Coach McKinney

16/09/2025

Check out new offer for U18 Cyclists ➡️

🚴‍♀️ U18 Cyclists of Ireland! 🚴‍♂️

Looking to take your cycling to the next level in 2025? I’ve got something special for you, endur. collective’s U18 Coaching Offer: a 12-week, structured training plan built just for young riders who want more than a generic plan, but maybe not full-time coaching (yet).

What you get:

- a fully tailored 12-week plan, matched to where you are now & your goals
- a 30-minute kickoff call to set things up properly
- performance tests & training zones so you know what to work on
- monthly tweaks + email support (within 48 hours) to keep you on track
- options to upgrade or add WhatsApp / call check-ins if you want more contact

Costs & details:

- from £150 every 3 months, plus a £50 sign-up fee
- dynamic adjustments by Coach McKinney so your training evolves with you
endur. collective

If you’re serious about pushing your performance in 2025, this could be just what you need. drop me a message if you want help signing up or figuring out whether this is right for you! 💪

Check out the details here - https://endur.cc/product/u18-coaching-offer-2025 or fill out the Athlete Quick Start here - https://endur.cc/athlete-quick-start

Share or tag someone you know that could take advantage of this offer!

Coach McKinney

02/09/2025

Super chuffed for Colin Clavin taking the win the over 40’s Masters All Ireland TT Championships.

Loads of hard work and preparation went into achieving this result!

If you want to push to achieve national success or even break previous PB’s then give me a shout.

Click the link to fill out the athlete quick start- https://endur.cc/athlete-quick-start/

15/04/2025

Tired of Training Hard and Still Falling Short on Race Day?

Most riders don’t need to train more.
They need to train smarter.

I’ve coached Gran Fondo finishers, national champions, and everyday cyclists using one clear system:

✅ Personalised training
✅ Race-day fuelling that actually works
✅ Recovery that keeps you fresh
✅ Mindset & strength to ride with confidence

Whether you’re aiming for your first Gran Fondo or want to smash your PB, the DYNAMIC ENDURANCE SYSTEM™ will show you how.

🎯 Book a free 30 min strategy call now. Let’s map your next 12 weeks together.

👉 www.dynamicendurancesystem.com/home

For 15+ years, I’ve helped cyclists and endurance athletes, from weekend warriors to national champions, unlock their full potential. As a former elite cyclist, I understand the demands of high-level racing. When injury pulled me off the bike, I doubled down on coaching and turned my experience in...

08/04/2025

Smash Your Next Gran Fondo With a Proven Plan

The 12-Week Gran Fondo Training Plan is built for cyclists looking to ride longer, climb stronger, and finish fast, without overtraining. Whether you're tackling a 100km sportive or a full Gran Fondo, this plan gives you:

✅ Structured workouts (via TrainingPeaks)
✅ Progressive endurance & climbing blocks
✅ Pacing, nutrition, and race-day strategy
✅ Recovery-focused training to avoid burnout

💡 Designed by elite coach Bryan McKinney, this plan is perfect for riders who want a strategic, science-backed approach to endurance training.

🔥 Ready to ride stronger?

Get started today.

https://www.dynamicendurancesystem.com/product-details/product/gran-fondo-plan-12-weeks

21/03/2025

Training doesn’t make you stronger?

Is what everyone says, and I disagree in some ways, because training does make you stronger. And for a period you don't and shouldn't focus on recovery all that much. It is completely fine to do too much and more people should do a controlled overload where they can't take anymore.

That is quite literally the only way to know if you could do more or not. And this isn't over a few weeks it should be over at least 10-14 weeks.

Most cyclists do however undervalue recovery—thinking if they just push harder, they’ll improve faster.

🚨 Here’s what actually happens when you neglect recovery:

❌ You plateau, because your body isn’t absorbing the training load.
❌ Your power drops, because your neuromuscular system is over-fatigued.
❌ You feel constantly tired, but don’t get better, even with more effort.

🔥 How to Maximise Recovery:

✅ Respect your easy days. They’re there for a reason, don’t “half push” on them.
✅ Sleep is KING. No amount of training hacks can replace 7-9 hours of good sleep.
✅ Nutrition post-ride matters. Replenish carbs & protein within 60 minutes of hard efforts.
✅ Monitor your resting HR & HRV. If your heart rate is higher than normal at rest, your body is still recovering, train accordingly.

And if you aren't training 5-7 days a week then I wouldn't worry at all about recovery from cycling, and just focus on recovery from what life throws at you.

20/03/2025

If you train for a Gran Fondo by “just riding more,” you’re setting yourself up to fade.

