 |
Road Cycling Academy PodcastAuthor: Ryan Thomas & Cam Nicholls
Interviews with top performing cyclists and industry experts in the fields of coaching, advanced training techniques, and human physiology. The purpose of this podcast is to learn and understand what makes high performing individuals tick, digging deep into their ingredients to success both on and off the bike. Language: en Genres: Health & Fitness, Sports Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
Listen Now...
Why Amateur Cyclists Plateau (What I Learned From 80 Calls)
Episode 79
Tuesday, 5 May, 2026
Summary: In this episode of the RCA Podcast, expert bike fitter Neill Stanbury interviews Cam Nicholls about the biggest training mistakes recreational and amateur cyclists make when trying to improve FTP, endurance, and overall cycling performance. After completing more than 80 one-on-one coaching calls with plateaued cyclists, Cam reveals the three major problems repeatedly holding riders back: Training to inaccurate FTP and power zones Skipping key aerobic development work like tempo and sweet spot training Failing to implement proper recovery and adaptation weeks The discussion dives into Zone 2 training, VO2 max work, sweet spot intervals, fatigue management, cycling recovery, aerobic base development, and how recreational cyclists can train smarter instead of simply training harder. Whether you're struggling to increase your FTP, feeling stuck in a cycling plateau, or wondering why your structured training isn't delivering results, this episode provides practical insights to help you improve your cycling fitness and performance long term. Topics covered: FTP testing and training zones Zone 2 vs tempo vs sweet spot training VO2 max workouts for cyclists Cycling fatigue and recovery Adaptation weeks explained How to break through a cycling plateau Structured training for amateur cyclists Common cycling training mistakes The QUIZ: https://roadcyclingacademy.scoreapp.com/ Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the RCA Podcast 00:27 Interview Dynamics: Host and Expert Bike Fitter 01:58 Identifying Performance Plateaus in Cycling 02:23 Training to the Wrong Numbers 07:30 The Importance of Aerobic Work 09:52 Strategic Easier Weeks for Recovery Transcript: Cam Nicholls (00:01.804) Welcome to the RCA podcast designed for recreational and amateur road cyclists with a focus on performance. We dive into cycling training, nutrition, strength training for cyclists and even bike fitting tips all designed to help you train smarter, ride faster and hopefully tear your mates legs off. So without further ado, let's dive into today's episode. Welcome back to the RCA podcast, which is also on YouTube. Today I'm joined by expert bike fitter, Neil Stanbury. And for the first time in a, I think about five years of content, Neil, you're actually going to interview me. It'll be funny if this video gets like five views. Neill Stanbury (00:38.702) The rolls are reversed here. really on something. You mentioned to me off camera, this is a kind of an interesting one, I didn't know you'd been doing this, but you have with your RCA members, you have a service where they found that their performance is stagnated or plateaued. They can actually call you direct and it's a decent length conversation that you often have with them. I'll give it out to everyone. Cam Nicholls (00:58.862) Well, I'm not giving out my number to everyone now. People wouldn't necessarily call me and it's not for RCA members. It's for people that they've definitely plateaued from an FTP perspective. It's a quiz that we've got on our website and I'm not here to promote the quiz. I'm here to talk about what I've learned. But if people want to do the quiz, it's a quiz where people fill out, I think 15 questions, takes three minutes. And then they get a report on where the low hanging fruit opportunities are for them to improve their cycling fitness or to FTP. Neill Stanbury (01:08.376) So not just for members. Neill Stanbury (01:26.466) And you'll have a decent one-on-one conversation with these people to sort of tease out where they might be struggling. Cam Nicholls (01:31.49) Yeah, exactly. So those who fill out the quiz and say that consider some tailored advice or even working with a coach, we then offer a call, which is currently with me because it's like a beta offering we have. Not even on our website, this offering at the moment, because, you know, jumping straight into coaching can feel a little bit daunting for some people. So here's a one hour call and let's identify your low hanging fruit. Well, probably now, like no exaggeration, we implemented this back in the last year. So it's been about six months now. Neill Stanbury (01:50.742) You've done quite a few of these. Cam Nicholls (01:58.99) I've probably somewhere between 70 to 80 calls now with recreational and amateur road cyclists that have