7 Training Mistakes That Limited My Cycling Potential

[@lachlan_bakewell]

Chasing tiredness was something I did for a long time. It has made a huge difference to me to stick to zone 2 rides more oftern and make my 1 or 2 hard sessions each week a lot harder. In my experience, the most common trap ive seen in myself and others fall in, is making every session kinda hard and not working on different parts of the sport in diffent sessions.

[@LEGALIZEROADRAGE]

I found lack of recovery as in rest and diet was my biggest mistakes years back

[@honzabe]

This is pure gold. BTW, I think that in my case that tiredness chasing has some element of the need to produce endorphins - I am prone to anxiety and depression and I love hard long rides because when I am getting really tired (and I mean that endurance kind of tiredness, short intense sessions produce different kind) I pretty often get to that mental state of enjoyable calmness when I feel that the sun is shining and things will be good. The only other thing that makes me feel like that is Bromazepam, to be completely honest... cycling is clearly preferable to that.

[@ilopezc]

Hey glad you mentioned the link with cycling and mental health , I was trying to triage some of the push drive I was having that made me overextend and bonk hard. Thanks.

[@rytiscyclingmediasolutions]

Regarding making every ride "medium hard", I think for a lot of amateurs (and certainly less experienced ones) it has to do with psychology: they chase average speeds / segments / randomly attack the group to show off, and this in turn hampers their development. I see this so much. I was like that, too, but learned that it's fine to ride as slowly as you need (even against the wind or uphill), and that gradually made my training more polarized with increased performance. I think it comes down to the same time-preference concept: do you want to feel good now (avg speeds / *appearing* strong / getting kudos) but never reach anything higher, or do you want to keep your head down and do un-sexy rides but achieve something bigger in the long run?

[@user-cx2bk6pm2f]

This is the best of KZbin... a topical expert sharing their particular expertise with the masses.

[@BreakawayB]

👏A lot of points that hit different when somebody else says them to you. Sometimes I know the “right” thing to do, but then ignore myself. But when you say it, with your background of experience, it hits home.

[@chrismadge7292]

Some very common training mistakes there, and am certainly guilty of most of them. Very few people are self aware neough to realise they are making these mistakes and carry on making them for years. Having another person who can look at your training objectively from a different perspective is where the coach comes in. Good video.

[@jeremyleake6868]

Great tips Jesse. The mistake of training to tiredness is a particularly good one to call out. Really appreciate your content.

[@gregmorrison7320]

I see hardly anyone working on their sprint. I've mentioned this before on your channel, Greg Lemonds Book of Bicycling, sprints, twice a week, it made a huge difference to how I performed overall.

[@1001legoboy]

Found this really intriguing. Possibly one of the best cycling video I have seen.

[@Air1_R1]

Clearly one of your best video

[@CarbonRider1]

In regards to the tapering, it is something I have struggled to get right for years. I need to have some fatigue and load, but it’s a balance of getting it right before a race. Now I make sure to do some VO2 efforts early in the week (abbreviated workout), rest, then the day before my openers, I do 1.5 -2 hours Z2, then openers the day before, and I’m good for race day. Without the Z2 day, and load, HR is pinned and legs are terrible.

[@sveng5319]

Interesting self reflection. Thx!

[@user-cx2bk6pm2f]

Brilliant. Insightful. Relatable. Thanks for the share.

[@robkilvington9892]

Hi Jesse, great info, I too made many of your mistakes. Nice to see Joe Cooper (one of my ex-students and good friend) in the action at the end of this vid.

[@garyoneill8868]

Awesome video Jesse. Fwiw, it can be very difficult to analyse training and racing while you're doing it. Been there......😁😃

[@johnandrews3568]

Good stuff, Jesse. One thing that plagued me for a few years was coming into the season too hot and by early June I'd be so fit that I'd cross over that threshold from absolute fitness to illness. Three seasons in a row I got sick in June and essentially lost a month and by the time I'd get fast again, it was early august. For me as a road racer, the best road races were June-july where I am and I'd miss them or not be close to my best (and I sucked at crits). Once I figured this out, I started training smarter and getting better results season-long.

[@noamharari2409]

Thnx Jesse. I like your content. I think those advices and lessons are worth gold.

[@nerocoaching]

Thanks, glad you enjoy it

[@aussiefreediver]

Best video you’ve comings !thus far. Keep ‘em coming

[@garygahagan1565]

Thanks for this video Jesse. On reflection I’m also training too much seated and fresh power. Starting working on this now

[@hemi265mustard]

Great to hear the taper issue i have is the same with someone of ur lvl. I need to taper then have a activation week with some hard efforts to be on form for a specific race, sometime 2 weeks

[@xgalvan1]

Same takeaways for me. After a taper week or full rest I’m actually worse.

