Fast Talk

Fast Talk Labs

The Fast Talk podcast offers the best guides to cycling performance and endurance sports training from world-class experts.

Cohosted by cycling coaches and sport scientists Trevor Connor and Rob Pickels, Fast Talk episodes feature fascinating conversations with world-class experts discussing the endurance sports topics they know best: the best ways to train, effective workouts, questions on polarized and interval training, sports nutrition, physiology and recovery, and sport psychology.

Fast Talk guests and regular contributors include Dr. Stephen Seiler, Joe Friel, Dr. Asker Jeukendrup, Sebastian Weber, Jim Miller, Dr. Andy Pruitt, Dr. Timothy Noakes, and elite professional athletes like Kristin Armstrong, Sepp Kuss, Brent Bookwalter, Kate Courtney, and many more.

Fast Talk is part of Fast Talk Laboratories, a new endurance sports knowledgebase for endurance racers and adventurers.

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474 episodes
Updated Thursday

Episodes474

Newest first

Aug 30, 2018 · 1 hr 30 min
54: Applying the polarized training model, with Dr. Seiler
IN , which we published several weeks ago, we had the chance to speak with Jay-Z — or at least the Jay-Z of the exercise physiology world, Dr. Stephen Seiler. We took a deep dive into the polarized model of endurance training … or so we...
Aug 17, 2018 · 1 hr 18 min
53: From collegiate racing to the WorldTour in three years, with Sepp Kuss
LAST FALL TREVOR AND I CONDUCTED a not-so-controlled , and we had the help of a young, talented Colorado rider. His name? . At the time of our little experiment, Kuss was about to head to Europe for a training camp with his new...
Aug 10, 2018 · 1 hr 12 min
52: Enhancing Your Recovery With Normatec
IF YOU’RE A LONGTIME LISTENER of Fast Talk, you’ve probably noticed a theme emerge time and time again: To maximize performance you need to be as intense in your recovery as you are in your training. Put another way, the more you want to...
Jul 27, 2018 · 1 hr 14 min
51: Polarizing your training, with Dr. Stephen Seiler
EPISODE 51 OF FAST TALK is one that Coach Connor and I are particularly excited about. In fact, Trevor is so enamored with our guest’s research that he refers to him as the Jay-Z of physiology. I don’t really know what that means, but I’m...
Jul 23, 2018 · 1 hr 13 min
50: Unpacking the gospel of Joe Friel’s new ‘Training Bible’
Cycling can be a fickle sport. Coaches come and go; new, exciting, revolutionary ways of training take the sport by storm then grown stale; riders at the local training race who were once unbeatable age and fade from the front. Few things have...
Jul 16, 2018 · 59 min
49: Training, fueling, and suffering at Dirty Kanza 200
EPISODE 49 IS A SPECIAL EDITION of Fast Talk. We’re talking the science of suffering. As many of you may know, Chris has become something of the VeloNews resident lab rat, guinea pig, and/or crash test dummy. A Case study of one, if...
Jun 28, 2018 · 56 min
48: Race tactics and training with Rally’s Huffman and McCarty, part 2
IN EPISODE 48 WE DELVE into the second part of our series on strategy and training for particular races. (.) This episode is all about hilly road races and winning the GC at a stage race. If you salivate over 12 percent grades, if your heart...
Jun 14, 2018 · 1 hr 38 min
47: The art and science of peaking, with Colby Pearce
The VeloNews Fast Talk podcast is your source for the best training advice and most compelling insight on what it takes to become a better cyclist. Listen in as VeloNews managing editor Chris Case and our resident physiologist and...
May 31, 2018 · 1 hr 13 min
46: Inside ketogenic and high-fat diets
IF WE HAD TO SUMMARIZE sports nutrition in one word it would probably be … controversial. Or maybe just confusing. Endurance sports guidelines tell us we need to pack in the carbohydrates. Then we hear about Team Sky and other prominent...
May 16, 2018 · 1 hr 8 min
45: The art of recovery — how to balance training and rest with metrics
