FasCat Cycling Training Tips Podcast

div]:bg-bg-000/50 [&_pre>div]:border-0.5 [&_pre>div]:border-border-400 [&_.ignore-pre-bg>div]:bg-transparent [&_.standard-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pl-2 [&_.standard-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,ul,ol,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pr-8 [&_.progressive-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pl-2 [&_.progressive-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,ul,ol,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pr-8"> _*]:min-w-0 gap-3 standard-markdown"> Frank "the Big Cat" Overton is back for the Friday livestream with a full walkthrough of the new CoachCat app plus a deep dive into the numbers behind this year's Tour de France.
Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iolohdWoyTQ&t=130s
In this episode:
Getting started in CoachCat. Frank tours the custom training plan builder, the 12 most popular conversation starters, adaptive training, and how to push your workout to your bike computer, Zwift, or Rouvy. He also explains why "follow the plan" beats letting your wearable give you the morning Jedi mind trick, and why a low recovery score does not mean you skip the work.
Tour de France power analysis. Frank breaks down how Pogačar won Stage 10 with an 8.2 watts per kilogram attack, then held 6.8 watts per kilogram up the final climb. He covers the physics behind his stage by stage predictions and what to watch for on the true mountaintop finishes to come.
Cyclocross season timeline. From summer sweet spot base to the six weeks that switch you from base to race, Frank lays out run training, skills practice, Wednesday Worlds, and how to build your own cross course at your local park.
Plus live athlete Q and A on pacing at altitude, recovery weeks, ERG mode off for burst workouts, transitioning from road A races into cross, and more.
New free trials get a 30 minute consultation with a real FasCat coach, a $100 value. Live every Friday at 2 PM Eastern.
FTFP.
Did you like this episode? What would you like to learn about in future episodes? Let us know in the comments 🙏
Until the next episode, you know what to do: work hard, ride fast, have fun and as always: FtFP

Summer Training is here 🚴
This week on Ask a FasCat (#31): durability rides, heat adaptation, race week tapers, and how to survive your local Tuesday night crit.
You may also watch this podcast on our youTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zuvdWqk_Dw
Coach Steve joins us for 30 minutes fresh off his win at the Tosa Criterium. He's breaking down what it takes to podium in a crit and how he can help you build your own crit training plan.
Bring your questions. All of them. FTP plateaus, structured workout tweaks, "should I skip this interval because it's 95°F" — we're answering live, no filter.
Plus: we're unveiling new features and tools you can start using in your plan right now. New season, new toys.
📅 Live this week
❓ Bring your questions — we build the show around what YOU want to know
🔥 New features, live demos, real answers

On Ask a FasCat #30, we gave away a Stages Power Meter to the listener who asked the most thoughtful question + an annual CoachCat subscription to analyze all that shiny new power data.
🎥 Watch the episode: https://www.youtube.com/live/bnLrNhVL0jk
Here's how it worked: participants dropped their training questions in the comments, and Coach Frank Overton picked the winner live at the end of the show.
Not sure what counts as "most thoughtful"? Go back and binge the previous 29 episodes of Ask a FasCat 😂 Just kidding, it's simply the question that sparks the most interest and helps the greatest number of listeners.

8 minutes of full-gas work. 14% VO2 max gain. But only if you do them right on the CoachCat training app. Your first 7 days FREE: https://fascatcoaching.com/app
Dr. Izumi Tabata's 1996 study proved that 20-second efforts at supramaximal intensity produce more anaerobic capacity AND VO2 max gains than traditional steady-state training, and in a fraction of the time. In this training tip, Coach Frank Overton breaks down the exact workout 20+ years of FasCat athletes have used to win races: 3 sets of 8 × 20 seconds at 170% of FTP, with 10 seconds rest and 10 minutes between sets.
There's a RIGHT way to do Tabatas and a WRONG way that wastes the workout. This video covers both, with the pacing strategy, terrain selection, ERG-mode trap, and mental tips you need to actually finish all 24 reps and get the adaptation Dr. Tabata's research promised.
📊 THE WORKOUT (found in the CoachCat app)
3 sets × 8 reps 20 seconds at 170% of FTP
10 seconds easy between reps
10 minutes rest between sets
Flat road. Fresh legs.
ERG OFF
 🧠 THE SCIENCE Tabata, I., et al. (1996). "Effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO2max." Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 28(10), 1327–1330.
📖 KEEP LEARNING → Full Tabata blog post: https://fascatcoaching.com/blogs/training-tips/tabata-intervals/ →
The Right Way and Wrong Way to do Cycling Intervals: https://youtu.be/-7Ui3MORgbk →
All FasCat training tips: https://fascatcoaching.com/blogs/training-tips
🐾 ABOUT FASCAT & COACHCAT FasCat Coaching has been turning amateur cyclists into faster, fitter, race-ready athletes for over 20 years. Coach Frank Overton invented Sweet Spot Training, holds US Patent #7202067B2, and built CoachCat — the AI-powered cycling coaching app that prescribes workouts like this one automatically, based on your data, your goals, and 20 years of proven FasCat methodology.
1:1 coaching & training plans: https://fascatcoaching.com
Instagram: @fascatcoaching
Work hard. Ride fast. Have fun. And as always — FtFP. #TabataIntervals #VO2Max #CyclingTraining #CoachCat #FasCat #SweetSpotTraining #HIITforCyclists #CyclingIntervals #FTP #BikeRacing #AnaerobicCapacity #CyclingCoaching #BikeTraining #IndoorCycling #PowerMeter

Build a custom cycling training plan in 5 questions. For a visual walk through of the custom plan builder watch this podcast on our youTube channel here https://youtu.be/nO94dhqgjBg
In this podcast & video, Coach Frank walks you through the new CoachCat Custom Training Plan Builder. We use over 100 of our coach-built training plans as phases of your training — Sweet Spot base, builds, intervals, weight lifting, and event-specific phases for road, gravel, fondo, century, time trial, triathlon, mountain bike, cyclocross, and crits — and stitch them together based on your answers to 5 simple questions:
1️⃣ Your fitness level and how many hours a week you can train
2️⃣ What you're training for
3️⃣ When that goal is
4️⃣ Whether you want to include strength training
5️⃣ Your availability — including the days you can't train and your preferred long ride day
The result: the right phase at the right time, lined up to your goal date, fit to your week.
What's new in this builder:
→ Specify the days you can't train (3, 4, or 5 days a week — your call)
→ Choose your long ride day (Saturday default, but pick any day)
→ Climbing-specific training if your event has climbs
→ Smart strength training: 10-week lifting in Fall/Winter, maintenance in Spring/Summer
Plus, a closer look at:
Event-specific phases for every cycling discipline
Why timing your peak matters
The strength training question — and why most athletes get it wrong
Already training with CoachCat? Click "Build a Custom Plan" inside the app — your plan also comes with a complimentary coaching consultation to verify the build and suggest improvements.
🚴 About FasCat & CoachCat
FasCat Coaching has been training cyclists for 20+ years. CoachCat is our AI-powered coaching app that delivers personalized training, daily check-ins, and the same coaching methodology we've used with World Tour pros and amateurs alike — at a fraction of the cost of 1:1 coaching. 
🔗 Links → Build your custom plan: https://fascatcoaching.com/app
→ Browse training plans: https://fascatcoaching.com/collections/training-plans/
→ FasCat Training Tips blog: https://fascatcoaching.com/blogs/training-tips