The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

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The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

CTS

288 episodes

6 days ago

OVERVIEW The Holidays are just about over and the New Year is about to begin. If you had a ton of fun over the Holidays and you're feeling a bit soft around the middle and bit slower than you'd like, Coach Adam Pulford has some good news! You're fitness didn't disappear and those couple of extra pounds will likely melt away pretty quickly once you get back to normal training. If you've been piling on the miles over the past few weeks, he has some advice for how to start your year, too! All th...

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Health & Fitness,

All content for The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS is the property of CTS and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

OVERVIEW The Holidays are just about over and the New Year is about to begin. If you had a ton of fun over the Holidays and you're feeling a bit soft around the middle and bit slower than you'd like, Coach Adam Pulford has some good news! You're fitness didn't disappear and those couple of extra pounds will likely melt away pretty quickly once you get back to normal training. If you've been piling on the miles over the past few weeks, he has some advice for how to start your year, too! All th...

Show more...

Health & Fitness,

Episodes (20/288)

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

Down to Earth New Year's Fitness Advice (#287)

OVERVIEW The Holidays are just about over and the New Year is about to begin. If you had a ton of fun over the Holidays and you're feeling a bit soft around the middle and bit slower than you'd like, Coach Adam Pulford has some good news! You're fitness didn't disappear and those couple of extra pounds will likely melt away pretty quickly once you get back to normal training. If you've been piling on the miles over the past few weeks, he has some advice for how to start your year, too! All th...

6 days ago

14 minutes

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

How to Train Anaerobic Capacity to Go Fast and Win, with Coach Tim Cusick (#286)

OVERVIEW Anaerobic capacity is the work you can do above your lactate threshold. Another term for it is Functional Reserve Capacity (FRC), and it acts like a battery that contains a finite amount of energy that runs out quickly and must be recharged before a subsequent use. FRC is your high-intensity, explosive power for winning sprints, creating breakaways, closing gaps, and riding competitors off your wheel. In the final episode in this series with WKO Data Leader and Coach Tim Cusick, Tim ...

1 week ago

46 minutes

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

How Quickly Can VO2 max Increase in Cyclists? with Tim Cusick (#285)

OVERVIEW VO2 max or maximum aerobic capacity is your performance ceiling, but it is trainable and you can not only increase your VO2 max, but also the power you can produce at VO2 max, how long you can sustain that power, and the amount of work you can accomplish between lactate threshold and VO2 max. In Episode #285 of "The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast", coaches Adam Pulford and Basecamp's Tim Cusick discuss how VO2 max training works, the workout specifics necessary to increase VO2 max, an...

2 weeks ago

43 minutes

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

How Quickly Can Cyclists Increase Functional Threshold Power (FTP), with Tim Cusick (#284)

OVERVIEW Following their episode on aerobic training, CTS Coach Adam Pulford and Tim Cusick (Head Coach at Basecamp and TrainingPeaks WKO Product Leader) dig into Functional Threshold Power (FTP) training in Episode #284 of "The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast". This is one of the clearest, accessible, and practical explanations of FTP training you'll ever hear. They talk about what's happening in your body, how long each phase of FTP training should take, what interval durations/frequencies/in...

3 weeks ago

39 minutes

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

How Quickly Can Aerobic Training Make You Fast, with Tim Cusick (#283)

OVERVIEW "How long is this going to take?!" Everyone wants to know how long it takes for the training you do today to result in performance improvements you can see and feel on the road or trail. To find out, we called upon Tim Cusick, an elite coach and one of the data gurus behind TrainingPeaks WKO product. Together, Coach Adam Pulford and Tim explain how training stress leads to physiological strain, which causes fatigue and then adaptation. In this episode they look specifically at how qu...