IT’S OFTEN OVERLOOKED. Sometimes forgotten. But it never should be. Recovery is just as important to strong performances as your daily workouts and weekly riding volume. Recovery is the other side of the training balance that we often neglect. That...
May 2, 2018 · 1 hr 9 min
44: The data revolution — how A.I. and machine learning will make you faster
This episode is all about data. Not long ago, people looked at you funny if you had a two-inch screen mounted to your handlebars. Now, we ride with head units the size of iPhones, sensors connected to our limbs, and wearables that track our every...
Apr 13, 2018 · 1 hr 5 min
43: Race tactics and training with Rally’s Huffman and McCarty, part 1
Producers: Trevor Connor, Chris Case, Spencer Powlison, Fred Dreier, Cam In this episode we take a deep dive into race strategy and tactics, and the necessary skills and training you need to excel at bike racing. In this two-part series, we’ll...
Mar 23, 2018 · 1 hr 15 min
42: The power training revolution, with Hunter Allen
This episode is all about power. First, we’ll touch upon the history of power, and how it has fundamentally changed the sport of cycling and, more importantly, how we train. When did the use of power meters and power analysis first appear?...
Mar 22, 2018 · 36 min
41: We answer your questions about training
This is our first edition of “Ask Fast Talk.” Because we receive so many compelling questions from Fast Talk listeners, we will begin devoting frequent episodes to answering your questions. On today’s episode, we discuss the following: the...
Mar 16, 2018 · 1 hr 21 min
40: Too much of a good thing? Heart arrhythmias in endurance athletes
In this episode we take a deep dive into a subject that Case knows well, and that our guest, Lennard Zinn, : Heart arrhythmias in endurance athletes. Chris and Lennard, along with , wrote a book entitled “” that details how and...
Mar 1, 2018 · 1 hr 10 min
39: The Secrets to Staying Strong as You Age with Ned Overend
In this episode, we discuss something that’s a factor for many of us right now, but will ultimately be a factor for all of us sooner than we’d like: the effects of aging. We’ve all said or heard it before: “I’m not what I was in my...
Feb 19, 2018 · 59 min
38: Why fatigue may be all in your mind
We all know what fatigue feels like. It’s likely we’ve all experienced that exasperating feeling when our legs give out on a critical climb, or our sprint fails to materialize at the critical moment. But do you know what causes fatigue?...
Feb 1, 2018 · 1 hr 4 min
37: Nutrition — sugar, wheat, paleo, and performance
We’re taking on the always-controversial subject of nutrition. Why is it so controversial? First, it’s very personal: Many people, trained or untrained, have strong opinions on the subject, and a lot of heated debate revolves around what is healthy and what is best for performance. We’ve had a few prominent guests on Fast Talk previously, and they’ve given their opinions on the subject. But thus far we have strayed away from revealing our thoughts — until now. In this podcast, we’ll discuss what we think is healthy and what isn’t. We’ll talk about what foods to eat, we’ll take on the question of wheat, nutrient density, and sugar. Unlike other episodes, in this show Coach Trevor Connor will not only be the co-host, he’ll also be the guest of honor. His research in graduate school focused on many of these topics, and what he’ll share are his educated opinions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 19, 2018 · 1 hr 10 min
36: Inside the new science of climbing
Is climbing as simple as power-to-weight ratios? Not so much. In the January/February issue of VeloNews magazine, we dug into the rarely explored science of climbing. This podcast goes behind the scenes of the making of that article, and the...
Jan 5, 2018 · 1 hr 10 min
35: How to Train In the Cold
Are you getting out to ride this winter? This podcast covers the physiological effects of training in the cold, from muscle damage to the increased caloric demands. We also discuss tips and tricks to set up your bike, stay warm, and even keep your...