FasCat Cycling Training Tips Podcast

What happens when you mix a live Sweet Spot group ride, real-time coaching, fueling advice, tech questions, and unfiltered athlete Q&A? You get a live, no-BS training session led by Coach Frank that covers how cyclists train. Pardon the audio as we recorded from our discord channel that was live during the ride. In this ride & podcast, we dove into a dozen or more topics, including: 1. How to ride Sweet Spot by feel (no rigid intervals required) 2. Why Sweet Spot is "not too hard, not too easy — just right" 3. Fueling correctly indoors (70–90g carbs/hr and why it matters) 4. ERG mode: when to use it and when it hurts your training 5. Using time-in-zone instead of chasing perfect watts 6. Heart rate vs power for Sweet Spot Time in Zone Accuracy 7. Training consistency, durability, and long-ride fatigue resistance 8. How to adapt training when life, travel, injuries, or holidays happen 9. Festive 500 strategy for road, gravel, crit, and masters athletes 10. Strength training + endurance: how to blend them without burnout 11. Why most plateaus are caused by doing the same thing too long 12. How CoachCat helps revise plans, answer questions, and guide decisions in real time 🎯 Who this ride and podcast is for: Masters cyclists Time-crunched athletes Gravel, road, crit, and fondo riders Athletes training indoors on Zwift Anyone tired of over-complicating training 🧠 Key takeaway: Fitness comes from doing slightly more work than yesterday and recovering well enough to do it again tomorrow. Sweet Spot training done right builds durability, raises FTP, and teaches you how to pace long efforts — without burying yourself. 🚴 Join us live again on January 3rd, 2026 Sweet Spot Saturday is part of a 7-ride progression series: Each ride gets 30 minutes longer Builds durability and confidence Ride #7 culminates in the legendary Uber Pretzel 📅 Next ride: January 3 👉 Join the FasCat Coaching Club in the Zwift Companion app 👍 Like • Subscribe • Share If this helped your training, hit 👍, subscribe for science-backed cycling advice, and share with a riding buddy who trains hard but wants to train smarter. Train Smarter. Ride Faster. — Coach Frank 🐾

Sweet Spot Training is one of the most widely used and effective ways cyclists build their base and improve power. Sweet Spot Train the Right Way for FREE in the CoachCat App → https://fascatcoaching.com/app But very few people know the story behind the development of 'sweet spot training'. Long before Sweet Spot Training was mainstream, it was developed inside a secret, private beta group of coaches and sport scientists that I was part of. We were testing a new power-based performance model that would later go on to become the Performance Manager Chart inside TrainingPeaks. And what we discovered & developed changed endurance cycling training forever: there was a  training intensity that built the most fitness for the least fatigue. And that this type of training enabled time crunched athletes to develop a massive aerobic engines that previously weren't possible with Zone 2 training. That discovery became Sweet Spot Training. Do you remember your first sweet spot workout?

Pro Coach Sierra Sims (M.S. Exercise Physiology) breaks down the science and technique behind muscle tension intervals: one of the most effective ways to turn gym strength into real power on the bike.   Whether you're building your base, coming back from the off-season, or looking to climb stronger, these workouts teach your neuromuscular system to produce MORE torque and apply it efficiently across the pedal stroke.   You'll learn: ✔️ What muscle tension (high-torque) intervals actually are ✔️ Why low cadence is so effective for force production ✔️ How to combine torque work with strength training for maximum gains ✔️ How WorldTour pros use torque blocks from October–February ✔️ How to structure these sessions indoors or outdoors ✔️ Real-world workout examples you can try this week  ✔️ How to avoid knee pain and progress safely   Watch till the end where Sierra shows you two practical ways to perform these intervals so you can do them anywhere — on Zwift, on climbs, or on rolling terrain.   🚴‍♂️ Want workouts like these? Hire Coach Sierra, https://fascatcoaching.com/collections/coaches/products/sierra-sims   or Start your 30-day FREE trial → https://fascatcoaching.com/app   The CoachCat App includes: • 15+ muscle tension interval workouts • 600+ cycling workouts • 100+ training plans • Daily AI coaching • Human coach in-app support!

Most cyclists don't realize it, but our entire training lifestyle is basically built for longevity. Endurance & VO2 max training, weight lifting, real food, and good sleep are the same fundamentals that help you live longer and stay healthy as you age. With books like Outlive and the rise of longevity science, I finally decided to share my personal plan to live to 100 and the 8 fundamentals I'm going to use to get there. This video is the first in a full series on Longevity & Health for cyclists and non-cyclists alike. No hacks. No supplement stacks. No billionaire biohacks. Just the fundamentals science keeps pointing to again and again. You'll Learn: 1. Exercise: The #1 lever for healthspan: aerobic base, strength, muscle mass, and durability 2. Nutrition: Real food, protein, plants, hydration, and sustainable habits 3. Sleep 4. Stress Management: Daily habits that keep the nervous system calm 5. Relationships: Backed by the 80-year Harvard Study as a top predictor of long-term health. 6. Purpose & Mission 7. Safety: Smarter riding choices (more gravel/MTB, less traffic), and stepping away from high-risk environments 8. Blood Testing: FTP testing for your health: measure, benchmark, track trends, adjust early. If you want to live well, ride long, and build the longest streak of your life… you're in the right place. Train Smarter. Ride Faster. Live Longer with the CoachCat App https://fascatcoaching.com/app 

Learn how to use your HRV along with three other essential recovery metrics to train smarter and recover better. Then try the CoachCat App → free for your first 30 days https://fascatcoaching.com/app Coach Frank Overton (the BigCat), founder of FasCat Coaching and creator of the CoachCat App, breaks down what HRV really means, why single-day numbers don't tell the whole story, and how to actually use HRV to train smarter. You'll learn: ✅ What HRV really measures ✅ Why daily HRV scores can be misleading ✅ The importance of trends (7-day, 1-month, 6-month) ✅ How sleep, training stress, and how you feel matter just as much ✅ The four pillars of real recovery ✅ How CoachCat's AI Coaching Intelligence analyzes your data and gives daily guidance — just like a real coach Whether you use Whoop, Oura, Garmin, or Apple Watch… HRV is powerful only if you know how to use it correctly. This video & podcast shows you how to take control of your recovery and confidence in your training.