hit a plateau and they're probably training somewhere between six to 12 hours per week, depending on the week. Neill Stanbury (02:08.364) And you've learned absolutely nothing and that's the end of the video. Exactly right. You've learned a fair bit from these people, which is what you wanted to share. Cam Nicholls (02:11.598) No, nothing of interest aside And I haven't shared with you what they are, so hopefully, you there might be bit of interest from your Neill Stanbury (02:20.6) You mentioned there were three major things that you'd found? Cam Nicholls (02:23.38) Big things that, I mean, there's lots, everyone's different, but three big things. First one is people are training to the wrong numbers. you've done this before. I thought you would have been probably a little bit more because you've, you know, we've coached you in the past. think once you've been coached and you'd become more intimate with your numbers, it's, know, even if you don't retest, you kind of have a good feeling of where you're. Neill Stanbury (02:27.054) Alright, hit me with number one. Neill Stanbury (02:35.704) I'm doing it right now. Neill Stanbury (02:49.838) I'm terrible. always, you know, I had a bit of a layoff recently with bad weather and illness and stuff and didn't ride much for three weeks and I thought, I probably haven't dropped that much in three weeks. And I have, because when I tried to do some VO2 sessions to the same numbers as what I used to, there was just no hope. So I underestimate how much my numbers dropped back during those periods. Cam Nicholls (03:11.158) Yeah, and look, you know, we wouldn't recommend you go do VO2 work, you know, after some time off, you'd want to give it a good, obviously, if you're doing a bunch ride, you're going to do it or something like that or push with a mate. But if you're riding by yourself, you'd probably want to spend a good six to eight weeks at a below threshold, reestablishing the base. Neill Stanbury (03:26.894) Yeah, I'm too, uh, too impatient for that. I think I did two or three weeks, maybe four weeks of a bit of bass, and then started hitting the VO2s again and um, yeah, they were nowhere near what they used to be. Yes. So, training to the wrong zones, mate. Cam Nicholls (03:29.089) Yes, almost did, Valar! Cam Nicholls (03:41.07) Yeah. And that's ultimately what it means. So people taking an estimate off, you know, their Wahoo or their Garmin or Strava or some people use AI coaching platforms and take a number and nothing against those platforms because they're doing the best they can with the numbers that they've got. But nine times out of 10, the numbers are wrong. And then people are going and doing, I'm going to do this session on the trainer or I out on the road. You know, I watched it on YouTube and then they're actually targeting the wrong areas. Yeah. They're not actually at threshold. They're at VO2 max or they're not actually at zone two, they're actually at tempo, which in turn, and this is probably an underlying cause of a lot of people having underdeveloped aerobic engines. If you're not doing targeted zone two work or if you've never done it before, when I say zone two, from a power context, I'm talking around 60 to 70 % of your FTP. You know, a lot of people, every rider bringing lactate into the working muscles, which disrupts the aerobic adaptation. And then they're never really doing targeted zone two stuff off the back of having the wrong numbers. Yes. So that's the first lesson. you know, really for people out there, you know, the best way to get your numbers is just to do a test. Yeah. You know, as simple as a ramp test, you know, we were a bit more advanced at the RCA where you something called critical power. So that's typically three tests you can do with critical power, but we typically get our members to do a three minute test and a 12 minute test. So you get more of an understanding of the bigger picture. You might be really good at sustained efforts and not so good at the shorter efforts or vice versa. In fact, I had a call with somebody recently. where they're like, why is it, and he'd done a test, he's like, why is it when I do sub threshold work and I'm doing eight to 10 minute efforts, I really struggle. I'm like getting to the end of that eight to 10 and I'm like barely being able to finish the effort. Whereas when I'm doing a three minute effort, I can perform really well. It feels easy actually with my current FTP. Well, it's like, well, most likely genetically you're stronger at VO2 and not at threshold. So having, know, if you can get more comprehensive with your testing, then your zones are going to be... more accurate and your training is going to be more effective. Neill Stanbury (05:38.264) I mean I can relate to that because I'm the exact opposite. So I can cruise along at upper end zone 2 for a very long time without a lot of fatigue creeping in, but