[@hemi265mustard]

@@xgalvan1 100% my legs turn to wood after rest week. My best ever ftp test was last day of a 4 week block 🤷‍♂️

[@hemi265mustard]

I wasnt surposed to do a ftp but i felt great so had a crack

[@xgalvan1]

@@hemi265mustard identical, I’m going back into an 8 week build right now to see if I can get back to pre taper level

[@maartends6051]

i choose for a short taper, i ride hard on the wendnesday and than to a short ride with a leg opener on friday/saturday dependend on if its on sunday or saturday. But my best races have been after i went on vacation for a week with my mates... so maybe im the opposit from you that i perform the best with a week of rest

[@marxcanlas2845]

That new bike at the background is soooooo nice & simple!

[@Saladh_Olivier]

Love your phrase about an FTP number and its applicability to an event 👍 totally agree on that!

[@garrettchurchey]

Great video as always, Jesse. Always insightful.

[@marianarzoiu8958]

Very good advice! Listening to the body is key; no matter the theory in books. Can you make a video about training athletes? How to be a better coach

[@nomadcarpenter8549]

Very insightful and useful video. Cheers mate, I feel called out on some of them haha. Treating all races as a priority for example

[@44routshyface]

Thanks for the video, could you maybe do another one on how you implement sprint work in your regular training?

[@nerocoaching]

I have some other videos on sprint sessions I do. Try to include them firstly on fresh legs, coming off rest days to get the raw number up. Ideally 2x per week if targeting it. Then as you get within a month of target race include them at the end of your training rides as race simulation, this is very fatiguing muscularly though so only 1x per week

[@artjomtamm7751]

a one-week microcycle is stupid, for example, what's the point of doing two intense workouts with different intervals, one three and the other two days apart..

[@JulAlxAU]

Sprinting and out the saddle training, very important both.

[@larsbeta]

I wish this video was up 3 years ago 😢. Great content! When you gonna do a video talking about HR training I have seen lot ppl training nowdays ignoring power data and going back hr data. Thanks!

[@nerocoaching]

Never, power is king. I think I have a "how to use HR" video of my channel from a while ago

[@TimTurnquist]

Awesome content as usual. I also had to laugh that the first video with Jesse Coyle I saw was ripping a certain network and now they are advertising on his channel. Brilliant irony! Keep up the good work

[@Anouk1010]

AWESOME video Jesse! You can’t read experience in a book. Thanks for sharing and I’ll definitely incorporate some of these (practicing standing will be the first - I suck!).

[@GNX157]

Jesse when you get into the heat again, get there early enough to acclimate and train thru it and be ultra focused on hydration before during and after the rides. The heat and training and hydration will build blood volume but it takes time.

[@MishMash95]

I definitely have a problem with chasing tiredness, though tend to keep it very intense and aim for "high quality" as I have limited time to train (4hrs/week). In some ways, it does feel like its somewhat working, I've hit my best ever 20 minute power in the last week (359w @ 66kg) and feel mega, but also find it hard to increase the volume without losing power, and also find it hard to "time" my freshness. I can have rest days, followed by easy days, and have my legs feel stiff and sluggish, and flop a race, or equally, I can do a race the day after a hard interval session and smash it. For me, my biggest correlation seems to be that work stress has more of a negative impact on my body than a hard training session in terms of fatigue. Had a very stressful work week, raced at the weekend, and form is great, but my muscles just stopped firing well after 10 minutes. Not in the red, but just felt like they wouldn't engage. Deduced this down to high neuromuscular stress from being in a persistent stressed state for a few days, but its a bugger to deal with ):

[@roadcyclist1]

You're putting out 5.4 w/kg on 4 hours per week training?? Yeah ok

[@IceCoffeed]

Absolutely golden advise!

[@silverburn55]

These are all gold. I’m guilty of nearly all of them! One is the opposite though - I need to do more seated climbing.

[@michaeltucker35]

Quality advice mate thanks!

[@balazspandi9782]

Amazing video! So much useful stuf!

[@gersonFls7]

Crazy. I could not stop picturing me all these 3 years that I had started cycling lol.

[@LEGALIZEROADRAGE]

Used to smash the miles two weeks before a race, taper off race week then a HIIT session on saturday and Sunday on the podium... no joke

[@TheFitDragon]

Good approach

[@neilmckenna236]

Just catching up on this Jesse. You have just made a video about ME 🙈🤣 ..... great video, enjoyed it 👍

[@swites]

From an average rider: Training too hard in Z3 Z4 all the time=>plateau and exhaustion. Sucky sprint so don't train it even though so many races locally end in a sprint. Not eating enough during training. Not working on flexibility/maintenance so got some muscle niggles from strains/small tears from races that never heal up. Which then limit training, level and enjoyment of riding. When young one gets away with it, but have to be more careful after 35-40yrs old or so in my experience.

