Most endurance athletes think progress = training harder.

Wrong.

Training doesn’t make you stronger.
Recovering from training does.

Let’s talk about when to increase your training load — and when doing more actually holds you back. 🧵 The biggest mistake amateur athletes make?

➡️ Increasing load before the body has adapted to the current one.

You don’t get faster by stacking fatigue.
You get faster by absorbing stress.

1/ 🚴⚡ Cycling isn’t all about W/kg: absolute power wins races too.

W/kg is the go-to metric for climbing performance. But if you only focus on losing weight, you might be ignoring another key factor: absolute power.

🧵 Let’s break it down: 2/ 🔬 Quick science:

•On steep climbs, gravity is your main enemy → W/kg rules.

•On flats & descents, air resistance is the enemy → absolute power + frontal area matter.

Aerodynamic drag increases with the cube of speed.

💡 Weight & performance in cycling: beyond the W/kg myth 🚴‍♀️🔬

At the last Tour de France Femmes, Demi Vollering was asked if she should lose weight to improve performance.

Her answer was clear:

“I will always prioritize my health.” As a coach who works with science, I can tell you her stance isn’t just sensible — it’s backed by solid evidence.

📊 Weight matters — but it’s not everything.
The power-to-weight ratio is famous in cycling, especially for climbs.
Yes, in steep ascents gravity is your main enemy.

Why do athletes (almost always) improve just by hiring a coach? 🤔🚴‍♂️

In my 10+ years coaching cyclists, I’ve noticed a curious trend: when someone switches from self-coaching to working with a coach, they almost always improve.

Why? It's not the reason you think...

🧵 Thread: 1/ The surprising part: it doesn’t matter if the coach is a top expert or just a friend with little experience.

The first time an athlete follows a structured plan, they almost always get better.

🧬 How much does genetics really matter in endurance sports? 🏃‍♂️🚴‍♂️

A few times a month, I get messages from endurance athletes who, perhaps inspired by empty motivational quotes 🎭, want to know how much hard work 🏋️‍♂️ can overcome genetic limitations.

🧵👇 1️⃣ If you want to be a good endurance athlete, your first big task is to choose your parents wisely 👨‍👩‍👦.

Jokes aside, research 📚 shows that genetically predetermined factors explain 60-90% of final performance, depending on the endurance sport and parameter measured.

🚨 Which endurance sport has the highest injury risk? 🚨

Our latest study analyzed over 10,000 endurance athletes across various sports to determine how many experienced injuries (>2 months off training) during a competitive season.

The results?

Fascinating. 🧵👇 1/ 🏃‍♂️ Marathon runners

A staggering 75% suffered injuries that sidelined them for at least 2 months.

The high training volume required for marathons seems to be the main culprit.

Interestingly, shorter-distance runners had lower injury rates, despite higher relative intensity.

🌟 What makes a true champion?

It’s not always early specialization or extreme training habits in the adolescence.

A recent study reveals the surprising path top athletes take to greatness.

Let’s break it down: 🧵 1️⃣ Multisport childhoods

The best athletes didn’t specialize early. Instead, they practiced multiple sports during their youth, gaining diverse skills and adaptability.

1/ ☕ Can drinking coffee in the morning help you live longer? 🕰️

A recent study analyzed coffee drinking patterns in over 40,000 people and revealed something fascinating: the time of day you drink coffee could impact your health. 🧵👇 2/ 📊 Key findings:
Researchers identified two main coffee-drinking patterns:

1️⃣ Morning type: people who mainly drink coffee in the morning (36%).

2️⃣ All-day type: those who drink coffee throughout the day (14%).

1/ 🏋️‍♂️ Does the structure of your strength training sets really matter?

We often obsess over rest periods, set configurations, or maintaining a specific lifting tempo. But how important are these factors for building strength (or hypertrophy)?

The science might surprise you. 🧵 2/ A recent umbrella review of 44 systematic reviews on healthy adults gathered all available evidence on how different strength training variables affect muscle adaptations.

Here’s what stood out:

🚴‍♂️ Indoor vs. Outdoor Cycling: The Differences You Need to Know

Choosing between indoor and outdoor cycling isn’t just a personal preference; it’s about understanding how each impacts your training and performance.

Both offer unique benefits and challenges.

🧵👇 1/🚴‍♂️ Why Indoor Training Is a Game Changer

✅ Consistency & Control

Indoor cycling offers unmatched precision. You can hit your power goals and maintain consistent intervals without interruptions from traffic, weather, or terrain.

1/ 🧠🚴‍♂️ Mental training in cycling: The overlooked factor.

