The Strong Savvy Cyclist & Triathlete Podcast

Tune into this episode of "The Strong Savvy Cyclist & Triathlete" for an engaging discussion with renowned coach Simon Ward and Menachem Brodie. The conversation explores how true coaching extends beyond sports performance, addressing crucial lifestyle factors like sleep, nutrition, and mental health. Discover the holistic approach to coaching that fosters the development of well-rounded, high-performance humans capable of thriving both in sports and daily life.

Join us on The Strong Savvy Cyclist & Triathlete for an episode packed with "Five Tips for Making 2025 Your Best Year Yet as a Cyclist or Triathlete." This episode provides a roadmap to success... Get ready for actionable strategies to elevate your athletic journey, all backed by practical examples and expert advice. Tune in and set the stage for your best athletic year yet.

Many think cyclists need to hit the weights hard like they do their bike training, but that's a misconception- and a huge, massive mistake...

Performance-driven strength training doesn't need to be insanely hard.

The "effective rep" theory, which pushes training to slow grindy speeds, has been slowly picking up steam the last few months, and a listener recently asked if they should be training using the "effective rep"approach.

My answer, may surprise you- as well as the background of this theory and where it originated from.

Hint: it ain't no research study.

Take a listen to get the scoop!

Free speed is a game changer in cycling that most overlook. Why? Because it's all about efficiency: better cornering, positioning, and reducing drag.

Think about it: every time you brake before a corner, you're wasting kinetic energy you've worked hard to generate. Instead, focus on maintaining flow and minimizing energy loss. In races, this can be the difference between finishing strong or falling behind.

Most cyclists overlook the importance of maintaining their bike fit position once they leave the fitter. But guess what? Your position is as crucial as your power output.

Imagine increasing your speed just by staying in the right position—no extra effort, just pure efficiency. 

In this episode we pull the second half of Episode 59 with Sebastian Weber to talk about HOW you ride matters.

Time to make you faster and more savvy!

This week we pull an episode from the vault, with Dr. Sarah Duvall sharing insights about breathing for improved performance, prolapse, and diastasis and their considerations in the return to sport for postpartum women.

You might think diastasis only affects postpartum women, but it also hits men—especially those over 50. It’s not just about muscle strength, but how well your core muscles coordinate.

Dr. Sarah Duvall shared amazing insights on common fears like prolapse, diastasis, and leaking. Women often think these issues are permanent, but many can be managed or even overcome with proper rehab. Diastasis, especially, doesn't have to hold you back. 

Are the approaches for strength training for improved running performance the same or similar to those of strength training for cycling?

In this episode we offer key insights tailored for runners and triathletes aiming for new PRs in their running.

We go quite deep into the how's and whys behind the programming for faster running performances being very different in those for cycling.

Have you ever stopped to ponder Why is it that while so many cycling and triathlon coaches are touting that they are "Strength Training by the Research", that there has been a big increase in the number of athletes getting injured, not being able to train with quality,or who are seeing DECREASES in their in sport abilities?

It's becoming a pretty prevalent issue and something that we, as a community, need to address.

In this episode we take a look at the 3 big problems with this approach, and 3 solutions, so that you can be a smarter, stronger, and more savvy coach or athlete.

Too many people think more training equals better results. It's simply not true.

Strength isn't built by just spending more time in the gym. It's developed through smart, fundamental movements and proper load management.

Quality over quantity is crucial. It's not about the number of sessions each week, but how you utilize each one.

Remember, high performance comes from understanding how your body works and what it needs, rather than just adding more volume.

It's not about cramming in extra sessions; it's about optimizing for the best ROI - your body's adaptation and recovery.

Understand that quality trumps quantity. High performance is a strategic craft, not a numbers game.

What do you value more in your training: quality or quantity?

Is putting on weight going to slow you down?

Well, IT DEPENDS!

This episode we dive into the WHY behind Jonas Abrahamsen's GCN interview is so vital for endurance of all ages and abilities to watch, as well as give an Exercise Scientist's insight as to why Jonas saw such drastic improvements in his abilities.

Join us in this episode as we delve into "The Evolution of Strength Training in Endurance Sports: Insights from Leading Coaches."