[@andrewdeck7945]

Thanks for sharing. This is gold.

[@alexgeo]

That's actually very good advice!

[@johannesgruber9050]

Very insightful! Thanks!

[@michaelgraycycling]

Should prob incorporate sprinting on my endurance days!

[@PeterPutz82]

Hey Jesse, heads up, Ozcycle put out a video about TPU inner tubes. Probably going to be the deathnail for road tubeless. Well worth a look for content on your channel.

[@AlexPeka]

Very relatable. Thanks Jesse

[@BevandEdMusic]

Another banger of a video Jesse!

[@leemundoMadDog]

Fantastic video man 👍

[@invisiblescout6335]

Last year in February I got a trainer and started riding with power for the first time, my sprint peak at the time was 1100-1200. I would have access to it 3-4 days of the week and I would be doing lots of squats and some running on other days. I didn't do any sprint specific training, but by July I could hit 1600 watts at 69 kg before I would spin out on the trainer. I thought "oh okay my sprint is good I should just focus on my endurance" and completely neglected my sprint for months until I did another sprint with power in November, I think, and I was back to 1100-1200. I actually have the opposite dilemma that you did. I seem pretty naturally efficient out of the saddle, my heart rate rises around 5 bpm when I stand on the pedals, but my perceived effort level goes down noticeably (it evens out if I go 10-15 watts harder) and I can stay out of the saddle without discomfort for a long time. I'm a bit afraid of becoming too reliant on my standing power so I try to do my efforts as much in the saddle as I can. Is this even something to be concerned about?

[@user-cx2bk6pm2f]

How many points were made, 10? 12? All of them gold. I'd love to see follow-on videos that expand each of these.

[@hschofield82]

Super interesting--thank you!

[@dannyprice1990]

Great video Jesse!

[@benschnabel1931]

great advices!

[@micksfadgen8132]

Great advice Jesse

[@TheKytoza]

Great info... Thx Jesse 👍

[@jeremyzhao569]

Great vid!! just A quick question, do you recommend start base training in huge volume or slowly increase the volume throughout each month?

[@timwolf2215]

Great vid brother. What saddle bag is that in the background

[@nerocoaching]

lezyne road caddy

[@kiralymate3d]

Great video as always. I have a question. Your cadence seems very low when I check your strava activies (< 80 RPM). Is there any information you can share regarding this? I mean I usually sit around at 85 RPM, more or less (when I climb I also prefer lower cadence ~80). I think it's fine, but I always hear "use higher rpm to be more efficient", "you will get less tired (in a race) if you use higher cadence", etc. What's your opinion on these?

[@nerocoaching]

My average cadence over a whole ride includes all the time I'm out of the saddle with cadence around 65-75 rpm naturally. If you look at my races or training efforts cadence is usually 80-90 rpm naturally

[@TBarsss]

You came and rode in Utah?! 5:00 Little Cottonwood Canyon right?

[@nerocoaching]

Yep Park City and Salt Lake City !

[@joesguitarshop8194]

Great video ! Just wondering how you now monitor that “load” in your legs for peak performance? In the video you said how you would perform better under load) do you use TSB or something else to monitor this ?

[@johnpenner1318]

Hi, love your stuff. How did you incorporate sprint training? I know you touched on it but can you elaborate? Thanks (I’m an endurance guy, my sprint sucks & it makes sense because I don’t train them and I’m not gifted with a good sprint) Thx JP

[@rxmendxmen567]

How do you explain the "being to fresh from the taper" hurting your performance physiologically?

[@orangeorphan]

“If I did a three hour endurance ride and I wasn’t tired…” I don’t think many people can relate 😉

[@Barry.Batsbak]

Bro this is useful content

[@nejcgjurameke3037]

Can you do a video on a blood test analysis for a cyclist

[@danielgibson654]

was literally just binge-watching this man's videos which I have seen over 5 times and then I get treated to this old chestnut.

[@garrywallah4966]

Big Sean Lake sighting

[@nerocoaching]

Could have done amazing things in the sport if teams didn’t burn him out 🫤

[@ytpadyt]

What is your inseem length and saddle hight? Thank you! (That pedaling looks good)

[@ericflanders9442]

Jesse curious how you ultimately structured taper after realizing you needed to carry more training load/fatigue into competition. I’ve known this about myself for a while and have only just worked up the courage to do full on hard sessions the day before races. Still don’t know how hard is too hard, but for me at least the key seems to be substantial bouts in high VO2/anaerobic territory roughly 24 hours prior. Basic “openers” don’t get me there. Intense central (vs peripheral) stimulus required. Also, as to mechanism, is this hormonal or what?

