Coaching Services for the Time Crunched Athlete

At Top Gun Velo, I am proud of the processes and outcomes of my clients' hard work. Whether working with junior athletes who juggle multiple school sports and activities, or with masters athletes as they manage the demands of career, family, and community obligations; my focus is keeping training fun and refreshing while enabling the athlete to reap the rewards of competition.

With 20 years of racing experience, while managing family, career, and business obligations; I appreciate the need for a dynamic but flexible training approach. As an elite Level 1 USAC Coach, I have the perspective and experience to present results-oriented processes and plans to my clients. Whether you aim to pin on a number for the first time or are looking to leverage your years of training and experience upward to a more advanced level, I am here to serve you.

Need more information? See the links to the right or click here to learn more about me or here to see my pricing structure.

Disassembling the Beefcake Fallacy

(Begin athlete rant)

Wait, you want me to lift weights? Won’t that bulk me up and make me a beefcake like that poor dude in Waring who lives at the top of the hill that has a Strava segment named after him? What’s it called? “BodybuilderGrade.” Yeah, that’s it.

Whatever. I’m a road cyclist. Just feeling the weight of my arms on a climb makes me lose 5% of my watts. And that’s just the mental effect. Don’t even get me started on actual watts.  Listen, if I can’t see my internal organs in time for the serious racing season to begin, I know my season is shot. 

C’mon coach. Don’t you subscribe to the inverse gram to dollar cost maxim? You know, the one that states that number of dollars spent subtracting a gram from the total equipment mass are expressed as an exponent of said saved gram? Why on earth would I buy a 25 gram water bottle cage for 75 dollars and then turn around and beef myself up in the gym?

 

(The coach speaks)

I understand your concerns and I, being a student of physics, can appreciate the systemic challenges one faces in pulling a bit of extra weight around. That said, we need to strip away some of the assumptions you may be bringing to the discussion and review some hard, cold facts. Then many of the benefits become self-explanatory.

First of all, you are over 30. Do you understand what that means? It means you’re not getting any younger. It means for every year that you age, you are losing lean body mass. Do you know why you are losing lean body mass? It’s because you are producing less and less testosterone and human growth hormone each year you age. No, I don’t recommend testosterone supplementation. At all. And that subject, by the way, could take up hours of an entirely separate discussion. Hitting the gym and taxing your muscles actually stimulates the natural production of testosterone and HGH and we all know how these substances can help burn fat, improve performance, and accelerate recovery. So there’s that…

Then, of course, there is raw power generation. No, I’m not suggesting that weights can directly improve your FTP, but when a carefully planned and placed block of strength training supplements your riding, you will see improvements to your FTP and that’s in terms of watts per kilogram, not just net FTP.

Why do I emphasize watts per kilogram over net FTP. Well, to be honest, when you are on this 12 week program, you may see some gains in your overall weight. Especially if you are lean going into the season. Not so much if you’re a little soft around the middle as the lifting will help to convert the non-lean stuff into power producing mass. So yeah, watts per kilogram.

Plus, if you are a road racer, this 12 week block is done during the shorter days of the winter months. It’s a good way to bank some TSS points while bolstering your immune system going into the flu season. Don’t worry, when January rolls around, I’ll start to shrink wrap your newly found physique into a leaner meaner racing frame. Trust me.

Besides, the way the program is laid out, you are doing classic Olympic style lifts that work multiple joints/muscle groups. Yep, the core will be worked out while you are doing these. Like I said: classic Olympic style lifts.

And no, you won’t be doing high rep sets. You do high rep sets every time you ride your bike. I am talking about raw power production here, pure strength. You will suddenly feel “welded” to your bike.  So much so you won’t even feel the mass of the 14 pound machine beneath you. (And no I don't mean welded as in sitting heavy on it. Give me a break.)

Oh, and after the 12 weeks are over with, you WILL continue a maintenance routine. Like I said: age, fat, testosterone, HGH.

Anyway, you pay me to bring out the best in you. So fire me or shut up and let’s get you into the gym.