Knowing When

One common struggle we all face is knowing when to say no or to scale back our training. As working adults, we juggle many responsibilities — work, family, friends, personal upkeep, and various activities — all of which can consume the time we have allocated for training.

The most important step we can take is to be honest with ourselves and our coaches. Recognizing when to hold back can feel disappointing, but it is a crucial aspect of growth as both athletes and individuals. Acknowledging that we are taking on too much and risking burnout is a sign of maturity.

We often aspire to do it all, but the reality is that time is limited. Just like with loved ones, we need to thoughtfully allocate our quality time. Consider what is most important within your busy schedule and what will provide the greatest benefit moving forward.

It's perfectly acceptable for work to take precedence, and it’s vital to communicate this with your coach. This way, they can help adjust your training schedule to maximize your efforts.

However, exercise caution when adding multiple sports or disciplines to your routine, as expecting to excel in all of them can lead to disaster. Balancing various workouts for optimal performance across different sports within a limited training schedule can be incredibly challenging for coaches. Athletes may also find it difficult to manage travel, logistics, and the fatigue that comes with juggling multiple commitments, often resulting in illness or burnout.

I’m not suggesting that it can’t be done, but it’s important to be realistic about what you can achieve given the time you have available.

I would welcome the opportunity to collaborate with you on your calendar and develop a training plan that aligns with your available time to foster success. Please remember that you are free to decline my suggestions, just as I may advise against some of your proposed plans.

Coach Zeke Hersh

Training Evolution and Braving Your Limits

Throughout my career or should I say my love affair with cycling, I have had to evolve my training and how I think about it. Much of this has evolved, from the standpoint of training and how we approach it. 

Over the years I have gone from the days of just going by feel and talk tests, to using heart rate monitors and now to the use of a power meter on all of my bikes.The power meter has dramatically changed my approach and adaptability to my training to produce some significant results. Power meters used to be a product that for many people were out of reach by their cost or implementation. But now with more affordable options available and coming in pedal, spindle and crank arm options, the power meter is starting to be adapted by the masses. This has been a huge step forward in the coaching and training world and I would venture to say the power meter is the single most significant tool that has changed not only my approach as a coach but my own training results. 

Another recent trend has been the significant increase in fueling methodology. For many years the thought was to eat minimally to keep the weight down and only use enough fuel to do well in your workouts and events. Now we are seeing a dramatic change in looking at how much calories you need to train and perform well. The standard started to rise over the last few years with anywhere from fifty to eighty grams of carbs per hour being the standard and now the bar has raised to one hundred to one hundred and fifty grams of carbs per hour being used regularly. 

A helpful point to raise on the carbohydrate topic is how many more fueling companies there are out there these days. When I was just getting into racing bikes, there were only a handful of companies to choose from and you had to use their formulas and hope they worked for you. You had to do a trial and error test to see if something worked for you. I found myself with GI symptoms on many occasions, bonking or cramping from formulas that just did not work for me. 

 A decade or so ago, I stumbled upon a company that changed the game for me and looking back at it, they were an early adapter to the methodologies we are seeing today. Early on, Infinit Nutrition was pushing the envelope with carbs per hour, but also allowing you to customize your formulas. This was a huge factor for my long distance endurance racing because I could add protein for long efforts, tweak the kinds of carbs making up the formula and up the salt content. Additionally as you tweak the formula you can see how it will absorb (osmolality), change how flavorful it is, add in other additives like caffeine and more. This company's products have been a game changer in my corner,  but I must say that the fueling sector of the endurance sports space is in a great place right now with so many options of good quality products that are backed by good science. 

With all the above adaptations, training and racing has become very trackable and dare I say more predictable. That doesn’t mean we don’t have to think about the specific things we want to accomplish and design programs to achieve them, it’s just that with all the tools we have ,it makes it easier to produce and predict good results with good programs, equipment and supplements.

This has become extremely evident as I age into the over fifty category. The list of hurdles is quite long, from keeping the weight down, mobility, strength, cardiovascular health, and more are all something that as a masters athlete have to be addressed in your training. The key here is to develop adapted programs that work for older individuals and adapt as needed. One of the biggest things I like to encourage is to just get in the habit of doing something good for you daily. That can be stretching one day, then a trainer session the next, and an outdoor ride the next. Once you start getting into a good habit you build on that habit and add in as we progress. I like to build foundations of base training and the habit and routine, then start adapting with interval sessions to build strength and cardiovascular strength, then some tempo and start building towards an event or just healthy living. 