[@vtakala6756]

Same here. It feels like if im not tired from previous training my hr goes up super quick and when it gets to a certain point its game over. When im"tired" i can push myself further even it feels bad but the hr doesnt get too high.

[@copperclean4951]

Thank you for the great video! What size is your recent Giant TCR? I'm looking at the same model and am considering a M or ML. I am 183 CM for reference

[@nerocoaching]

Large, I'm 189 cm. Just compare the stack and reach to your current bike

[@joaobrito1801]

Hello Jesse! I was really interested in this topic, but the tappering to far really got me.. I have one question, so how do you structure the week before the race event? I was making this mistake... Another question, in some weeks I really feel tired and can´t even rise my HR more than z2, normally I stick to z2 riding that week to feel better on the long ride on sunday, is that procedure ok?

[@nikgracanin6180]

My god I've done all the same mistakes, but especially raw power, chasing tiredness and ignoring sprints, and I still have troubles with these three.

[@30redpillsaday71]

Good vid

[@reflectionsdetail]

what years did you do the tour of Utah? my home town (Logan) has had the TOU 3 times.

[@nerocoaching]

Only once, in 2018

[@reflectionsdetail]

@@nerocoaching That year was Saint George and more of a soutlearn exposure

[@DurianriderCyclingTips]

Fatigue in longer races MOST of the time comes down to insufficient water and sugar intake. Ive seen this over and over especialy in stage races. Ive beaten better riders because they did CICO and I did unlimited sugar, water and starches.

[@suisinghoraceho2403]

I guess each person is different. Not sure you want to put 100% all out sprint training on your aerobic slow days. All out does tax the nerve systems a lot even if just for very short durations ( 30~40 seconds with 5 min + rests in between), and that would need absorption and recovery from.

[@jeremy_carver]

[@elmarbischop9544]

The tapering, sprint training and fresh power really hit too close to home…😬

[@durianriders]

Ignoring my hemoglobin levels or being ignorant to them.

[@voidonscreen9017]

@durianriders I have have a very high hemoglobin level, should I be worried about it? What is your case?

[@DurianriderCyclingTips]

@@voidonscreen9017 what is 'very high'? and did you drink a L of water right before you went to bed and then another L right when you got up and did the blood test that morning? If you are obese, high blood pressure, smoker, sedentary then yes certain blood viscosity is a concern.

[@s4iforshort]

What’s an example of sprint training?

[@nerocoaching]

I’ve done a few sprint training videos on my channel

[@dickieblench5001]

Un sexy z2 rides don't get much kudos😂

[@Simply1ism]

Shall I make a phrase up, 'over-keen'. Its as well you did or the outcomes would be different. You we can all be smarter...but you made your own luck.

[@TheFitDragon]

The balance is way harder for triathletes, cycling mistakes are easier to correct

[@gmanson68]

Jesse needs a coach 🤔 ;)

[@radut18]

FTP is useless.Because FTP of 400 is bigger at 4 hours than that at 1 hour or 2

[@dominicbritt]

I spy a new Giant…

[@kyle3570]

first

[@wschwanen]

second !

[@jd0johnson]

@@wschwanen Third!!

[@t.w.5282]

🥇🥈🥉 wow. You guis got podium! 🎉🎉🎉👏👏👏

[@wschwanen]

@@t.w.5282 🤣

[@methylmercury]

how much do you get paid for racing? none? why do it then? lol, not even pro and racing

[@troycollett8540]

Biggest mistake I see is riders chasing a weekly or yearly km distance

[@nerocoaching]

Definitely distracting for an elite rider

[@niels2959]

I'm in this comment and I don't like it

[@maartends6051]

why is it a mistake? For me personaly it helps to get out on my bike, i set a goal for 10k km a year im happy if i get it but if i see a month beforehand that im not going to make im not going to do all i can to get the 10k km it isnt a do or die for me

[@troycollett8540]

@@maartends6051 I’m talking those guys that try to get big distances per year so they end up doing volume not quality or they try to do both

[@kilianbader9786]

😳😬 that comment was hitting me hard

[@HarryTzianakisTheGodOfSpeed]

If you listen to me you would have never made any mistakes.

[@Deckelmaho1234567889]

You can make all kinds of mistakes that the pharmacist will make all better.

[@Deckelmaho1234567889]

Elite riders dope so don’t trust their training plans.