SEMIPRO CYCLING

Damian Ruse

Welcome to Chain Reaction. I’m Coach Damian Ruse, a professional cycling coach for over a decade. Each episode unpacks a real cycling story about the human side of performance.

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Top 10 SEMIPRO CYCLING Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best SEMIPRO CYCLING episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to SEMIPRO CYCLING for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite SEMIPRO CYCLING episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Breath-Holding, Doping, and the Truth About Cycling Performance

SEMIPRO CYCLING

03/07/25 • 4 min

What if holding your breath could make you faster? Allen Lim thought so—until Floyd Landis showed where the real gains came from.

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Introducing INSDIE - Targeted Nutrition

SEMIPRO CYCLING

12/13/18 • 41 min

We uncover the reason why the former World Champion would shove two fists full of gummy bears into his mouth immediately after a hard effort and how this is part of a bigger process of targeting nutrition around your exercise. Daniel Healey is going to run through his 6 steps to perfect nutrition using readily available foods that will give you all the energy you need to perform and recover like the best.

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Semi-Pro Cycling Update

SEMIPRO CYCLING

03/24/17 • 16 min

A look at where I've been and what the podcast will look like going forward.

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Should You Run, Can You Use an Enduro Bike for Racing & Should You Ditch Your Garmin for Better Results?

SEMIPRO CYCLING

07/06/17 • 14 min

Should You Run, Can You Use an Enduro Bike for Racing, How Do I Train For Fixed Gear Criteriums (or Any Crit) & Should You Ditch Your Garmin for Better Results?

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Cycling Performance Club: Should we be blood lactate testing cyclists?- Part 1

SEMIPRO CYCLING

10/13/21 • 64 min

Lactate and its association with exercise has been known for more than 200 years after Jöns Jakob first observed it in the muscles of hunted stags. Consequently, knowledge of its relationship with exercise is deeply rooted in both popular culture and among endurance athletes. However, more recent research has demonstrated lactate’s presence during exercise has largely been misunderstood for much of this time.

During this two part series, we do a deep dive into all things lactate to assess whether or not we should still be blood lactate testing cyclists, and whether there are better alternatives. So, before you decide to participate in a blood lactate test or recommend one for an athlete, you should definitely give these episodes a listen to make sure you are considering all the pros and cons. Or, listen for the myth-busting and rabbit holes this conversation necessarily gets into.

3:30 The hosts’ experience with blood lactate testing

9:25 Who is blood lactate testing?

12:10 Blood lactate quiz

22:45 Why did we start looking at lactate during exercise?

28:40 Some biochemistry of lactate metabolism

35:35 Why do we blood lactate test cyclists?

43:00 Types of lactate thresholds?

46:55 Blood lactate testing methods

53:45 Practical considerations

For a limited time, Semi-Pro Cycling podcast listeners can get a free Hammerhead Heart Rate Monitor with the purchase of a Karoo 2. Visit hammerhead.io right now and use promo code SEMIPRO at checkout to get yours today.

This episode’s panel:

Jason Boynton, Ph.D.

boyntoncoaching.com

Damian Ruse

semiprocycling.com

Cyrus Monk

cyclistscientist.com

Instagram: @cyclingperformanceclub

Facebook: @cyclingperformanceclub

Twitter: @cyclingclubpod

References:

Lactate in contemporary biology: a phoenix risen

https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/JP280955

The maximal metabolic steady state: redefining the ‘gold standard’
https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.14814/phy2.14098

→ Subscribe to the Cycling Science Digest

→ Join Team SEMIPRO

The Mistake That Cost Him the Race

SEMIPRO CYCLING

02/21/25 • 4 min

He trained harder than ever—so why did his race fall apart at mile 100?

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Compound Training: How smart cyclists build assets for an unfair growth advantage

SEMIPRO CYCLING

09/02/20 • 19 min

In this episode, the components of compound training that deliver long term compounding growth as opposed to short term results.

Plus - how Chirs Froome loses weight and measures whether he is fueling his training with fats or carbs.

→ Subscribe to the Cycling Science Digest

→ Join Team SEMIPRO

Cycling Performance Club: Layman’s Articles vs. Scientific Articles, Coaching To-Do Lists.

SEMIPRO CYCLING

07/05/21 • 94 min

Host topics covered on this episode:

1:30 Listener feedback

4:20 What is a graded exercise test?

8:15 Where do you get your training information? We discuss the differences between layman’s articles (e.g. blogs) and peer-reviewed scientific articles as coach/athlete resources.

25:55 Continuous improvement is important as a coach. We discuss what is on our “coaching to-do lists”:

Nose breathing; functional reserve capacity (FRC); critical power vs. FTP; mental skills toolbox; gaining more experience; male vs. female endurance training; alternatives to performance management chart (PMC) (Trainingpeaks); continuous glucose monitoring; Aerolab vs. Aerotune; Golden Cheetah and R analyses; training during caloric deficit; altitude training in Europe; grit questionnaires.

Audience Question:

86:00 General advice for entry level cyclists.

This episode’s panel:

Jason Boynton, PhD

boyntoncoaching.com

Damian Ruse

semiprocycling.com

Cyrus Monk

cyclistscientist.com

Instagram: @cyclingperfromanceclub

Facebook: @cyclingperfromanceclub

Twitter: @cyclingclubpod

Episode #5 references

SPC126 – How to apply science to your cycling with Jason Boynton M.S.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/semi-pro-cycling/id541555808?i=1000354428181

The maximal metabolic steady: redefining the ‘gold standard’

https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.14814/phy2.14098

Will big lungs make you a better cyclist?

https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/busting-the-big-lungs-myth/

Intuitively using training technology with David Martin

https://podcasts.apple.com/id/podcast/intuitively-using-training-technology-with-david-martin/id1435395422?i=1000523066925

Humans in hypoxia: A conspiracy of maladaptation!

https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/physiol.00007.2015

Aspetar hypoxia and altitude presentations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ANwpVZCJNw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED9-AwtJ6wI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBL-N6gkVbA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScmsMYv4fAU

How to get more grit in your life

https://freakonomics.com/podcast/grit/

3 steps to becoming a better cyclist

https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/three-steps-to-becoming-a-better-cyclist

→ Subscribe to the Cycling Science Digest

→ Join Team SEMIPRO

Cycling Performance Club: Threshold, Thresholds, Thresholds?

SEMIPRO CYCLING

07/27/21 • 78 min

You probably realize that ‘threshold’ is an important measure for endurance athletes. But there seem to be many different types of thresholds measures out there, and that might be confusing for some. In this episode, the panel explores the many types of thresholds (e.g. FTP, critical power, lactate threshold): how they are determined, whether they are the same or different, whether they are interchangeable, how they relate to each other, and what it all means for the real-world coach and cyclist.

2:31 What is ‘threshold’?

3:00 Exercise domains

10:45 What are the purposes of determining threshold?

14:33 What are the main thresholds measured in endurance sport?

18:15 Functional threshold power

23:48 Critical power

30:46 Lactate thresholds

40:37 Ventilatory thresholds

44:40 How the thresholds compare with each other

56:40 General conclusions

70:10 Thought experiment: does threshold even matter in modern endurance training?

Episode #8 References: