After 37 straight days on the Appalachian Trail, Jim Weinstein faced what every long-distance hiker dreads: an injury that forced him off the path. But stepping away didn’t mean giving up—it meant recalibrating, recovering, and getting ready for a return.

In Part 3 of our series, we dive into what Jim learned during those first five weeks, how the trail tested him physically and mentally, and what it’s taken to prepare for the comeback. This isn’t just about hiking—it’s about resilience, mindset, and staying all in even when life hits pause.

Catch Up on the Journey So Far:

* Part 1 – From Military to Mountains:

* Part 2 – Mental Resilience is Key:

Chuck Kyle and Dana Stryk are joined by two guests today. Dr. Jim Weinstein, a Board-Certified Sport Dietitian and Air Force Officer, alongside Alan Fischer, co-owner of Perc Coffee. Together they discuss the relationship between coffee and cyclists, nutritional benefits and what goes into the perfect cup.

The first topic of discussion is the caffeine culture within cycling and why it is so prevalent. Dr. Jim talks about the physical effects caffeine has on the body and it’s benefit to athletes. He also talks about the changes in perception of caffeine due to greater research.

Alan and Dr. Jim discuss the perks of drinking coffee before your pre-race workout and how to fit it into your routine. Dr. Jim lets us in on the way caffeine affects people, and how it differs from person to person.

Alan then tells us about the changes in the coffee industry in the last 10 years. It is much easier to brew a ‘good’ cup of coffee at home than it used to be. He then shares his expertise on the best equipment and beans you need to start your home brewing.

Alan and Dr. Jim finish out today’s episode by discussing the strength of a cup of coffee and how it is defined. Ratios are the all-important key to create the strength of brew that’s right for you.

Find information about Alan Fischer and Perc Coffee here:

Website - perccoffee.com 

Facebook - www.facebook.com/perccoffee 

Morning Brew-alongs - https://www.facebook.com/watch/PERCCOFFEE/699093790893262/

Find us on Twitter - @WattsUpPodcast

Contact Head Coach Chuck – [email protected]

In this episode, Chuck, Jim, and Dana address questions that have come up repeatedly about the Netflix movie, The Game Changers.

Is this a vegan movie, a vegetarian movie, or a plant-based movie?

Every diet movie is polarizing. What makes for good TV doesn’t make good science. The Game Changers talks a lot about a plant-based diet. The words vegan and vegetarians have a negative connotation associated with them.

Will a plant-based diet increase the performance of our athletes compared to a meat-based diet?

There is nothing wrong with a plant-based diet. If you are going to eat a primarily plant-based diet, you will likely see numerous health benefits. As for performance benefits, we are still learning about that. It is not clear if there is an endurance benefit, however, there may be some chronic disease benefits.

After watching this movie, I am looking to make a dietary change.

You need to be careful about who you are taking your dietary advice from. The person who narrated this movie spent countless hours doing research. Despite this, not one dietician was interviewed in the film. You shouldn’t be getting advice from someone who hasn’t done any schooling and has only spent a fraction of the time doing research. The movie missed an opportunity to include thoughts from registered dieticians

Is there a scientific definition of a low-carbohydrate diet?

Less than 40% of your calories are from carbs. Are you talking about a low-carb diet that is producing ketones? This would be below 50 grams of carbohydrates a day. If you are an endurance athlete, you are not going to perform as well on a diet like this. Endurance athletes need carbs to perform well. Plants are an excellent source of healthy carbohydrates.

What are the benefits of a plant-based diet?

A plant-based diet can indeed reduce heart disease and high blood pressure. However, there is no evidence of an endurance benefit with a plant-based diet. Make sure that you are getting healthy colors and flavors in your diet – make sure there are three different colors in each of your meals. One way you can ensure that the food you are making is healthy is by getting an excellent vegetarian or a plant-based cookbook.

Should I recommend that athletes become vegetarians?

Have an open conversation with your athletes about the benefits of including plant-based meals in your diet. Some athletes are eating vegetarian and breaking the myth of needing protein to get big. There is some emerging research about the possible negative effects of red meat, and the movie also fights the stigma of “real men” eating meat.

How do you look at the movie from an economic standpoint? 

There are many financial and environmental costs to a meat-based diet. People should factor that in when they are making their food choices because the economics of all this is very complicated. In some countries, quinoa is a staple. Now that the price has gone up, the countries have turned to something else because it is too expensive to consume.

KyleCoaching: https://kylecoaching.com

More links:

On Cardiometabolic risk and veganism:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30571724
2018 Meta-Analysis by Benatar and Stewart. They pooled 40 studies with 12619 vegans and 179, 630 omnivores and the conclusion was that in most studies and in most countries, vegan diet was associated (keyword here) with more favorable cardiometabolic risk factors.

On Athletic Performance:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26568522
2016 Meta-Analysis by Craddock and colleagues comparing vegetarian diets to Omnivorous ones looking at physical performance. They ID 8 studies an

Marshall, S., & Paterson, L. (2017). The Brave Athlete: Calm the F*ck Down and Rise to the Occasion. Boulder, CO: VeloPress.
 
