A few days after their race a friend of mine asked me how they could improve next year. In a few milliseconds my brain exploded and I realized that everything I had to say would go far beyond a text message box, an email, or even hours on the phone. There is so much quality information out in the world (and believe it or not some that is even questionable too). It’s time consuming to sift through it all and combine it in a way that is helpful. Two good ideas when combined don’t always equal a great one. What may be right for Pogacar may not be right for you. There are things that some people are just not ready for. I see it all the time as a personal trainer. A squat is a great exercise but not for your back if you have a big discrepancy in hip mobility from side to side. Sometimes people even lie to you to make a sale. Can you believe it?

So I realized she gave me the perfect template idea. I hope this space is an easily navigable one and answers my friend’s question. I expect and hope each post will be a guide rather than an answer. I bet the standard advice is best for most people most of the time. The standard advice is usually what is backed by science, which I believe in. However, I try to keep an open mind and realize sometimes there are things that work for some people that science says shouldn’t. Exercising is a science - training is an art. I’ll try to include reasons why you may want to branch out from the standard advice and how you may go about doing it.

If you want to stick more with some basics I’ll try to choose a few posts that I think are most important for each topic. These are next to the bullet points. If you want to dig a little deeper click on the topic itself for more posts.

Seneca’s Three Questions

• what’s working, what isn’t, and how to do things better?

Have a Plan

• The Macrocycle and Its Parts

• Offseason - making sure it’s enough but not too much

Mindset

• Learn to lose better - “That, to me, is the sign of a champion.” - Roger Federer

• Make sure you don't defeat yourself

• My personal blog of what I’m working on

Training - Bike

• FOBO - Fear of Backing Off - read how Olympians reduce their training for weeks in order to improve their performance

• Assessing fitness, strengths and limiters on the bike

• Power Tests

Training - The Gym

• A Case for the Gym - If you’re on the fence about going.

• Mobility Assessment: Hip Flexors

• Mobility Assessment: Shoulder Flexion

Hydration and Nutrition

• Hydration - on and off the bike, also rehydrating

• On The Bike Carbohydrates