Podium Training Endurance Cakes

We're big fans of fueling and recovering via plant-based nutrition, and utilizing whole foods whenever possible is even better.

For long rides - whether you’re on the road or on your trainer - we've developed our own version of a savory rice cake. The texture is a little softer than your traditional energy bar, so it's easy to chew and swallow. It's full of good whole grains, quality protein, and with the addition of quality micronutrients (Omega-3, Omega-6, and amino acids), this could be your new go-to endurance bar. It also makes a great recovery snack.

It’s a riff on the ever-popular rice cakes recipe. But it’s vegan, and all whole foods.

Podium Training Endurance Cakes

  • 2 cups cooked sweet brown rice

  • 8 oz tempeh bacon

  • ½ cup walnuts

  • 1 tablespoon ground chia seeds

  • 3 tablespoons water

  • 2 tablespoons liquid aminos

  • 2-3 tablespoons maple syrup

Directions:

Cook the rice via your favorite method.

  1. Place the cooked rice in a bowl.

  2. In a food processor mix the tempeh bacon and walnuts. Just a quick, course, chop - we want a little texture here. Transfer to bowl with the rice

  3. Wisk the ground flax seeds and water together. Pour into the rice mixture

  4. Add in the liquid aminos and maple syrup. Mix the ingredients together.

  5. Transfer the rice mixture to an 8 x 8 inch square pan, press out to about 1 ½ inches thick.

  6. Cover and place in refrigerator to cool. Once set, cut into bars and wrap individually. 

Screen Shot 2018-02-09 at 1.31.44 PM.png

Does Being a Successful Athlete Make One A Good Coach?

Just because someone was a pro or elite athlete doesn’t mean they can turn that around and apply sound training philosophies to someone else.  I’m not saying it can’t happen. There are great coaches out there that used to perform at the top level that I completely respect.  But that shouldn’t be your single determining factor.

It's not hard to throw volume at someone and build the endurance to finish an Ironman. But, creating a plan that builds endurance while incorporating quality and intensity to reduce the effects of the physiological limiters of the athlete.  A plan that provides improvements in economy – all while ensuring that periodization is dialed in.  This is what you need to see.

Read more

Workout Wednesday - 27 November 2013

We've been focusing on speed and speed endurance over the past couple of weeks, so this week we bring the heart rate down a bit back into Zone 3 as we focus on aerobic endurance.  And remember, Zone 3 isn't necessarily easy.  A high Z3 heart rate can still require a good effort and output.



Where speed and speed endurance help with overall pace, as well as the ability to clear lactic acid, aerobic endurance is the ability to do the distance.  Everyone needs this. Even if you know you can swim a specific race distance, it's always good to add an endurance set.  After working on speed and speed endurance, a good endurance-based test set is a great way to gauge improvement and regression rates.

I like to ensure that I build out each week to include an aerobic, speed, and speed endurance based workout.  Then, you can double up on whatever specificity is required based on the needs and limiters of your athletes.

This workout is written for SCY and runs about 1:30 in duration.  The times here were targeted for a lane at my swim club where the base 100 times are - at an aerobic effort - 1:15-1:20.  So in this instance you would get about :30-:35 seconds of rest, on average, between each effort in the main set.  Be sure to have your athletes (or yourself) check their heart rate during the rest interval to ensure it's not getting into their threshold zone.  (Just have them count for 6 seconds and multiply their HR count by 10....or just add a zero to the number.)

Warm up:
300 easy.

4 x (50-75-100)
On :50, 1:15, 1:40

8 x 150 pull on 2:15

Main set: 
3 x 300 on 4:20 / 4:30
500 on 7:05
3 x 300 on 4:20 / 4:30
500 on 7:05

Cool down:
200

4400 yards.

When I'm doing longer aerobic sets, I like to mix up the distances during that set so the athletes don't get too bored, as well as changing the duration of the aerobic output. Granted, on occasion there will be a longer set of 500's or 800's, but I don't throw these in too frequently.

Should you have any questions about this set - or any other set that I've published - please feel free to leave a comment and I'll get back to you ASAP.