I'm terrible once I creep into VO2 or neuromuscular. It's just not. You're a grime. yeah. Yeah, I'm all slow twitch mate. All slow twitch. So it's very much fighting against my genetics to try and do a lot of VO2 and neuromuscular stuff. Cam Nicholls (06:02.286) This podcast is brought to you by the Road Cycling Academy. If you're a recreational or amateur road cyclist and you're stuck on a frustrating performance plateau, feeling like you need some guidance, but you're not quite ready to dive straight into one-to-one coaching, at the RCA we've created something called the 12-week custom plan, which we believe would be your perfect next step. It starts off with an upfront deep dive call with your coach who will understand your goals, your riding preferences, what your not negotiable rides are. and where you want to go, then they'll create a fully tailored 12-week custom plan that is supported over the 12-week period. We believe it's the perfect intermediate step, giving you a taste of working with a coach and experiencing a customized plan without committing to full coaching. Our writers are seeing real results too, and you can go to our Google reviews to see this. Marvin recently shaved over 30 minutes off his graft into Inverrell time from doing the 12-week custom plan. Adam gained 20 watts on his FTP in 12 weeks and 40 watts on his five minute power. And we have riders completing rides that they've failed in previous attempts like Peaks Challenge, all from doing this 12 week custom plan. So if you're ready to break through, head to the roadcyclingacademy.com in the menu system, you'll see our 12 week custom plan and take the first step towards that next level performance. Now let's get back to the podcast. Yeah, cool. Neill Stanbury (07:30.446) So what's number two? Cam Nicholls (07:31.054) Number two is an interesting one. A lot of people are not doing that work before threshold. So if they're doing some structured stuff, you know, they've watched a few YouTube's or read a few articles, they'll typically, you know, think they're doing zone two, even though they may not be doing zone two because they're not doing it exclusively and they may have the wrong numbers, but let's just say they are doing it. They're doing zone two, then they'll go straight to threshold work or VO2 work or anaerobic work, know, 3015s or over-unders. And they're missing out on that upper end aerobic work. So what do I mean by that? I'm talking about tempo work zone three, and I'll put a zone model up on the screen or sweet spot work, which is like high 80 % to mid 90 % of FTP. Yep. Which is in this, you're ironic in the scheme of some platforms, they tend to over index on that stuff, but the general recreational and amateur aren't doing a lot of work there. They're just going straight to the meaty stuff, which makes sense, right? Because that's where you get really fast gains. And that's where there's a lot of content about you know, people want to increase their VO2 max, I'm going to do a VO2 max workout. But the challenge with that is, you know, assuming they're targeting the right numbers is it's very fast acting that work, but also very fatiguing. So people find, and this is why they filled out the quiz and wanted to chat, the plateau. So the idea is, and this is research-based, right? It's the pyramidal methodology where you're spending in a three zone scientific model, more time in zone two, which is that tempo sweet spot. So the key is, And look, a lot of people say, I'm doing tempo work when I'm on my bunch ride or I go out and ride hard, you know, once a week and I'm at tempo. It's not really strategic tempo intervals where it's, you know, lactate in, because you will bring a bit of lactate in during a tempo zone for interval and then recovery and then doing another one and then recovery. And then next week, progressively making that a little bit harder. And then once you master that kind of tempo work, what do I mean by master? I'm talking about rate of perceived exertion so that session feels easier. I can see my heart rate's not drifting as much in that tempo effort and coming down. Then you move up maybe four, six weeks later and you do some sweet spot stuff. And the beauty of that work as well is it's not overly fatiguing. So you kind of freshen up, you build a really strong aerobic foundation. And then when you do get to the VO2 or the threshold stuff, you've got a much better foundation to work from. Neill Stanbury (09:47.874) Yes. Yeah, makes sense to me, mate. Yeah. Very nice. Cool. All what's number three? Number th- Cam Nicholls (09:52.568) Three is, and we've made content on this a lot, is they're just not having strategic easier weeks. So we don't really call them easier weeks at the RCA because that sounds like you're not doing anything. call them adaptation. It's good. And it's as simple as just backing off your intensity and your