How To Improve Your Cycling Performance - Professor Louis Passfield

The Progress Theory

Hello and welcome to The Progress Theory where we discuss how to implement scientific principles to optimise human performance. I’m Dr Phil Price and on today’s episode, we have Professor Louis Passfield, sports scientist and physiologist from the University of Calgary.

Cycling, despite being a huge sport in itself, has gained popularity within the hybrid training community. Many are choosing cycling as the endurance sport they want to develop in while aiming to increase strength simultaneously. So, what are the determinants of cycling performance? Well, in this episode Professor Passfield and I discuss the use of different metrics, such as heart rate and power, for tracking cycling performance, what is cycling efficiency, and tips on how to improve your cycling performance.

But before we get to the show I want to thank our sponsors, who the show would not be possible without.

I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to my production partner, KULT Media.

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First of all – HMN24 is not a sports supplement company. I’ve seen sport supplements be used as a method to improve performance in the gym and at a certain sport. However, these supplements, like a pre-workout, are often used on top of a lifestyle which does not provide the foundation needed for optimal performance. There’s no point taking pre-workout supplements if your sleep, hydration, and nutrition is an unstructured mess. I’m convinced that a large percentage of injuries are often caused, not because training was poor, but because a poor lifestyle foundation increased the athlete’s susceptibility to injury. Sports supplements are often used to plaster the cracks in poor lifestyle habits, which only causes more future problems.

And this is where HMN24 is different. The product range at HMN24 not only helps improve your foundation; it optimises it. The HMN24 products are designed to fit around your circadian rhythms, from the moment you wake up, to key moments in the day when you need optimal focus, to getting the best sleep at night, there’s a product to optimise each phase of the day.

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I can’t recommend these products enough they are a game changer for human performance. And also, while you’re at their website hmn24.com check out there plant protein, which is incredible for smoothies post-training, and their website includes articles and an awesome podcast for those wanting to learn more about human performance. You can even check out the episode I did with them, I thoroughly enjoyed that chat I had with Phi Learney, Co-founder of HMN24, and it has led to an awesome collaboration with HMN24 supporting The Progress Theory. If you want a 10% discount on all HMN24 products either head to their website via the links in the Instagram bios of @theProgresstheory or my personal Instagram @drphilprice or use the code PHILPRICE at checkout.

As always, follow The Progress Theory on Instagram and Youtube, head to our website theprogresstheory.com, and check out all of our other episodes. So here is, Professor Louis Passfield.

In this episode, we discuss:

• 1:05 - Introduction
• 7:12 - The Physiological determinants of elite cyclists
• 9:05 - The role of genetics on the ceiling of cycling performance
• 14:05 - What determines efficiency on a bike
• 17:57 - Training zones for cycling training
• 22:26 - Why use power as a metric for progression
• 32:35 - The differences between cycling indoors and outdoors
• 37:34 - What are power metres?
• 40:04 - Training to improve maintaining higher power outputs
• 44:24 - Training for long-distance cycling events
• 51:52 - Where to find Prof Passfield on social media

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Explore these Resources or Items Mentioned in the Show

In this episode, we mentioned the following resources:

Prof Louis Passfield research profile

Prof Louis Passfield Uni. of Calgary

Training with Power meters - book

Watt bike

Dr Sarah Coackley

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Mentioned in this episode:

The Science of Hybrid Training

It was originally thought that you could not effectively train for both strength and endurance at the same time because they required different adaptations which were not compatible with each other. It was claimed that ‘an interference effect’, blunted the adaptations for strength if you simultaneously trained for endurance. However, recent developments in sports which require both strength and endurance have really challenged this idea, with hybrid athletes producing impressive performances in both strength and endurance sports together. This had led scientists, coaches, and athletes to rethink what is humanly possible and suggests the interference effect is not as influential as originally thought. But what is a hybrid athlete? What is the ‘interference effect’? And how can we maximize our training to improve at the same time our strength and endurance performance? In this book, Dr Phil Price provides insight into the misconceptions surrounding strength and endurance training by distilling the past 50 years of research and drawing on the conversations he had with great scientists, coaches, and athletes on The Progress Theory podcast. This book is essential reading for hybrid athletes and coaches who are looking to understand the key training variables and their effect on the simultaneous development of strength and endurance performance.

Book