Couch to Crit season 2

Training
22

Have you just read my mind?!

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353 was the 20min number and 335 was the 95%.

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Genes make up a big portion of it. Just happy over here hitting 288w ftp 4.1wkg) after a few years after getting into cycling after a life of being sedentary.

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Itā€™s absolutely genetic and probably mostly VO2 max based. If one has a naturally high VO2max, they are going to reach a certain level quickly.

Iā€™ve seen an ex-pro I knew (rode grand tours and the Olympics) go from 10 years at a desk and 30 extra pounds to lapping very competitive masters 1-2-3 fields in six months. Most riders, no mater how much training, will never ever be able to solo off the front and lap the field.

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Hey, Iā€™ve been at a desk for at least 10 years, have 30lbs to lose, and let me tell you I could easily get lapped in any race - so take that! LOL

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You can take a look at EJā€™s strava and see heā€™s been putting in some monster weeks in terms of saddle time + heā€™s young + appears to have high VO2 max. I get where you are coming from, but most of us canā€™t make cycling our full time job like he basically has the past 7-8 months. He was also a collegiate baseball player so being around high level sport isnā€™t completely foreign to him.

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28

A 1500+ watt sprint doesnā€™t hurt either! Ok, this guy is not the couch potato that was presented, clearly he his has some past fitness and great genetics.

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He was a competitive pitcher. So thereā€™s a lot of prior lower body strength that is helping him. From previous Ask the Cycling Coach, we know that muscle nuclei has a 1/2 life of 15 years.

Heā€™ll be a marked rider from now on so weā€™ll see what happens.

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31

Itā€™s kind of nuts they donā€™t put ā€œCouch to critā€ in the title of the videos. Why make it so challenging to find? And to identify which videos on the channel are in this series.

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32

Did anyone mention genetics :joy: How about youth ! And genetics genetics genetics. No one gets to be high level collegiate athlete without great genetics . All this hard work will get you there stuff needs to be taken with a grain of salt from your genetic spoonful .

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33

I cant help but really like this EJ character! He went from certifiable dad-bod to an absolute weapon in no time at all.

14 hrs a week is pretty nuts, certainly helps when your employer is a top notch cyclist and your new job is to get fitā€¦ and I say that out of jealousy, not spite!

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