I'll guide you through the significant transformation that endurance sports are witnessing in terms of strength training. And we explore the shift from the conventional approach of lifting weights to understanding the nuances of what enhances an athlete's performance.

Listen to insights from leading experts, including Eric Cressey and Vern Gambetta, as they provide a roadmap for athletes and coaches.

Also, learn about "Fostering a Culture of Inquiry and Open-mindedness" and how it plays a role in evolving strength training methodologies. Embrace the importance of mentorship and community in accelerating the learning curve for effective training strategies.

Reflect upon Brodie's emphasis on creating feedback loops through reflection, experimentation, and feedback from coaches and peers. Overall, understand how comprehensive approach focusing on physical training and cognitive development sets the stage for surpassing personal performance goals.

The craze for flashy, complex fitness regimes dominates the social media landscape, often contrasting with the disciplined, focused demands of endurance sports like cycling and triathlon. In this episode, Menachem Brodie dispels the misconceptions swirling around complex equates to better. He emphasizes the importance of investing time to master fundamental movements, laying the foundation for gradual progressions.

Straight-talk about the deceptive representation of success in the social media fitness culture sheds light on the risk of getting sidetracked from the core intention of fitness – promoting wellbeing and strength. This discussion underscores the potential perils of adopting advanced exercises inspired by high-level athletes, overlooking the compounding inherent risks.

In this eye-opening episode of The Strong Savvy Cyclist & Triathlete, our host Menachem Brodie examines the broader scope of endurance strength training. Going beyond subjective opinions, he unveils the critical nuances involved in achieving excellence in the field. Dive deep into the fascinating intricacies of balancing intensity and recovery, optimizing repetition quality, and the implications of methodical mental preparation and activation during lifts.

Round off your journey with Brodie's valuable insights on the importance of nurturing patience in strength training, particularly in the light of progressive overload. He emphasizes the significance of long-term benefits over hasty gains and underlines maintaining continuous focus on skill refinement along with other key training variables. While the lifting heavy culture may promise immediate results, the episode concisely captures how a patient, technique-focused approach lays the foundation for lasting health, performance, and happiness. Concluding with a poignant summarization, Brodie redefines strength training in this comprehensive guide. Respect your limits, prioritize form, and join us as we stride towards performance excellence and longevity in the sport.

We all love to watch our fitness "rise" on that Performance Management Chart in TrainingPeaks (or whatever software you use). It's fun to see our rides add up to a bigger wave of purple.

But there are all too many times where our training gets derailed, and we cannot figure out why!

Our rides were done as prescribed, you hit the Intensities and Intervals spot on, and the TSS matched what was programed (within reason).

So what is happening?

This weeks episode we dive down the rabbit hole of:

• When your TSS isn't really your TSS
• What TSS is made up of
• Why the Stress of your training doesn't determine the outcome
• How Strain is incredibly variable and throws a monkey wrench into the process
• Pactical tips on how to avoid getting sick, hitting non-functional overreaching, and to keep from burning your energy

What does it take to have your best year yet?

KISS IT!

So.... you want to LIFT HEAVY $h*+!!!!

Well, as an endurance athlete, there are quite a few things you need to know before going heavy! In this episode, multi-world record holder, former back pain patient, and coach Brian Carroll shares with us from his deep knowledge and experience what you should be thinking about, before loading up the bar.

Brian has Squatted 1,306 pounds, and holds two of the Top 20 all-time powerlifting meet performances... He KNOWS strong- and how to get you there safely!

Brian Covers: Building the foundations for lifting heavy, tuning your spine to your sports needs, how to build a bulletproof core, what your TRUE core is, and much, much more!

Connect with Brian:

This week we dig back into how to properly progress your strength training beyond the "more reps, more weight", or "Find a harder to execute exercise" mentality that is so incredibly prevalent these days.

We're re-sharing episode 121 as this weeks episode, where Coach Brodie explained the 4 ways to progress your strength training, and the important criteria that must be met before even considering changing the programming.

For many endurance athletes looking to boost performance, one of the most common questions I get is "How do I boost my watts per kilo with fat loss?"

While for many riders the answer is far more about better managing their energy, putting their focus on rest and recovery, or simply eating more....for others who do have a higher than healthy body fat percentage, fat loss is a legitimate and sometimes very necessary path.