A Gran Fondo is not just about endurance, it’s about controlled effort. Riders who start too hard and don’t pace properly fall apart in the final 40km.

Here’s what separates the ones who finish strong from the ones who suffer:

🚴 The 3 Key Zones for Fondo Success:

🔹 Zone 2 - Endurance Base → The foundation of everything. If you don’t build this, you’ll be cooked by the halfway point.
🔹 Tempo / Sweet Spot – Sustainable Power → You need to be comfortable pushing effort for long periods.
🔹 Threshold & VO2 – Shorter Climbing Power → If the course is hilly, you need to handle repeated high-intensity spikes without blowing up.

❌ The mistake?

Spending too much time in random unstructured effort, leaving you unprepared for sustained intensity.

✅ The fix:

Structure your Fondo prep so you’re developing all three zones at the right times. This doesn't mean all of these things in the same week. Something that is prescribed a lot, the "perfect training week".

Total bu****it, doesn't exist, and is ever changing for each athlete. You can get closer or further away but a program filled with a lot of random work is never going to get you to where you want to go.

Pacing = Performance.

19/03/2025

Your legs didn’t fail you. Your fuelling & training strategy did.

Ever feel strong at the start of a long ride, but then completely fall apart in the final hour?

That’s not fitness. That’s fuelling.

This can get very complicated quick, but I will leave out the fat adaption part of this and focus mainly on carbs for now. The fat part is in my view, for the people I coach a lot more important, and it might be for you too. The longer your event, the more important it is to be able to metabolise fat efficiently.

🚴‍♂️ The Problem:

❌ Most cyclists under-fuel, waiting until they feel hungry to eat.
❌ They don’t train their gut to handle high-carb intake while riding.
❌ They drink too little, too late, leading to dehydration, fatigue, and performance drops.
❌ Some over-fuel with gels, causing gastric upset and further dehydration.

🔥 The Fix: Nail Your Fuelling Strategy

✅ Eat before you’re hungry. By the time you feel depleted, you’re already behind.
✅ Fuel consistently (30-90g carbs per hour). More intensity = higher carb need.
✅ Hydrate BEFORE you feel thirsty. Dehydration slows down digestion and performance.
✅ Use Salt or Electrolytes, and test how much your salt per hour to dial in the strategy.

If you want to train like a high-performance athlete, you need to fuel like one.

Interests to hear your thoughts, or how you fuel your rides?

18/03/2025

Most endurance cyclists are stuck in the “Junk Miles Trap.”

🚨 They train too hard on easy days and too easy on hard days. 🚨

And what happens?

❌ Constant fatigue - but no real performance gains.
❌ Slow endurance progress - because Zone 2 is always rushed or not dialled in.
❌ Zero top-end power - because intensity is always half-committed.
❌ Group/Club Rides - never pushing hard enough for long enough.

Most riders spend way too much time in the “grey zone”, the effort level that feels like it’s doing something… but actually just keeps you permanently tired with no real adaptation.

This is particularly the case for club riders who just love the club rides. The fitter guys/girls get a much better training effect than the stragglers, who think they have had a 'hard run', and good training.

The fix?

✅ Separate your sessions. Easy rides should be genuinely easy (low heart rate, conversational pace).
✅ When you go hard, go all-in. High-intensity days should be properly structured, short, and focused.
✅ Respect recovery. If you’re “kind of tired” every day, you’re not training optimally, you’re just under-recovered.

I see it wayy too much from coaches, give athletes loads and loads of sessions with intervals with very little recovery in between. It is something you can use, but it is used too much, and totally misunderstood.

Stop wasting effort in the grey zone.

Train with purpose.

17/03/2025

More miles ≠ better results.

If training more always meant improving, every rider who spent hours in the saddle would be elite. But that’s not how endurance works.

Most cyclists plateau because they:

❌ Don't focus on 1-2 specific things - training stimulus is too broad.
❌ Train in the “grey zone” - too hard for endurance, too easy for performance.
❌ Ignore structured progressions - just riding a lot doesn’t mean adapting properly.
❌ Underestimate recovery - fitness is built between sessions, not just during them.
❌ Overestimate recovery - don't stress the systems enough to force adaptations.

Real progress comes from intentional training, balancing volume, intensity, frequency, duration, recovery, and fuelling in a way that forces adaptation without burnout.

It's not just the athlete's fault, the plans and sessions they are being prescribed just don't cut it. If it looks fancy or has a stupid name, its a clear sign something is being covered up.

Follow for more, and il be breaking down some of the most bull s**t sessions I've come across over the years!

Train smarter, not just longer.

Coach McKinney

19/01/2025

Not sure how long this will be down, either very slow or won’t load. Currently unuseable for plans if anyone is wondering.