We started Ask a Cycling Coach with one goal in mind: to give cyclists — TrainerRoad users or not — the information they need to make the most of their training and achieve their goals. More than 150,000 listens later, we’re introducing a page dedicated to our podcast, along with a few new ways to ask us your questions.
Celebrating a Milestone
Since we started TrainerRoad, there have been hundreds of athletes who have submitted questions to our support team when they really needed advice from a cycling pro. Equipment issues and product questions are no problem — our Help Center and support members have always been there to help athletes get back to training. But when it came to training-advice questions, our users often had nowhere to go. Our training webinars helped, but many times they ended with more questions being raised than answered. So, we decided to do something about it.
Six months ago our hosts — Chad Timmerman, Jonathan Lee and our CEO, Nate Pearson — recorded the very first episode of the Ask a Cycling Coach podcast. More than 25 episodes later, it’s become a resource for athletes to get personal training advice from industry pros. Throughout this time, we’re proud to say we’ve answered hundreds of questions and shared tons of advice to help cyclists improve their training.
We think we’ve hit a milestone worth celebrating, so we’re sharing a roundup of some of the most popular training advice from Coach Chad, Jon and Nate from the beginning. Whether you’re a new listener looking to see what you missed or a weekly fan looking for a recap, these are just a few of the most inquired-about topics from the podcast:
How do I choose a training plan?
There’s no one formula for choosing the training plan that’s best for you, but there a few key questions you can ask to help guide you in the right direction. What kind of event am I training for? How much time do I have to train? What are my training goals — do I want to survive my event, PR my event or win the whole thing? Each goal requires a different level of commitment and sacrifice. Once you have those questions answered, you’ll be in a good spot to check out the 80+ structured training plans we have available.
Is weight training bad for cyclists?
While this is a fairly polarizing topic, we often side with the answer “no.” When it really comes down to it, weight training is the best way to build maximum power off the bike. As your maximum power increases, you’re able to output more power on the bike and in turn, become a faster cyclist. A great time to work weight training into your fitness routine is during the Base phase. It’s the most forgiving period of training, and as a result you’ll be less exhausted and have more energy to train on and off the bike. Learn More.
How do I adjust my training plan after taking time off?
If you only missed a few days of training, simply carry on with your training plan. If you missed more than a week, you may need to adjust the workout intensity when you return to finish your rides. Learn More.
How often should I take an FTP assessment?
We recommend you take an FTP test every four to six weeks. This will allow your body enough time to adapt to your training and make measurable improvements. If you follow our training plans, we have strategically prescribed FTP tests within each plan to make sure that you are testing at proper intervals. Learn More.
Can I skip base training?
The purpose of base training is to establish a foundation of fitness that will allow you to train for a goal event. However, there are a few instances where skipping the traditional approach to base training may not affect your training. Learn More.
What are the pros/cons of training with heart rate?
Heart rate is a highly subjective, lagging indicator of effort. Your heart rate is influenced by recovery levels, nutrition, hydration, elevation, stress and more. It’s not the most effective way to train, but it’s widely popular among cyclists. Learn More.
Introducing New Ways to Ask Our Cycling Pros Your Questions
We’re excited to hit our six-month milestone, but it’s just the beginning. To help more cyclists get the training advice they need, we’re introducing a whole new page on TrainerRoad.com dedicated to the Ask a Cycling Coach podcast.
On it, you’ll find the most recent podcast episode, some additional info about our hosts, answers to frequently asked training questions and details on how to ask our cycling pros your questions: via your favorite social media platforms or our new online form.
It’s simple — just tweet us your questions with the hashtag #AskTrainerRoad and they’ll automatically be submitted for next week’s podcast. If Twitter isn’t really your style, you can submit your questions through Instagram with the same hashtag in the caption copy of your training post. And as always, you can submit your question privately through the form we now have on the podcast landing page.
Visit our brand new Ask a Cycling Coach podcast page to submit your questions and learn more!