1 month ago

49 minutes

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

What's Happening In Your Body As You Recover From A Workout? (#282)

OVERVIEW We all know recovery takes time, but how much time and what is going on internally while "recovery" is happening? How do factors like the duration and intensity of a workout affect the recovery process? What about nutrition and hydration during and after training, and finally, what about those fancy recovery tools and gadgets? Coach Adam Pulford breaks down the science of recovery, what's going on in your body that constitutes "recovery", and how long it's going to take based on your...

1 month ago

21 minutes

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

Going Pro: The Data Behind Nathan Cusack's Journey From Juniors to EF Education-Aevolo

OVERVIEW Nathan Cusack is an emerging talent in road racing, having won his first European race in 2025, racing for Team USA at Tour de l'Avenir, and ending the season by signing on with EF Education-Aevolo. Nathan has been a CTS Athlete coached by Adam Pulford for four years, and as he makes his transition to the U23 Elite ranks and a top international development team, it's time to take a look at what it takes to go from Junior to Pro in cycling. In Episode 281, Coach Adam Pulford and...

1 month ago

57 minutes

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

Cycling While Deaf: How This CTS Athlete Trains, Wins, and Prepares for the Deaflympics

OVERVIEW Cyclists rely on their sense of hearing more than you might imagine, to hear traffic coming, to communicate with fellow riders during group rides and races, to listen for gear shifts and labored breathing from competitors, and even to discern wind direction. Dmitry Rossoshansky doesn't hear any of that, nor does he hear your pleas for mercy when he's crushing it at the front! In Episode #280 of "The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast", Dima and CTS Coach Adam Pulford, with the assis...

1 month ago

39 minutes

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

Creatine: What Cyclists Need To Know To Benefit From Creatine Supplementation

OVERVIEW Creatine is one of the most researched supplements available, it's safe to consume, and it has been receiving renewed interest in endurance cycling. Although it's not incredibly useful for improving low-intensity aerobic performance, it can be beneficial for high-intensity efforts in training and competition, may have cognitive benefits and some recovery benefits. In "Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast" style, Coach Adam Pulford provides the need-to-know information about creatine for end...

2 months ago

18 minutes

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

Before They Were Champions: Revisiting An Early Interview With A Young Christopher Blevins

In 2025, Christopher Blevins won 9 UCI World Cup races and was the first American Male to earn the UCI Men’s World Cup Overall Championship in 34 years. He raced for Team USA at the 2020 (held in 2021) and 2024 Olympic Games and won the inaugural UCI Short Track MTB World Championship in 2021. Before any of those accomplishments, in the summer of 2021, Blevins was an early guest on this podcast. We're revisiting that conversation in Episode 278 of "The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast" to showca...

2 months ago

47 minutes

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

Do What AI Can't: How To Adjust Your Workout In Real Time (#277)

OVERVIEW Can AI optimize your training by determining if you should do more or fewer intervals than prescribed today? Artificial Intelligence can do a lot of things, but it's not great (yet) at advising changes to your workouts in real time. Coach Adam Pulford details the factors he considers when deciding to scale up, maintain, or scale down an athlete's daily training. More important, he teaches you how to evaluate your workout in real time. TOPICS COVERED What makes up a good training plan...

2 months ago

15 minutes

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

Training, Strategy, and Demands of Timed-Segment Racing vs. Traditional Racing

OVERVIEW Timed-segment racing might be your new favorite competition format! Coach Adam Pulford and CTS Athlete Camilo Lopez discuss their experiences at Gran Fondo Maryland, which featured five timed-segments rather than a start-to-finish competition format. They reveal the key differences in effort level, physical demands, strategies, cycling skills, and even nutrition and pacing between timed-segment racing and start-to-finish racing. NOTE: The 2026 Gran Fondo National Series Calenda...

2 months ago

1 hour 6 minutes

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

How To Leverage Late-Season Fitness For Big Gains

OVERVIEW The end of the summer cycling season is the best time to leverage a season's worth of fitness and training without the pressure of upcoming goals. It's the time when you can go have epic adventures, work on performance limiters, go hunting for Strava PRs and KOM/QOMs, complete end-of-season performance tests, and much more. Coach Adam Pulford helps you decide whether to take a break (some people need it, others don't), and how to make the most of the days when the weather is still wa...