In this episode we share the 8 foundational points that any endurance athlete (or gym goer) needs in order to heathily and more easily lose fat- or to be more precise: How to properly change your Body Composition.

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Finding a good coach can be a challenge...but finding the RIGHT coach for you? It's like a needle in a haystack: knowing what you're looking for really helps, but it's also a little bit of luck, and a lot of time.

In this episode Masters rider Dan Lundenberg shares his journey to finding (and keeping) great coaches over the last 10 years. Including: 10 years with the same strength coach (who is not a cyclist) as well as moving through 4 different cycling coaches to find one(s) that would meet him where he is and be a partner in his development and long term health and abilities.

Dan, is like most of us in that he truly enjoys being competitive and riding his bike, but he has a focus on long term health abilities.

It's time to become smarter and more savvy about your investment in working with a coach!

This weeks episode we answer Michalina's questions about the Strength Training for Cycling Performance programs:

Should you repeat a Strength Training Program that you did last year? If so, is it better to focus on technique, or should you look to go heavier?

Should you bike and then strength train, or strength train and then ride?

How about Post Activation Potentiation (PAP) and Riding your bike after strength training- is there anything to that?

Grab your favorite coffee and a notepad, we get into some of the big, juicy questions that many riders have about strength training for performance!

One of the big selling points of strength training for cyclists & triathletes is a "decrease in overuse injuries" from their given sports. While technically this IS a benefit, there are a few absolutely vital pieces of information that are missing which you MUST have, in order to reap those benefits.

Have you ever had a major injury or setback leaving you wondering "how can I ever return to my previous levels?"

Joshua Bradley has been there himself, and done a phenomenal job of build back from a major health issue, but becoming even stronger, faster, and more robust than before the injury.

Talk about Smarter not harder!

In this Episode Joshua shares with us his journey, life lessons learned along the way, and a number of really important lessons that every endurance athlete should heed.

As endurance athletes we tend to take a lot of what we do for granted: going out, pushing our limits mentally and physically, and looking for the "next big goal" to strive towards. None of that is possible without a lot of systems in the body being healthy and functioning well.

In this episode, Joshua Bradley shares with us his journey from high-tech startup CEO, to IBD and Crohn's patient, and his incredibly journey from finding the bike as a way to build health and resilience, and his path to living a life built around his health, family, and daily activities that include strength training, running, and riding.

The return from a serious injury involves far more than the physical healing, yet it seems that we often still forget this. In this episode Dr. Lisa Lewis shares with us insights and advice on how to best see these challenging times as ways to improve ourselves on many more levels. You'll hear from HVT Summer 2023 Intern Jordana at the end as to her reflections and thoughts on this conversation, and why she wishes someone had shared these things with her when she was going through her serious injury and recovery process.

Summer is officially here, and that means it's time to hit the heavier weights (by RPE, or course!) and to get in some plyometrics alongside, to help get your power and strength on the bike or run up! But this goes against pretty much all "common knowledge"! In-season should be just my sport and "core work"....Not if you're looking for your best performances! But the Amount of heavy lifting and plyometrics you do matters, as does the quality of each. In this episode Jason Fitzgerald of StrengthRunning.com shares with us how to think about strength & plyometrics, as well as how to best dose them for the results you want, and deserve!

"Hey Coach, I wanted to ask you what pre-workout supplement do you think I should use?"..... "Hey, Quick Question, I just saw this new sports supplement 'kill the burn' that's supposed to help your FTP- what do you think?"..... The world of sports performance has rapidly been changing as more and more companies (both small and big) have entered the sports supplement market, to the tune of BILLIONS of $$$ being made each year.

So, what supplements are actually worth you hard earned time and money? This Episode covers 3 must-haves for anyone looking to improve their in-sport performance, as well as one supplement which some many consider giving a try.

***DISCLAIMER: You must consult your physician before taking any supplements to ensure that it is safe and healthy for you. I am not a Doctor, Dietitian, or Nutritionist, and these are only my opinions. You should seek professional guidance in order to determine what is right and safe for you.***

How should you train through your season (in strength training)? Should you skip your strength when you feel little sorenesses or tightspots, and just foam roll the crap outta them? Should you snowplow through and just "lift heavy $h!t"? Tony Gentilcore shares with us some fantastic and easy-to-use tips and advice on how to keep your strength training on point mid-season, so that you can look, feel, and move better than ever!

