The Strong Savvy Cyclist & Triathlete Podcast

Our bodies make no differentiation between physical stress, and mental stress....both have an impact on the body and its many systems. Especially with our current global situation, many endurance athletes are going through limitations on their riding ability, as well as the mental challenges of being locked at home for an unknown length of time.  Today we talk with Alan Heary on how mental stress can affect us, as well as a few different tools and skills that we can use to help us come through this unprecedented period in human history, better, stronger, and more resilient.  Alan Heary is a High Performance coach, who specialises in helping individuals and teams perform at the highest possible levels in high impact and high stress environments, in both sport and business. With this degree in Sport Science and Health Alan has worked in the fitness and health industry for over 25 years. Alan has trained Olympic athletes and World champions from a variety of sports.  He appears regularly in National and International Press and TV, including being featured in several documentaries.  His passion is cycling, Ultra cycling to be precise.  and Alan has taken part in the world's most demanding and hardest cycling race, Race Across America.  As a result of this he brought ultra cycling to Ireland, in a big way, by becoming the founder and owner of the Race Around Ireland , an award winning ultra cycling event, which has now been given the accolade of one of the toughest cycling events in the world. alanheary.com Cycling and endurance focused website: cyclingpsychology.com  Online course "Going In The Zone": alanhearycourses.com Ultra event which Alan built, as a result of RAAM: racearoundireland.com

In todays short episode, we talk burnout, and late winter mental staleness, and how it can completely drain all of the progress you've made to this point over the winter. Every year, in mid-to late January, they being... the emails, messages, and phone calls from athletes who live in the different parts of the world where winter is cold, and unforgiving. Yeah, they've managed to build up some fantastic strength and fitness over the last 4 months, but it doesn't exempt us from being affected by the winter blues.  This week we take a short look at how why it's important to quickly recognize this stage of winter when it begins (EARLY) for cyclists and triathletes, and the 2 steps you can take to help you finish the winter strong, and mentally fresh.....HINT: it's NOT what you think! I also share my my current status (HINT: It's burned quite a bit), and how I'm feeling after producing massive amounts of focused content the last 6 months (Certification Course+ launch, Foundations of Strength Training for Cycling Performance Course, 12 week Home Strength Training for Cycling Performance Program, and my first book, The Vortex Method). Mentioned in today's episode: https://tonygentilcore.com/2020/02/how-to-battle-the-winter-eff-its/ Foundations of Strength Training for Cycling Performance: https://strength-training-for-cyclist-certification.mykajabi.com/offers/kFTkckhP 12 week Home Strength Training for Cycling Performance Program: https://strength-training-for-cyclist-certification.mykajabi.com/offers/UoVzd98P

Niv Libner has been a name to know here in the Israeli cycling scene, as he and Ran Margoliot were really the first 2 male cyclists to push into the professional peloton in Europe. In todays episode we talk about Niv's journey int he professional peloton, how he has made the transition from rider to coach, and his vision to help continue to build cycling- especially for the women's program. If you have ambitions to go pro, or you're interested in becoming a better coach, this is a must listen! Don't forget to give us a 5 start rating, like, and share this podcast with your riding friends & coaches! Mentioned in the intro: Foundation for Strength Training for Cycling Performance (3 USA Cycling CEU's)- https://strength-training-for-cyclist-certification.mykajabi.com/offers/kFTkckhP 12 Week Home Strength Training for Cycling Strength Program- https://strength-training-for-cyclist-certification.mykajabi.com/offers/UoVzd98P www.HumanVortexTraining.com

Alex Povey is no stranger to obstacles and hard times. In fact, he helps coaches and fitness professionals get OUT of hard times as his profession. In 2020, Alex is taking on a pretty massive journey of strength & endurance, as he aims to raise $26046.30 (well, technically 20,000 British pounds), for Suicide Prevention through tackling over 18 Tough Mudders throughout 2020.  Since the recording date of this podcast, Alex has already had to overcome a major obstacle to this goal, as Tough Mudder declared bankruptcy...but true to what we talk about in todays podcast, Alex thought fast, surveyed his options, and has already put in place a replacement for these crazy challenging races. If you're an endurance athlete, and you want to improve how you deal with adversity, and are looking for a case study on developing mental toughness, todays episode is for you! Message Alex on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachingignited/

Ep 34 We head out to AI Fit in Ramat Gan, Israel, for our first in-person interview of the podcast, to talk with Archie Kabalkin, who has brought the Steel Mace to Israel. The steel mace is an incredibly fun, but challenging fitness piece, which brings with it a unique flow to movement. Archie and I talk about the steel mace, training, and how you can improve your fitness and have fun at the same time!

In this weeks episode we dive down into what we are REALLY after by incorporating weight lifting for cyclists and triathletes: the ability to produce POWER through great positions, breathing patterns, and the ability to move from the correct places, and with the right muscles.  This may come as a surprise for many of you, bur simply "squatting", or just going through any strength training movement without understanding what you want and need to get out of it, will leave you with FAR less results, than taking the time to MASTER and OWN that movement. If you want to learn more about how to properly Squat, head over the HVTraining YouTube channel, Subscribe, and keep your eyes open for our "Weight training for cyclists & triathletes: Squats for Watts" video, being released 1/16/20.  https://www.youtube.com/HVTraining Don't forget to subscribe to our free HVTraining Newsletter at www.HumanVortexTraining.com for more insights and expert tips!

So many athletes and coaches go Gaga over balance training, but it isn't all it's cracked up to be..... In fact, for many, the time spent working on unstable surface training detracts from the work you do off the bike or out of sport! Balance may be an integral part of our sport of cycling, but the place to work on it is ON THE BIKE, something the vast majority of Cyclists and Triathletes skip out on (bike handling, cornering, etc). If you REALLY want to see benefits from your time off the bike or our of sport training, you should be focused on STABILITY training. In today's episode we talk the importance of stability training vs. balance training, and how to best include it in your strength training for cycling or triathlon programming. www.humanvortextraining.com

With the new year just hours away, let's get back to answering Pavel's question of: How to build a training program for an athlete: Base, Build, and beyond. This one is a goodie! www.HumanVortexTraining.com www.YouTube.com/HVTraining www.Facebook.com/HVT412

A few weeks ago I had a physical exam for a new life insurance policy. While filling out the paperwork a few items caught my eye, as they told me a VERY different story about triathlon and Ironman than what most people (especially triathletes) believe. We dive into where many Triathletes go wrong, and then I teach you how to REALLY read a research article to get the facts..... HINT: it is COMPLETELY different that what you think or expect it to be!  Research article used as example in todays episode:  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00421-011-2112-z 

This weeks episode we answer a listener email and talk about periodization, considerations for building a truly personalized training program, and how the workouts throughout the different phases shouldn't resemble what you've read in text books. Faux Pas? Perhaps, but hey, it's got us this far, so we'll just keep rolling with it until is doesn't work any more... https://www.humanvortextraining.com/courses-strength-training-for-cyclists-and-triathletes/