volume by about 30%. So if you're doing 10 hours a week, you're doing seven hours a week. And instead of doing three intense sessions in your normal weeks, you're just doing one intense session in your easier week. And the idea is you're absorbing the stress from the previous week's adaptation. Yep. And you're freshening up for the next round. So when you do get back into a training week, you're fresh and you can tackle it and you can probably overextend because you've got some freshness. and provided you recover properly, you get fitter from it. So that's a real easy one people can implement without getting too bogged down in the details of training. It's like, every third or fourth week, and I've got mates that do this now who are not interested in structured training, but they just, every third or fourth week, they just back it off a little bit. And they find that's had a huge increase in their performance longer term because they're giving their body rest. And yeah, they can tackle the next weeks with greater frills. Neill Stanbury (11:04.142) Yeah, and cycling, in my experience, cycling fatigue, like the chronic fatigue that you develop from big blocks of training and that sort of stuff, it's insidious. It's not like when you go to the gym and you lift a bunch of heavy weights and your muscles are sore for a few days afterwards. That sort of perception that you're still in the recovery zone is really clear because, you know, your biceps still hurts, your quads still hurt. Cycling is different, isn't it? Where you just sort of, you you wake up and you're like, geez, you got no motivation, you're a bit tired. You get to the end of the afternoon and you want to have a nap. It's insidious fatigue, isn't it? That kind of creeps up on you a lot of the time. It's not as clear cut as the type of fatigue that you get from strength training. it's much, I've fallen into this hole many times over the years. It's much more insidious and therefore harder to sort of know that you're doing it to yourself, you know? And so you have to really monitor those feelings. Cause I'd never really thought to monitor them until I talked to you guys years and years ago about this. And I sort of, I'm now much more aware of it when it's happening. Like, and I think, okay, for me, it's that I either haven't eaten enough, because I have to keep the calorie intake really high. I've got a very fast metabolism, or more likely I'm just a bit cooked from those three big bunch rides I did this week, or that big VO2 effort I did two days ago. I'm much more cognizant of that fatigue now, but it is hard to sense that fatigue feeling for a lot of people, for a lot of people, it's their default state. Cam Nicholls (12:29.806) That's exactly what I was about to say. So the amount of calls that I've had with people and some of them do transition into coaching. And I've said, think I believe you're actually in a fatigue state. No, I don't feel fatigued. I mean, it's not that defensive, but it's kind of like, can tell they're like, what's this guy saying to me? I don't like this guy anymore. Probably haven't been to that. And then when they actually do have an easier week and then they start the training and then they have another easier week and then another one. This is what freshness feels like. This is what actually being able to overextend in a workout feels like. So as you said, it's that body awareness and a great use case to wrap up here. One of our members, Andrew, if you're out there listening, not all our members race, in fact, probably only about 10%, but he races the crits. He came to us, he, well, I had a call with him. He's doing other things as well, like a lot of cross-training stuff. And I said, Andrew, I think you're doing a bit too much. For 46 kids, you know, got a job. And he's like, no, I feel fine. The very first, he started working with Ryan Thomas, our head coach. The very first thing Ryan did with him is like, we're going to back it off a lot this week. We're going to have more than 70%. We're going to go like 40%. He said, I can still go race the crit on Sunday. Hadn't placed in his crit for like six months. What happened? Got a podium, third. Just fresh, just from recovery. And now he's like fully in tune with his body and dialed in and appreciates it. So as you said, his body awareness, it's often not until you come out of that state. Neill Stanbury (13:42.594) This fresh. Cam Nicholls (13:53.288) until you recognise it. So Neil, they are the three things. Neill Stanbury (13:56.174) Very interesting mate that and a lot of it makes sense to me and I can see myself in some of those comments You have to change some of the ways that I'm doing things as well Cam Nicholls (14:03.34) Yep. So if somebody does want to do the quiz and wants to take a call, we'll put a link below and we'll catch everyone in the next podcast and YouTube video. Cheers.
.jpg)