As Masters Athletes, what are the areas we should be looking for special considerations in our training? What are some things that we can do to improve our fitness and outcomes? We cover 3 important areas in this week's episode: 1. Are there special considerations for your "Aerobic Window"? 2. Special considerations for setting your training intensities 3. Special considerations for Strength Training --Please note that this week we do not dive into Peri- or Post-menopausal issues in this episode.

When we start to ride our bikes, or practice endurance sports, it often hits us as a bit of an addiction: How far can we go? What new roads and trails can we find? Where DOES that road at that last turnaround point for your 70 miler actually go? But as we progress, we begin to look around (mostly up) to see what the best around us are doing to see if we can emulate their progress (ok, ok, we want to do a bit better). While some may look to get as fast as possible, as quickly as possible, others, like co-host of the Wise Athletes Podcast Joe Lavelle, are eyeing optimization for longevity. Not this year, or next year, but the next 5, 10, or 20 years.

Joe sat down with us to talk about his journey as a podcast host and his quest to optimize for longevity: How he fell into road cycling through one of life's twists and turns, eventually found track cycling, and how he looks to reap the rewards, one step at a time, from the low-hanging fruits that are being offered to you at each step along the way.

As we venture on our quest to get in shape, get faster, or lose some weight, it seems everyone around us- especially those we love and whom we care for their opinions- have "thoughts" to share with us...which often undermine our very commitment and dedication to where we want to go. This short episode tackles a few of those objections, and shares tips on how you can keep on track.

What does it take to not only see fitness gains, but also more life in your current and future years, as a Masters Athlete?

How can you stay motivated for your longterm goals, while committing to your short term goals, that often don't seem to be in sync? This episode we talked with Dr. Jim Slauson in a deep-dive into how you can progress from being a Masters Athlete, to a Grand Master Athlete- one who not only has fitness and strength, but much more life, enjoyment, and balance, as you head towards Dr. Peter Attia's Centurian Decathlon.

Click to open most web pages related to cycling or triathlon and you're certain to find a number of articles touting the performance benefit of some kind of "new superfood" or "must-have" food. Following these articles can have you constantly shuffling your weekly menu, and constantly stressing about what you are or are not eating. In this episode we cut to the core of what foods we've seen help support hard training and racing over the last 10 years. Simple, easy to grasp, and even more important-easy to include in a sustainable and reasonable diet.

What do you get when you have a highly accomplished endurance athlete with a PhD in applied Physiology and who is an Registered Dietician? You get Namrita Brooke, with some absolutely stellar guidance on how to improve your nutrition for better performances. This week Dr. Brooke shares with us insights as to how we can best cut through the fluff in the media to figure out what and how to apply the latest research, the top 3-4 pillars for masters athletes, and much, much more.

How do you keep your strength training adaptations through the entire cycling & triathlon competitive season? It's both simple, and easy...but it takes a little knowledge and effort. Here's how!

Open your computer or smart phone these days, and you're bombarded with articles, social media snippets, and programs touting the latest and greatest "bio-hack" or "training tip" to help you get stronger, fitter, and faster. While some of these may hold some truth, and value, they are often another distraction from the ACTUAL thing you need to get results: Adaptation. In this episode expert cycling coach Tim Cusick shares with us deep insights into the importance of adaptation in the training process, and how he builds programs to ensure that the results they're after come to fruition. Get ready to hit warp speed on your results from your training, as we talk Adaptation!

There is a up and coming "trend" in strength training which is being called "Auto-Regulatory Training" in the research community. It's been mentioned in the Dr. Andrew Huberman Lab Podcast series with Dr. Andy Galpin, as well as through a number of recent articles. But what is Auto-Regulation Training? Is it really new? What do you need to know in order to use it best? 

"How do I improve my results?"

This is a question we all ask ourselves, whether it's in our cycling and triathlon performance, or professionally. While there are a number of ways we can improve our results, the crux of this question boils down to the core of: How do I become a better decision maker? In this episode we talk with Cheryl Strauss Einhorn to learn how to improve our decision making process by improving the process itself, and learning how to better tackle and recognize our blind spots, biases, and poor practices.