As an aging athlete recovery is also very important and making sure you schedule plenty of time for good sleep and recovery are vital to seeing performance gains. 

If you can learn to master these skills and be ready to adapt when needed, being a masters athlete is not the end of the line. There are some extremely talented masters athletes I like to measure myself against, from the likes of Ned Overend, Tinker Juarez, Lance Armstrom, Levi Leiphmer and other super fast guys and gals that are pushing the limits, finishing high up in the overall standings and all are fifty plus and still kicking ass. 

I specialize in training masters athletes on how to keep moving, keep evolving and always brave your limits. (ABYL)

Base and Zone Two Explained

The new year has passed, resolutions have been made and it’s January. This says to me it’s time to start putting a training plan and regiment into effect. 

This can mean many different things for different people. It could mean as little as cutting back on calories and getting out for some sort of exercise a few days a week. Even a small amount can reap benefits in the new year. These little amounts start to energize your system. From increasing your metabolism to creating good habits. If you don’t know by now, most of getting into shape and in better health is all about creating good habits. 

For myself the next few months will be all about base and base miles. What this means is I will be putting in many hours and miles on the bike and for the most part not worrying about intensity. If you have heard about zone two workouts, this is exactly what zone two will look like. 

The best way to determine your zone two is to do a twenty minute all out effort on a bike with a power meter and then take ninety five percent of that average power. That will give you your functional threshold power or FTP. Think of your FTP as your zone four and then you can find that zone two. (This should be grouped into about fifteen percentiles)

The zone two efforts have been proven to increase your FTP, even in what might seem an easy zone or effort. How does this happen you might ask? Well, it’s really a matter of training the body to adapt. After many miles and hours the hope is that once your zone two effort you have built up enough strength, and endurance to move that zone two to a higher, new level. 

This is where getting a coach can be super helpful. A good coach is going to test their athlete to determine the athletes zone two and then create a training plan around that zone two with base workouts to fit into the athletes schedule. 

A highly important aspect of a coach's job is to be just that, a coach and mentor. Through these months of zone two preparation, it is easy for the athlete to want to push out of the zone two efforts. And while that can be good, it is the coaches job to prescribe just what is needed to inspire the athlete and importantly observe that the athlete does not try to overdo weeks or workouts. 

As a coach, I am always understanding that sometimes we have to do something a little different or maybe push out of the norm. My job then is to analyze what was done, what was the effect and what do we need to change. 

As we migrate through the base building weeks, an athlete should start seeing the benefits of this volume and base miles. Now we can start to do some intensity and interval training, but keeping these in the more moderate of workouts. I like shorter efforts with short rest, with the idea that you are pushing a harder intensity and then a short rest period and then back into intensity. Think of thirty by thirty efforts. (thirty seconds by thirty seconds ten to fifteen times) The idea is that by doing these efforts above your FTP you will start to bridge your power between efforts and essentially building your FTP to the above threshold zone. 

These shorter intervals mixed in with the majority of base miles will be the basis of my training plan for the weeks to come preparing me for harder and higher intensity training to come and to not only build my threshold power but get me in early season race shape in the weeks to come. 

Please let me know if I can help design a training plan for you!

Thanks for reading~ Coach Zeke

Starting

Starting a wellness or training program can often feel overwhelming, particularly when we talk ourselves into waiting for the “perfect” moment. It’s easy to convince ourselves that we’ll begin next week or after an upcoming event, but this mindset often leads to endless postponements. To truly make progress, one must simply start.

The key is to begin small. Incorporate short stretches into your morning routine or take a brief bike ride. These modest adjustments can lay the foundation for a sustainable wellness habit. Over time, these small actions will accumulate, building a routine and igniting the motivation to keep going.

Working with a personal trainer or cycling coach enhances this process. They provide tailored guidance, ensuring that your efforts align with your goals while keeping you motivated and accountable. Their expertise allows for tracking of habits and movements, helping to identify and navigate obstacles that may arise.

Ultimately, the most crucial step is to shift your mindset from contemplation to action. Dismiss the notion of waiting for the right time; instead, focus on making small, achievable commitments a part of your daily life. Embrace these changes and enjoy the journey toward better health and well-being.