FasCat Cycling Training Tips Podcast

Over 40 and wondering why the same workouts, rides and races hit harder than they used to? On this episode of the FasCat Podcast Coach Frank answered that question and gave you a simple way to train for it: the Masters Diamond. The biggest change isn't intensity, it's recovery. A hard workout that took one night to bounce back from at 30 can take two nights at 55. After 20+ years of coaching Masters athletes at FasCat, here's how we train athlete's over 40/50/60/ & 70: ⚾ The Masters Diamond Picture a baseball diamond with four bases: 1️⃣ First base is Time: how many hours a week you actually have to train 2️⃣ Second base is Dose: your intervals, sets and reps 3️⃣ Third base is Recovery: the rest you need to absorb that dose 🏠 Home plate is Life: staying flexible when life happens Touch all four bases and you score a run, and that run is consistency. The bases are connected. Change one and you change the others. Skip a base and you're out. In this episode: 🔹 The four age bands we coach by (40+, 50+, 60+ and 70+) and what changes in each 🔹 VO2 max intervals by age: why 50+ athletes do 2 sets of 2 x 5 minutes instead of 3 x 5 🔹 The new Rønnestad VO2 workouts in CoachCat 🔹 Sweet Spot for Masters: shorter sessions (45 to 90 minutes), done more often 🔹 Sprint work at 40, 50 and 60+ and why you shouldn't give up Zone 6 🔹 The golden rule: cut sets and reps before you cut intensity, and pull the plug before you're fully cooked 🔹 How many hours a week you really need (even retired, more isn't better) 🔹 Recovery weeks, comebacks and why your plan's rest is the floor, not the ceiling 🔹 Year round strength training for Masters cyclists 🔹 How CoachCat adjusts your training for your age, from morning recovery scores to 8 to 12 week adaptation blocks 🔹 Live Q&A with your Masters training questions Whether you're 42 and chasing a PR or 68 and hanging with the fast group on Saturdays, this one's for you. Run the bases, stay consistent and you'll keep getting faster. 📖 Read the full article: https://fascatcoaching.com/blogs/training-tips/masters-coaching/ Want help? We provide two types of coaching to help you ride faster: 🚴 CoachCat, your AI cycling coach built on 20 years of FasCat coaching: free trial at https://fascatcoaching.com/app 🤝 1x1 Coaching with a FasCat coach: book a complimentary consultation Join us LIVE every Friday at 2pm ET and bring your questions.

Most cyclists call the next five months the off season. We call it the ON season, because this is the time of year where you can add 10 to 50 watts or more by spring. Join Coach Frank Overton live Friday at 2pm ET for a walk through the training that makes that happen, straight out of our all-new 30 Week Off Season Weight and Sweet Spot Plan for 2026/2027. What we're covering: Why every month off costs you two, and how a two month break turns into a four month swing Winning in the gym: the 10 week, four phase cycling specific weight program covering hypertrophy, strength, and power Muscle tension intervals, and why they turn new strength into watts Sweet Spot base training between 84 and 97% of FTP, and why it beats zone 2 when your time is limited Zwift as your atomic habit, plus the Saturday Sweet Spot group rides with Coach Jake and Frank What's new in the 2026/2027 plan: refined periodization, rewritten workout descriptions, Coach's Tips from 20 years of FasCat coaching, demo videos, masters appropriate volume and intervals, and FuelTrix fueling on every workout Plus announcements, our reviews of the week, a live CoachCat onboarding walkthrough for new athletes, and your questions answered live in the comments. Drop what you're training for and Frank will give you his best coaching advice on air. Ready to start your on-season? Two ways to ride faster: 1. the CoachCat app or 2. expert 1x1 personal coaching. https://fascatcoaching.com/ Both begin with a complimentary phone consultation and a custom training plan. Start a free trial and follow the 30 Week On Season Plan. Work hard, ride fast, have fun, and as always, FTFP. What did you think about this episode? What do you want to learn about next? Drop a comment 👇

Are you doing your zone 4, 5, and 6 intervals as hard as you can? Try CoachCat free: https://fascatcoaching.com/app In this video, Coach Frank shows you how to go full gas and get more out of your intervals — more watts, more physiological benefits, and more race craft. Plus the 3 best zone 4, 5, and 6 interval workouts we prescribe to our 1:1 coaching athletes and in the CoachCat app. 🚴 THE 3 WORKOUTS Zone 4 Threshold: 3 x 8 minutes @ 103-110% FTP Zone 5 VO2 Max: 2 sets of 2 x 3 minutes @ 106-120% FTP Zone 6 Anaerobic: 2 sets of 3 x 1 minute @ 120%+ FTP 🐱 TRAIN WITH COACHCAT Your AI cycling coach built on 20 years of FasCat methodology. CoachCat builds your custom training plan, prescribes these exact intervals at the right time, tells you what wattages to hit, and analyzes your power data after every ride. 👉 Start your free week: https://fascatcoaching.com/app 🏆 WORK WITH A FASCAT COACH 1:1 Ready for personalized coaching? Our coaches work with athletes from World Tour pros to weekend warriors. 👉 https://fascatcoaching.com/coaching 00:00 Introduction 00:50 SmartTrainers = DumbTrainers 01:17 What "Full Gas" Means 01:56 The Art of Pacing 03:07 Turn ERG Mode Off 03:25 Imperfect is better than "Perfect" 03:44 Outside is Better ‼️ 04:33 Coach Frank's 3 Favorite Zone 4 Interval Workout 06:16 Favorite VO2 Max workout 06:51 Zone 6