Wanna have your best year yet? These 5 steps will help get your on the fast track to a season filled with consistency, recovery, performance, and looking & feeling your best....but you need to start now!

Steven Moody has been a triathlon coach for over 20 years, over that time he has carefully sculpted his craft to allow each and every athlete with whom he works with to have a unique and powerful athlete-coach relationship. In this episode Steven gives you an insight as to how he thinks about the athlete-coach relationship, and gives insights and tips as to how you can improve your results, and your relationship.        A part of that, is building the level of trust to follow your coaches advice and guidance to take time off form training, structured training, or even doing any of your primary sports and instead, trying something different. 

If strength training is supposed to be good for endurance athletes, then why is it that we all seem to know one (or three, or five) others who have gotten injured from strength training? This episode talks about the top 5 general reasons why cyclists and triathletes get injured while strength training.

Breathing can have a far broader effect on your performance than many think. In this episode Mike Robertson shares with us insights as to how incorporating breathing into your strength programming can improve posture, recovery, power, and even mobility. 

Over the last few weeks while I've been recovering from my injury + surgery a few key items kept coming to mind, that I'd like to share with you... simply put: Recovery IS performance. Take a listen to this weeks short episode.

This episode is one I'm very excited to share with you, as I'm joined by Erin Carson of EC Fit Boulder, and Chris Peden of Combined Athletic Performance, to discuss strength training for endurance athletes. We cover a number of topics including Breathing, how we program strength training, as well as the role of strength training in an endurance athletes training regimen, and much more!

If you enjoy this episode, and have a question you'd like to have us discuss in future Coaches round tables, or here on the podcast, click on the "question" associated with this podcast episode, and let us know!

The last decade has been quite a wild ride: from cyclists & triathletes finally beginning to embrace strength training as a necessity, to weathering a pandemic, there have been lots of lessons learned.... This episode shares with you 10 Lessons I've learned in the last 10 years, that can help you get on the fast track to success, whether you're an athlete, a coach, or someone who just enjoys endurance sports. 

Each discipline of cycling has it's own demands on the body...this means different physiological needs, and to some degree, some nature or G-d given abilities are needed in order to succeed in some disciplines. This week we take a mini-dive into the reasons why Track Sprint riders are a completely different beast than the rest of us, and how you begin to weed out your Critical Concepts to help get more from your strength training and in-sport training!

For many of us, the challenge of cycling is not only about getting faster and fitter, but also about our evolution and growth as a human being; being pushed outside of our comfort zone, and to achieve new levels of abilities through our on-bike endeavors. And while power meters, heart rate monitors, and social apps like Strava and Zwift allow us to measure our outputs, what often is not measured, is how we use (or don't use) the process to improve.

Joanna Yates is a MTB Skills Coach out of Sedona Arizona, who is a living example of embracing the process and using the process, not the output, as a measure to growing towards our full potential. We hung out to talk MTB skills development, how to use the bike to become a better version of yourself, and the importance of stepping up to the challenges with a cool, calm, and collected energy. 

Why do endurance athletes rush into heavy lifting? Well, much of it has to do with our misunderstanding of how strength training works, and the processes that need to happen for us to safely and effectively lift heavy stuff. This weeks episode will help you have a better understanding of why we should ramp into heavier weights, as well as why your energy system trainings (intervals), seem to have a much faster time to improvement (because they do!).

When it comes to building top performances (regardless of whether you're a pro or a "recreational" endurance athlete), there are a lot of considerations that go far beyond your primary sport, and training "for sports results".  Kriss Hendy of Strength for Endurance and I sat down and talked how endurance athletes can get a lot more out of their training, not just through strength training, but by having a better understanding of you, as a whole. 

We cover:

• Why you cannot just do a "lower body + core" workout...Gotta train the whole
• High performance begins with learning, and mastering, the basics
• You cannot out train poor tissues and postures
• The importance of learning how to land (before you hit those box jumps)
• Global health keys to pay attention to

and much, much more.

Connect with Kriss:

Back in October, Vern C. replied to an email I sent out to the HVTraining Newsletter with a great question: Does Squatting Make You More Quad Dominant? Should he instead do deadlifts to activate his posterior chain?

This weeks episode, as promised, I give Vern, and you, a deeper dive into this question, helping you understand why these aren't quite the questions we should be asking...