blood. Balancing compassion for others with passion for your cycling performance, including timing is everything, when timing won’t work, giving more later, and my top tips for donating blood and not losing your cycling performance.

Links to further resources:

- Study on blood donations with endurance athletes: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5118378/

- Link to more of my content: https://coachpav.com/blog/

We all have an ego. Often we talk about people having an ego like we don’t have one ourselves, but we all do. It’s very easy to see that some of the highest performing athletes in the world have huge egos; they have leveraged that in order to push themselves further than most.

Unfortunately, many people struggle to successfully manage the balance between a useful and productive ego, versus one that is the very demise of their athletic journey. If you’ve ever quit something and looked back and wondered why, you might have allowed your ego to sabotage you. Thankfully, with a little bit of work, your ego can also become a powerful ally in your pursuit of cycling performance gains.

Discussed in this podcast episode. How your ego is negatively affecting you, including negative ego traits. How your ego can make you a stronger cyclist, including the audience effect. The egotistical cyclist, including finding your tribe and my top five tips to successfully leveraging your ego for cycling performance improvements.

Links to further resources:

- Link to further content on mentality: https://coachpav.com/category/cycling-mentality/

- Link to further content on meditation: https://coachpav.com/cycling-mentality/meditation-and-cycling-performance/

- Link to blog on goal setting: https://coachpav.com/cycling-mentality/the-importance-of-goal-setting-for-cycling-training/

- Link to info on coaching: https://coachpav.com/coaching/

Almost everywhere you look and everyone you talk to will have the same rhetoric about inactivity. You’ll have come across someone doing a step-per-day challenge, another person who now uses a standing desk, and those who always take the stairs instead of the lift/elevator. Good for them.

However, what if you are already fairly active or perhaps you are training for something fairly challenging. Would all this extra physical exertion be necessary? Would it actually be a hindrance to what you are trying to achieve?

Discussed in this episode: Goal setting, including accurately setting commitment levels. And being lazy, including my top 5 ways to be lazier.

Links to further resources:

- Blog on accurately goal setting: https://coachpav.com/cycling-mentality/the-importance-of-goal-setting-for-cycling-training/

- Blog on developing the recovery mindset: https://coachpav.com/cycling-training/how-to-optimise-recovery-for-cycling-training/

- Blog on accurately setting commitment levels: https://coachpav.com/cycling-mentality/how-to-accurately-gauge-your-commitment-level/

- Link to my client profiles: https://coachpav.com/category/cycling-client-profiles/

- Link to blog on this: https://coachpav.com/cycling-technique-tactics/how-being-lazy-will-make-you-a-faster-cyclist/

I’ve had the honour and privilege to coach, work with, and call friends many amazing people who have raised incredible amounts of money for charity. People like Mark Beaumont, Ben Smith and Dean Stott have raised millions towards very worthy causes. I’m also proud to have raised and donated tens of thousands for mental health charities.

For those who are using cycling as a means to raise money for charity and have a dedicated fundraising manager, the job is much easier. From personal experience, when you start to try to combine the stresses of training with the stresses of fundraising, the result can be catastrophic.

Discussed in this episode. Why you should raise money for (or donate to) charity. The problem with raising money for charity, including expectation and negative mindset. How to raise money for charity by cycling, including building your team and my top 5 tips for raising money for charity by cycling. Summarising with my top 5 other ways to help others.

Links to further resources:

- Info on coaching: https://coachpav.com/coaching/

- Mark Beaumont client profile: https://coachpav.com/cycling-client-profiles/client-profile-mark-beaumont/

- Ben Smith client profile: https://coachpav.com/cycling-client-profiles/client-profile-ben-smith/

- Other client profiles: https://coachpav.com/category/cycling-client-profiles/

- Blog on accurately goal setting: https://coachpav.com/cycling-mentality/the-importance-of-goal-setting-for-cycling-training/

- Further mental fitness resources: https://coachpav.com/category/cycling-mentality/

- Link to blog on this: https://coachpav.com/cycling-technique-tactics/why-raising-money-for-charity-can-be-disastrous-for-cycling-performance/

Given my many years as a coach, I can tell you that cyclists who have jobs in executive positions, who remain at a desk most of the day, but still make a lot of decisions, struggle to commit to training as much as athletes who might be more active in their day-to-day lives, such as labourers/contractors, who tend to be more physical, but have the luxury of not having to make decisions.

Of course the physical toll of each person's daily life is different, and we wouldn’t expect the very active individual to have an advantage, but the amataeur cyclist that has a lot of important decisions to make, often has a harder time even getting on the bike.

Discussed in this episode. The definition of decision fatigue. How decision fatigue affects everyone. Comparisons between decision and mental fatigue versus physical fatigue. How decision fatigue affects cycling performance. How to cope with decision fatigue as an endurance athlete, including how to reduce decision fatigue and how to adapt to decision fatigue. How to get help.

Links to further resources:

- My profile: https://coachpav.com/meet-pav/

- Wikipedia definition of decision fatigue: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_fatigue

- Link to info on coaching: https://coachpav.com/coaching/

- Information on physical fatigue: https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/fatigue

- Information on decision.mental fatigue: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/burnout-prevention-and-recovery.htm

- Study on the affects of mental fatigue and sports performance: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328540159_The_effects_of_mental_fatigue_on_sport-related_performance

- My client profiles: https://coachpav.com/category/cycling-client-profiles/

- Blog on nutrition for time poor athletes: https://coachpav.com/cycling-nutrition/the-time-poor-cyclists-guide-to-nutrition-2/

- Blog on how your mentality affects your cycling performance: https://coachpav.com/cycling-mentality/how-your-mentality-affects-your-cycling-performance/

First, let's all agree right now that, no matter how much you want your cycling to improve, you should not go out and adopt a dog based on this blog post alone…

There used to be a television commercial that stated “a dog is for life, not just for Christmas”, which is applicable here too.

Some of you may have already jumped to the most obvious reason that a dog will improve your cycling performance; human animal interaction (HAI) is proven to make humans more positive, which, in turn, will help you become a better bike rider. But there is so much more...

Discussed in this episode. How a dog will help you de-stress, including the effects of cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine in the body, and how a dog reduces cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. How a dog will help your recovery, including the effects of high blood pressure, heart rate, and heart rate variability in relation to recovery, how a dog improves blood pressure, heart rate, and heart rate variability, and how a dog improves overall health. How a dog might improve your ability to suffer. How a dog will help you with group rides.

Link to further resources:

- Blog on how your mentality affects your cycling performance: https://coachpav.com/cycling-mentality/how-your-mentality-affects-your-cycling-performance/

- Blog on how stress destroys cycling performance: https://coachpav.com/cycling-mentality/how-stress-destroys-cycling-performance/

- Blog on optimising your recovery: https://coachpav.com/cycling-training/how-to-optimise-recovery-for-cycling-training/

- Blog on how eating healthy improves cycling performance: https://coachpav.com/cycling-nutrition/how-eating-healthy-increases-cycling-performance/

- Blog on how sleep is crucial to cycling performance: https://coachpav.com/cycling-training/how-sleep-improves-cycling-performance/

- My client profiles: https://coachpav.com/category/cycling-client-profiles/

- Blog on how to successfully complete a Gran Fondo: https://coachpav.com/cycling-training/your-guide-to-successfully-completing-a-gran-fondo-or-sportive/

- Supporting evidence on the relationship between humans and dogs: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408111/

You’ve been lied to… countless amounts of misinformation, fake news, gaslighting, and deceit. People and corporations have manipulated you into believing they have your best interest at heart, but only compound your suffering and misery with every opportunity as they steal your hard earned cash.

Worse still, you’ve lied to yourself. Every morning you promise yourself change. You swear that you will no longer listen to the voices leading you astray, yet every afternoon you’re back at the same table. It’s relentless and never ending - a dull, monotonous existence, that you only want to end.

If you’ve struggled with weight loss, this has most likely been your journey.

Discussed in this episode. The difficult truth. When calories are the cause, but not the cure. You care too much about losing weight, including my top tips for caring less. Set point theory. Counting calories. Eating “healthy”.

Links to further resources:

CDC stats on obesity: https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html

- Study on how reducing calorie intake doesn’t always promote weight loss: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5639963/

- Study on how stress influences weight loss: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/obr.12603

- Blog on how stress kills your cycling performance: https://coachpav.com/cycling-mentality/how-stress-destroys-cycling-performance/

- Info on set point theory: https://www.bidmc.org/about-bidmc/wellness-insights/nutrition/week-one-the-science-of-set-point

- Information on the term ‘healthy’: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Protected_term

If you think about it, you never hear a long-distance runner (5k and above) or a triathlete complain of a muscle tear. They are not injuries that runners or triathletes seem to get. However, they all have suffered tendon, ligament, or joint injuries at some point in their lives. Why is that? The reason is that we basically overload these passive structures when we run, and we do not overload or really use the muscular system enough.

With help from Dr Eoin Everard, this episode will help you understand why runners get injured and how to prevent them.

Links to further resources:

- Link to info on coaching: https://coachpav.com/coaching/

- More info on the BackAwareBelt: http://www.backawarebelt.com/

- Key injury prevention exercises: https://youtu.be/1nwj0QeliX4

- Single legged deadlift: https://youtu.be/4nkhUSZeTOo

- Glute bridge: https://youtu.be/1BeOBZ51kz0

- Dr Eoin Everard’s book: http://www.everardpilates.com/book

- Link to blog: https://coachpav.com/cycling-training/why-runners-get-…t-to-do-about-it/