Empirical Cycling Podcast

Delving into the biochemical depths of all life, Kolie discusses chemical equilibrium, or disequilibrium, and how ATP's high energy phosphate bonds aren't really what give it the energetic potential it's known for.

Today Dr. Helson runs the numbers on how much rotating weight matters when accelerating. The answer may (or may not) surprise you.

Whether we should pace endurance rides by heart rate or power is a training question where the usual answers lack sufficient depth. In this episode we provide enough context, and an alternative, that you might find the right style of riding for yourself.

They break down why common FTP sessions feel too hard and when FTP is likely set too high. Progressive overload is presented as the key to raising FTP by increasing interval time or number. A study is discussed where longer MLSS intervals improved pace, duration, and sometimes VO2max. Practical progressions, over-under bursts, and indoor pacing tips for extending sustained power are shared.

This episode takes a look at things like power output and when we might find differences in training response. Most energy systems are touched on along with quick insights that will be expanded on in upcoming podcast episodes.

Are your friends using bro science? Do you know someone with a magic solution, who thinks they put together the whole puzzle with only half the pieces? Learn the warning signs! Kyle hosts this episode on how to recognize bro science, its rhetoric, and typical warning signs.

Oxygen is corrosive, but we need it for life and exercise. This episode looks at how free radicals are made in the body, their role in adaptation to endurance exercise, and the body's natural defense mechanisms.

The episode starts off with a primer on parts of muscle needed for contraction and how these relate to different methods of fiber typing (there's more than one!). We finish our look at a classic paper on cycling physiology and its sections on fiber type and substrate use. Then a paper on cross country skiers throws a bag of monkey wrenches into decades of established fiber type paradigms.

Do companies really make the best hydration mixes? They do, kind of, but they're expensive. It's difficult to adjust their mixes to flavor and your unique needs. This episode goes through a homemade drink mix that will probably hydrate you better, and definitely for cheaper, than anything on the market today. The recipe can be found on the website show notes at http://www.empiricalcycling.com/podcast-episodes/ten-minute-tips-2-homemade-hydration-mix

They dissect how FTP and VO2max relate and where common testing protocols may mislead. They walk through a classic 1988 study that split cyclists by FTP percent of VO2max. They highlight large differences in time-to-exhaustion, fuel use, and lactate response at fixed VO2 percentages. They warn that applying uniform VO2max percentages can distort training and research findings.