3 months ago

13 minutes

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

Scribble Outside the Lines: How Imperfect Training Makes Faster Cyclists (#274)

OVERVIEW Following a training plan is better than training haphazardly, but how closely do you need to follow the letter of the plan? In Episode 274 of "The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast", Coach Adam Pulford discusses the benefits and necessity of not following the plan to a T, when that’s ok, when it’s not, and how to adjust daily training sessions based on how you're feeling while still sticking to the vision and progression of a bigger plan. TOPICS COVERED What flexibility means in enduran...

3 months ago

14 minutes

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

Smart Strength Training for Cyclists, with Sarah Scozzaro MS, NSCA-CPT, NASM-PES

OVERVIEW 95% of the cyclists and runners coached by Sarah Scozzaro and Adam Pulford incorporate strength training. Scozzaro is one of our top strength and conditioning coaches and in Episode 273 she and Coach Adam discuss how cyclists should blend strength and endurance training throughout the year. Topics Covered In This Episode: How different endurance athletes leverage strength trainingHow strength training changes throughout the yearWhen to back off strength training volume during event/r...

3 months ago

33 minutes

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

Can Rucking With A Weighted Vest Make You A Stronger Cyclist?

OVERVIEW Almost anywhere you go these days, you're likely to see someone walking, running, or climbing stairs wearing a weighted vest. Popularized by Crossfit boxes, mixed martial arts gyms, and boot camp-style exercise programs, “rucking” is a new name for the old concept of an “overloaded training intervention”. The question we get is whether training with a weighted vest (off the bike) will improve cycling performance. CTS Pro Coach Sarah Scozzaro, one of our top strength and conditioning ...

3 months ago

29 minutes

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

Is A.I. Coaching Ready for Prime Time? Hear What TrainingPeaks Says!

OVERVIEW Cody Stephenson, the Education Program Manager at TrainingPeaks, is back on the podcast to talk about the current state of artificial intelligence in cycling coaching and how TrainingPeaks' developers are using models to improve the accuracy and usability of athletes' training data. TOPICS COVERED A.I.'s current and future role in cycling coachingHow auto-updates of FTP work and when to pay attention to themAbout TrainingPeaks' Fueling Insights ToolTrainingPeaks Virtual: Ultimate Ind...

3 months ago

33 minutes

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

Is FTP Dead? Is Critical Power the Cyclist's Next Great Training Metric? (#270)

OVERVIEW Cody Stephenson is the Education Program Manager at TrainingPeaks, meaning he teaches coaches how to properly utilize training data to improve performance. He's the perfect sports scientist to discuss the similarities and differences between Functional Threshold Power (FTP) and Critical Power (CP), Functional Reserve Capacity (FRC) and W Prime, and how all these training metrics and methodologies relate to each other. Best of all, he and Coach Adam Pulford are pragmatists, so they ex...

4 months ago

33 minutes

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

Are "Recovery Scores" Accurate? Does Recovery Slow With Age? Find out from Christie Aschwanden (#269)

OVERVIEW Christie Aschwanden is an award-winning science journalist and author of Good to Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery. In Part 2 of her appearance on the "The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast" we take a look at the evidence behind recovery scores from wearable fitness trackers. Christie also weighs in on the whether science supports the idea that older athletes need more recovery time. TOPICS COVERED Is data from wearable sensors reall...

4 months ago

20 minutes

The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

Science of Recovery with Christie Aschwanden: Do tart cherry juice, ketones, and ice plunges work? (#268)

OVERVIEW Christie Aschwanden is an award-winning science journalist and author of Good to Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery. With all the hype and marketing dollars being thrown at recovery modalities like tart cherry juice, ketone supplements, ice plunges, and the timing of post-recovery meals, we brought Christie back to "The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast" to take a look at the evidence behind the claims. Which recovery products work? How ...

4 months ago

33 minutes