Coach Frank describes a 3 month Unbound training plan that you can follow FREE for 30 days → https://fascatcoaching.com/app Develop your Diesel Watt power by knowing how to train it in March, April, and May to arrive in Emporia fresh, fit, and ready to send it. Whether you're lining up for the 200, 100, or XL, this video covers the training concepts that have helped thousands of FasCat athletes finish strong,from sweet spot base building to full gravel simulation rides to the art of a proper taper. You'll learn: the Gravel Power Workout (the single best workout for gravel racers) how to build your long ride from 2.5 hours to 5+, why Flint Hills repeats matter, and what race-winning power data from Ian Boswell, Pete Stetina, and Cam Jones tells us about pacing Unbound. 📱 The CoachCat app gives you a custom Unbound training plan, AI coaching to adjust on the fly, and nutrition guidance — all free for 30 days. 🚴 Let us know what distance are you riding at Unbound 2026? #UnboundGravel #UnboundGravel2026 #GravelTraining #FasCatCoaching #CoachCat #SweetSpotTraining #DieselWatts #GravelSimulationRide #FlintHills #EmporiaKansas #GravelPowerWorkout #HowToTrainForUnbound #GravelRacing #CyclingTraining

Learn how not to be the Group Ride Hero and Train the Right Way, Free for 30 days → https://fascatcoaching.com/app One of the most common mistakes cyclists make is piling on high-intensity intervals before they've finished building their aerobic base. It feels great in February. You're flying on the group ride. You're winning town line sprints. But by May, when racing and big events actually matter, you're flat, stale, and wondering what happened. In this video, Coach Frank Overton from FasCat Coaching shows you how to bridge the gap between base season and race season the right way. You don't need to live in Zone 2 forever. But you also shouldn't be smashing yourself with full-gas workouts every week. The answer? A smart, controlled progression that introduces just enough Zone 4, 5, and 6 intensity to wake up speed while still building durability and aerobic strength. Inside, Frank walks through four proven winter workouts from the CoachCat training system: 🐆 The Cheetah Pounce – Sweet Spot control with explosive attacks. Practice commitment and fast-twitch recruitment without blowing up recovery. 🎯 Sprint → Stalk & Catch – Learn how to handle the surges that drop riders in real races and group rides. 📊 The Three 8's – A powerful combination of testing and training that reveals your true ability and builds fatigue resistance. 💳 The AmEx Ride – FasCat's signature terrain-driven session. No timers, no ERG, just smart execution and a mission: don't come home without your prescribed OTS. These workouts help you: ✔ build the engine ✔ touch high power ✔ improve repeatability ✔ arrive in spring ready for true interval work Instead of peaking early, you'll keep stacking fitness when it counts. If you're following a structured plan, this is the step many athletes miss. Try These Workouts Yourself They're available inside the CoachCat AI app, where you can follow your training plan, track OTS and LEVEL, and get guidance based on your real data. 👉 Start your free 30-day trial https://fascatcoaching.com/app Have questions about winter training or how to balance intensity with base work? Drop them in the comments. And tell us: Which workout looks the hardest? Which one would you skip if you could? 😈

Learn how to eat right for your cycling. Most cyclists try to lose weight by eating less and riding more and that doesn't work. Get the Go Fast Grocery List mentioned in this video for FREE → https://fascatcoaching.com/app In this video, Coach Frank breaks down the #1 nutrition mistake most cyclists make and explains why watts per kilo don't improve on the bike… they start in the kitchen. This video introduces our long-standing FasCat concept called Winning in the Kitchen: a simple, sustainable approach to performance nutrition and weight loss that works for real cyclists with real lives. You'll learn: why you can't out-ride bad nutrition the 80/20 rule of weight loss for cyclists the Go Fast vs Go Slow food framework why grocery shopping matters more than recipes how to avoid "Losing in the Breakroom" what Winning in the Kitchen actually looks like day-to-day and one of our favorite cyclist meals: Salmon Watts This is not calorie counting. It's not a fad diet. And it won't sabotage your training. It's how cyclists fuel smarter, lose weight sustainably, and improve watts per kilo. 🛒 Want help putting this into practice? When you start a free trial of the CoachCat app, you'll get: our Go FasCat Grocery List, Performance-focused meal plans and nutrition guidance built around the Winning in the Kitchen framework including "How Much you Should Eat" before that big ride tomorrow. 👉 Start your free trial here: https://fascatcoaching.com/app

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 🐾