FasCat Coaching Develops the First AI Technology to Coach Endurance Athletes Using Workout and Wearable Data
BOULDER, CO, Feb. 12, 2024 – Frank Overton, the former molecular biologist, has finally found a way to clone himself. Now a renowned cycling coach and founder of leading coaching service FasCat, Overton has helped cyclists at every level achieve their greatest potential. But he's long struggled to provide detailed analysis and feedback to all FasCat's athletes in a timely manner.
"In my time as a coach, I've analyzed more than a million workout files," said Overton. "And while I know that each file I examined allowed me to help an athlete improve their fitness and reach a goal, I was never able to provide as much feedback as I wanted, or as quickly as I wanted. It just takes too much time to examine each file."
To allow Frank to better serve more athletes, FasCat is proud to announce the new AI-powered CoachCat, developed to coach cyclists and endurance athletes with their workout and wearable data. This new tool has been trained on a proprietary data set developed by Overton and his team to give athletes immediate feedback within the FasCat App, the moment their data uploads. CoachCat detects new thresholds and analyzes workouts to tell athletes how to keep improving.
This kind of personalized feedback was previously only available from a personal coach, a service that generally costs hundreds of dollars a month. Even with a personal coach, it could be days before an athlete would get feedback and analysis from their coach. CoachCat now offers instantaneous feedback, at a fraction of the cost.
"We've taken my 20 years of coaching experience, plus millions of workout analyses we've given to coached athletes, and programmed it into CoachCat. This enormous data set allows CoachCat to give athletes the same kind of feedback I've given to riders like Vuelta a Espana winner Sepp Kuss and King-of-Strava Phil Gaimon, a current client. Best of all, CoachCat is always available to immediately offer reassurance that an athlete is on track, or to guide an athlete toward better fitness," said Overton.
CoachCat asks athletes how they are feeling and how their workout went to give athletes further coaching insight beyond their data. The athlete-CoachCat interaction is used to adjust & suggest future workouts in order to help athletes adapt their training to their busy lives.
FasCat is also the only training platform that evaluates both athletes' workout data collected by a cycling computer or running watch, and wearable data including HRV and sleep, from Apple Watches, Whoop, Oura, Garmin, Fitbits and other wearables. Together, this data set gives athletes a holistic evaluation of their readiness to train – or need to rest. CoachCat is a performance coach, sleep coach, and recovery coach all in one, and is always available, right on an athlete's phone.
CoachCat is available as a standard part of the FasCat training platform. A subscription costs $34.99 per month, or $299 annually, and delivers a level of training similar to a personal coach who would charge hundreds of dollars per month.
About FasCat Coaching
FasCat Coaching, based in the endurance sports capital of Boulder, Colorado, is developing the most affordable, most fun and most effective endurance training solution in the world.
FasCat's training plans have earned more than 1,000 five-star reviews, making it one of the best-reviewed training services available. FasCat also offers one-on-one customization with highly trained coaches who have raced at the professional level and pride themselves on high levels of communication and data-driven analysis. Click to read more about FasCat's Core Coaching Values, and learn about training by listening to the FasCat Training Tips Podcast. Learn more about CoachCat here.
About FasCat Founder Frank Overton
Frank Overton, is a former molecular biotech and spinal cord researcher with degrees in biology and physiology. Overton, who raced at the professional level, founded FasCat in 2002 and has guided a wide variety of athletes and teams like the U.S. National Team, the Priority Health Pro Team, and the University of Colorado Cycling Team to scores of individuals from professionals to amateurs. Overton also contributed to the creation of the Performance Management chart now used by TrainingPeaks, Strava, and others. In addition to inventing sweet spot training, OTS, and the Optimized training-to-recovery balance metric, Overton holds US patent #7202067 for discovering a gene in a proprietary algae to produce nutraceutical supplements.
