The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

Twenty Coaching Lessons That Make Athletes Better

After 24 years of coaching athletes, Adam Pulford has seen enough training plans, races, breakthroughs, failures, and comebacks to recognize which lessons continue to matter. In this episode, Adam st...

2026-09-07

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The 100-Mile Ride Playbook

A successful 100-mile ride is rarely the result of one thing going exceptionally well. It's what happens when your fitness, fueling, pacing, and execution all come together on the same day. Coac...

2026-08-31

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How to Train Torque Without Just Grinding Bigger Gears

Torque training has become almost synonymous with low-cadence riding. But simply dropping to 60 RPM doesn't guarantee you're producing more force or creating the adaptation you're after...

2026-08-24

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Why Crit Racers Need More FTP Than They Think

Does FTP actually matter for criterium racing? Coach Adam Pulford breaks down why your aerobic engine plays such a big role in an explosive race, how a higher FTP can reduce the cost of repeated atta...

2026-08-17

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Stop Fearing The Recovery Week

Recovery isn't the break between training. Recovery IS training. In this episode, CTS Head Cycling Coach Adam Pulford explains how he structures recovery blocks with everyone from beginners to e...

2026-08-10

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Behind the Scenes Before the Tour with Alison Jackson

Days before the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, Coach Adam Pulford caught up with professional cyclist Alison Jackson to talk about the final phase of preparation. From altitude camp in Boulder and...

2026-08-03

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Are Your VO2 Workouts Training The Wrong System

With the Tour de France wrapped up, conversations about Tadej Pogačar's VO2 max are everywhere. But what actually increases VO2 max? In this episode, CTS Head Cycling Coach Adam Pulford breaks ...

2026-07-28

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Fitness Isn't Performance: The Truth About CTL

Cyclists often treat CTL like the ultimate measure of fitness, but that's only part of the story. In this episode, CTS Head Cycling Coach Adam Pulford explains what CTL actually measures, why pe...

2026-07-20

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A Scalable Carb Fueling Plan Based On Effort

Fueling advice has never been more confusing. One expert recommends fasted rides, another says 120 grams of carbs per hour, and every nutrition brand seems to have a different answer. In this episode...

2026-07-13

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A Simple Framework For Raising Cycling FTP

Want to increase your FTP? Many cyclists assume the answer is simple: do more FTP intervals. While that can help, it's only one piece of the puzzle. In this video, CTS Head Cycling Coach Adam P...

2026-07-06

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Everything Cyclists Get Wrong About Normalized Power

If you've ever wondered what Normalized Power is actually telling you, this episode is for you! Normalized Power has become one of the most common metrics in cycling, but it's also one of t...

2026-06-29

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The Masters Athlete Playbook

Do masters athletes really need more recovery, or are they simply balancing more life stress and responsibilities? In this episode, CTS Head Cycling Coach Adam Pulford breaks down the realities of tr...

2026-06-22

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Can AI Actually Make You Faster?

AI is rapidly changing nearly every industry, and endurance coaching is no exception. In this episode, CTS Head Cycling Coach Adam Pulford explores where AI can genuinely help athletes improve, where...

2026-06-15

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Active vs Passive Heat Training: Which Works Better?

Heat adaptation can improve performance, comfort, and recovery in hot conditions. But many athletes make the mistake of treating heat training as free fitness. In this episode, CTS Coach Adam Pulford...

2026-06-08

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How to Climb Faster Without Increasing FTP

Climbing faster isn’t always about increasing FTP or producing bigger power numbers. In this episode, CTS Coach Adam Pulford breaks down the pacing strategies, tactics, fueling, and key workouts that ...

2026-06-01

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Why Data Alone Won’t Make You Faster

Endurance athletes have access to more data than ever before, but data alone doesn’t guarantee better decisions. In this episode, CTS Coach Adam Pulford breaks down the role of Rate of Perceived Effor...

2026-05-25

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These Habits Are Quietly Killing Your Recovery

Recovery isn’t just about what happens right after training, it’s about all the little things between sessions that add up. In this episode, CTS Coach Adam Pulford breaks down the habits that quietly ...

2026-05-18

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What “High Quality Training” Actually Means

Quality training is often reduced to intensity, but that’s only part of the picture. In this episode, CTS Coach Adam Pulford breaks down what high-quality training actually looks like and why it’s oft...

2026-05-11

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You Don’t Have a Fitness Problem, You Have a Durability Problem

Most athletes focus on how strong they are when fresh. But performance is defined by what holds up as fatigue accumulates. In this episode, we break down durability: what it is, how to measure it thr...

2026-05-04

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Why You Shouldn’t Train Alone All the Time

Training alone might feel productive, but it’s not always the most effective way to improve. In this episode, CTS Coach Adam Pulford explores the concept of social facilitation and how training with o...

2026-04-27

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The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

Episodes (322 episodes)

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