Psychological factors are often underestimated in cycling, not because they lack importance, but due to the difficulty in objectively training and evaluating them.

Let's go with a brief thread 🧵

👇 2/ The best cyclists in the world frequently use mental strategies such as dissociation, imagery, self-talk, and mental projections.

These tools help them keep pushing when they feel they've reached their limit.

1/ 🚴‍♂️ Can exogenous ketones revolutionize cycling performance?

My latest review dives deep into the evidence, mechanisms, and real-world implications of ketone supplementation in road cycling.

A thread 🧵: 2/ 🔬 What are exogenous ketones?

Supplements like beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) provide an alternative energy source, bypassing the need for strict ketogenic diets.

Popular among pro cycling teams, they promise improved endurance, recovery, and cognitive function.

🚴💥 "The Cramps That Crush Cyclists" 💥

Ever hit a steep climb hours into a ride and felt your legs seize up?

Think bananas or pickle juice will save you?

A brief thread about muscle cramps in cycling...

🧵👇 1/ Despite the endless remedies circulating online, here’s the real deal: science still doesn’t fully understand why exercise-induced cramps happen. 🚫

Theories on hydration and electrolytes have lost steam. It’s 2024, and the best clues point toward something else entirely.

1/ 🧵Detraining during the off-season🤔

It's that time of year when many cyclists consider a "transition" period between seasons, when there’s often confusion about what's best for future performance: complete rest? Keeping up the usual training load? Or just easing off a bit? 2/ The concept of an offseason transition comes from the pro cycling world, where it makes sense.

Pros used to training 20-25 hours a week may need a physical and mental break during the offseason.

But should this apply to an amateur who trains just 8 hours a week?

Strength training for cyclists 💪🏋️‍♂️🚴‍♂️

Bike-specific torque (low cadence) intervals vs conventional gym exercises.

Which one is better? 🤔

Let's start a short thread discussing both options🧵

👇 1/9 There is robust scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness and transfer of general strength training exercises (e.g., squats, deadlifts, hip thrusts) for optimizing performance in endurance sports, particularly cycling.

🚴‍♂️ THREAD: Body Composition in Cycling 🚴‍♀️

Does a cyclist need to be as light as possible to perform better?

The answer is not that simple.

Let's dive into what really matters when it comes to body composition and performance on the bike!

🧵👇 1/ In cycling, we’ve seen a wide range of body types succeed.

Think of Tom Dumoulin vs Domenico Pozzovivo or Mathieu Van der Poel vs Tom Pidcock.

All excelled in cycling, but their body composition is totally different.

What gives? 🤔

The (relative) importance of training volume and intensity: why there are no shortcuts in endurance sports?

A short thread 🧵

👇 1/ Scientific research consistently shows a clear dose-response relationship between training load and performance.

So, it makes sense to think that if you're missing one component (volume/intensity), you could compensate with the other.

Ketone supplementation and cycling performance:

A miracle for boosting EPO levels or just another placebo supplement? 🤔

Let's break it down! (0/10)🧵👇 Ketone bodies (primarily beta-hydroxybutyrate) are molecules produced during fat metabolism.

Over the past five years, they've gained attention for their potential ergogenic benefits in endurance sports, with several reported (and disputed) advantages (1/10).

Is heavy training bad for our immunity?

Does an intense workout cause temporary immunosuppression?

Let's debunk some myths about endurance sports and immunity in this short thread. 🧵👇 1/11 Scientific evidence clearly shows that regular physical activity protects against a wide range of cancers, inflammatory and transmissible diseases.

Yet, social media is full of headlines claiming that hard training makes us more susceptible to infections. 🤔🦠

Are maximal fat oxydation rates (MFO) and FatMax really that relevant as a metric in running, cycling or triathlon?

Both once believed as key metrics in endurance sports but current knowledge shows it is not that easy.

Let's discuss the science.

A brief thread: 1) First, a brief review of both concepts.

Fatmax is the percentage of VO2max (or intensity metric) at which the greatest proportion of fat is used when compared to carbohydrates.

MFO, on the contrary, is the absolute maximal amount of fat used on the metabolic curve.

How nice it would be to not only be able to grow old and be able to ride a bike but also do it at a good level.

Surprise! There is a lot you can do to improve your longevity as a cyclist.

Here goes a short 🧵with 8 science-based longevity tips for cyclists.

👇 1-Eat correctly: Prepare your food from scratch. Carbohydrates according to energy expenditure, sufficient protein to guarantee synthesis and variable fats according to the desirable body composition. Veggies should make up the bulk of the plate.