Pavcast

It’s more common than not to see cyclists using power meters to measure, monitor, analyse, plan, and predict their training. The price of good power meters is now more affordable than ever, and it makes total sense to add one to your bike setup, if you’re not already using them. Having said that, how can you ensure you’ve got the basics sorted and have set it up correctly?

Covered in this episode:

- Setting up your power meter

- Setting up your Wahoo (or similar) device

- Data screens

- Using your power meter

- Pacing

- Data analysis

- Resources for a more in-depth look at training with a power meter

Whether you are looking to level up on Zwift, ride your first century, or just want to ride a bit faster on the bike, you’ll want to build a good cycling base fitness. Amongst other factors, a solid base fitness will help you recover faster, allow you to push harder in more intense training, and help you extend the duration of which you can consistently train.

Covered in this episode:

- General understanding of how to build base fitness

- Why you should be building base fitness

- How to build base fitness

- With more than 15 hours per week

- With less than 10 hours per week

- Getting the most from base training

- Focus points

- Enjoyment

- Socialising

While some people seem to be able to function on very little sleep, the truth is that if you want to be a strong cyclist, you will need to prioritize your sleep. Personally, sleep is the undisputed king of recovery, without enough quality sleep, you will soon find yourself struggling to perform on the bike.

Covered in this episode:

- Why cyclists need more sleep

- Your muscles love sleep

- How much sleep do cyclists need?

- How to get quality sleep

- Top tips for a good night sleep

- How napping can help cyclists

As the nights grow longer and the weather ever colder, you’d be forgiven for thinking long and hard about how you will get through your winter's training and make the most of this excellent opportunity for cycling performance improvements before your goals for the following year.

Covered in this episode:

- How to safely ride outdoors during winter

- Top tips

- How to stay motivated during winter

- Zero tolerance to excuses

- Organise your winter routine

- Less hibernation, more motivation

- Riding indoors

Not to start a blog post with an obvious attempt at scaremongering, but failing to adequately warm-up your body before training isn't just damaging your performance, but is also putting yourself at risk of injury. 

Not only are you risking damaging your body, but inadequately warming-up isn’t establishing the right mindset to really nail the training. Unleash your mentality to see real improvements and, like readying your body, this process starts long before the hard work does.

Covered in this episode:

- Why warm-up before cycling training?

- Physically

- Mentally

- Example warm-up

- Personalising a warm-up

“He who fails to plan, is planning to fail” – Winston Churchill.

While the stakes are not as high as World War Two, I'm certain you are willing to go to war to reach your cycling goals!

Covered in this episode:

- What is an Annual Training Plan?

- Top 10 reasons you need an Annual Training Plan

- How to setup your Annual Training Plan

I reference my ambitions to turn my clients into “complete” cyclists regularly; through my blog and directly with those I chose to work with. It’s also a big part of my book, “The Guide to Truly Effective Cycling”, and I always try to ensure my athletes are prepared for every eventuality in a more holistic way than what typical coaching does.

Covered in this episode:

- Becoming “complete” in training

- Top focus areas

- Becoming “complete” in your events

- Top focus areas

Everyone comes into cycling with a limited knowledge of what to do. Some cyclists download free generic training plans online, maybe they will take on a plan on Zwift, or maybe they follow the advice of a riding buddy - usually named “Dave” - who knows everything, but really knows nothing...

Covered in this blog:

- Personalisation of training

- Sourcing reliable information

- Prioritising training

- Becoming a complete cyclist

- When to seek help

Traditionally, coaching has focused mainly on cyclists training, and sometimes on their nutrition and tactics too, in order to see improvements. For many years now, I’ve been an advocate for looking at cyclists holistically and turning them into a complete cyclist. In order to do that, a lot of emphasis has to be placed around how we approach our training mentally.

Covered in this episode:

- The basics of mental fitness training

- Commitment

- Goal setting

- Balance

- Stress

- General mental health

- Improving your mental fitness

- Meditation

- Affirmations

- Mantra and power words

- Visualisation

- Visuals

- Music

- Attitude

- Positivity and gratitude

- Top tips for improving your mental fitness

Your cycling performance improvements don’t happen on the bike - they happen off the bike and during the time when your body is recovering. With this in mind, giving your body a helping hand might be the difference between being able to complete the next training session 100%, versus just 90%. You might not think that 90% will be noticeable and it might not, not right away at least. Yet keep adding those 10% 's together and you soon have a lot of lost opportunities.

Covered in this episode:

- Recovering immediately post training

- Cooling down

- Stretching, foam rolling, and other recovery tools

- Avoiding sickness

- Replacing fluids, electrolytes, and carbohydrates

- Further recovery opportunities

- Sleep

- Massage

- The recovery mindset

- Recovery rides

- Time off the bike

- Top tips for optimising recovery from endurance training