Purchase the book here
 
Chuck and his wife Dana are going to have a discussion on the book The Brave Athlete by Simon Marshall and Leslie Paterson.  Chuck explains that the book deals with how the brain answers unwanted thoughts and feelings and what you can do about those. 

Dana shares her biggest takeaway and that is understanding her chimp, Elsa.  Dana goes into the idea that the brain has three main parts, the chimp, the professor, and the computer.  Chuck and Dana then go into Dana's power animal or race persona, Lagertha.

Chuck then begins talking about the second third of the book, the section on obstacles, setbacks, and conflict.  Dana shares how she and her colleagues identify the conflict at work and how they have used the chimp idea to deconflict emotional conflict or rational conflict.

They then go further into a discussion about the three portions and how they interact.  Noting that the chimp is more powerful than the professor and typically wins.  Dana and Chuck then discuss how to get her out of her comfort zone for mass start track races using a technique in the book.

The two wrap up the discussion.

Turtle Wilson joins us on this episode of the Watts Up Podcast. Turtle’s wife, Gwen Afton, won the gold medal at the 2019 UCI Masters World Championship Women's 55-59 Team Pursuit. 

Turtle wants to talk about communication – he has had issues with this in the past. It is challenging to know when to give feedback during a workout. Early on in the relationship, you need to layout the expectations of communication for the athlete and the coach. 

Most coaching companies will have several different plans – one focuses on analysis, and another focuses on communication. Metrics should be your first communication talking points. The data should include weight, mood, sleep, stress, and diet. The coach will be able to filter through your data and determine what could be impacting your lifestyle. 

As a coach, Turtle wants to know if the athlete feels successful. If an athlete comments, then Turtle is going to respond. Instead of putting all your data into emails, the more the athlete can put into TrainingPeaks, the better off the athlete will be. Race reports are a fantastic tool that Turtle uses frequently. They tell the coach what the athlete was thinking during the race. Plus, for later races, the athlete can go back to their report and see how they could improve.

Turtle reinforces that it’s essential to record all your metrics so your coach can give feedback and analyze the data. The first metric Turtle likes to see is body weight. Even if an athlete is feeling sick, Turtle wants it to be noted into the metrics. That way, he can get more useful information by looking at trends throughout the month.

TrainingPeaks: https://www.trainingpeaks.com

How to add a metric in TrainingPeaks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO4npurkdrw

Dr. Jim Weinstein is back with Chuck in this episode, but this time, the roles have reversed. Dr. Weinstein, a board-certified sports dietitian himself, will be interviewing Chuck. He has much to offer from his many, many years as a coach and being involved in cycling.

Chuck begins by telling us the path he took to become the successful coach that he is today, bringing us back to 1999 when he first got involved with cycling. Since he began is career, Chuck has seen technology play an increasingly significant role in training, so he provides his insights on this evolution.

More and more data has become available to athletes and coaches in recent years. This leads some people to focus too much on data and fall victim to paralysis of analysis, but Chuck shares a surprisingly obvious solution to overcome this barrier. He also recommends focusing on one or two data points that you consider to be the most important.

Some athletes say that their 2020 season starts in January, but Chuck insists that it starts right now. He goes through a training plan that can start today and continue into winter, taking the exercise from outdoors to indoors as the colder months arrive.

Chuck has become an expert in adding strength training to athletes’ regimen. We learn about the process of incorporating training plans that build strength to complement the athlete’s primary sport. Chuck then reveals what he has the most difficulty convincing athletes of, especially for cyclists due to their deeply ingrained beliefs.

Power meter - https://www.quarq.com/

Moxy - https://www.moxymonitor.com/

Zwift - https://zwift.com/

Wahoo Fitness - https://www.wahoofitness.com/devices/bike-trainers

Sufferfest - https://thesufferfest.com/

PerfPro - http://perfprostudio.com/

Dr. Jim Weinstein joins us in the first episode of the Watts Up Podcast. He is a board-certified sports dietitian and a Lieutenant Colonel with the United States Air Force. He has an impressive resume of cycling accolades, including his three times competing in the Race Across America.

Basic nutritional guidelines for the endurance athlete are some of the most common requests that Chuck sees on Facebook. There are a few basic aspects that Dr. Weinstein says are the most important for athletes: hydration, eating healthy, and getting good sleep/recovery. Chuck shares what he is working with some of his athletes on and asks for Dr. Weinstein’s opinion on how they should hydrate.

Prompted by a question about training on an empty stomach, Dr. Weinstein explains why short activities do not require the consumption of any calories. However, he brings up why this can be a grey area sometimes because of the differences between athletes. Dr. Weinstein then shares some tips on consuming carbs during longer events.

Thinking about recovery starts the minute you begin exercising. We learn about data that suggests consuming protein while exercising is important before Dr. Weinstein goes through the ideal post-exercise meal. After, he addresses how to avoid overeating post-exercise.Dr. Weinstein reinforces that it’s important to work with your coach to make sure you’re getting the right information to build a healthy diet. He shares a great resource to learn about sports nutrition and promotes being careful of what you can read on the internet.

Position Paper on Nutrition and Athletic Performance