How did you 5w/kg+ riders make it there?

Is this what we are calling him now since he’s detraining?

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Thanks for this @mikestarr. I have requested a copy of The Endurance Diet for father’s day :slight_smile: going to introduce Sweet Potato into the diet. Will give the Endurox a crack also. I typically pump a protein based shake after a work but am open to trying the R4.

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Is that 450hrs this year already???

Either way, awesome consistency and progression.

I’m curious to here more on your nutrition/training strategy. My goal has been 5w/kg at 350w/70kg and I’ve since ditched trying to lose the last kg. Hoping to push into the 360-370w range.

I’m finding that eating whatever I want, whenever I want I’m still maintaining 71.5kg almost exactly and feel better, recover faster, and keep getting stronger without interruptions in my training. Putting in 12-17hrs and 700-1100 TSS per week consistently makes eating enough a real challenge if I’m too picky about diet.

That’s 450h expected for the year, not to date. I’ll prob crack 500h in 2020.

I’ll report back on nutrition in a few months. I just started working with a nutritionist and I’m keep a spreadsheet of macros and workouts that I’ll share, probably in November or December once it has some data and I’m hopefully at a new lower weight/bf.

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Gotcha. I’m at around 360hrs so far this year and was feeling like a huge slacker :laughing:

I’m not nearly as numbers driven as you and a lot of the guys here on the forum, but always find the insights to be useful in a broader sense. Currently I’m playing with ditching periodization… Periodization Theory: An Inconvenient Truth

Best of luck on your training. You’re killing it :muscle: !!!

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Yes exactly, dialed down TSS every 4th week. I just followed the High Volume plans to a T. I let Coach Chad figure out all that stuff :slight_smile:

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This is insane. I’m seeing people here that started riding with 3 or 4 w/kg, I started at something like 1.5 w/kg last year and had to fight like crazy to get to 2.5 w/kg; basically 170 watts to 252 watts in about 15 months of riding. My last bump was just 2% after 6 weeks SSB, is it possible for an otherwise healthy person to cap out around 250 watts FTP?

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Reading a few of these has given me an idea to focus on this from November through February. Going to intersperse SS, THR and some 4x8 type of work with the aim of hitting that 5w/kg.

Currently at 4.59. 305 / 66.5kg.

I’d say hitting the 5 would happen by dropping to 65kg and getting my FTP to 330. I’ve not focused on FTP for a while, mostly concerned with shorter efforts but I know I could push to 320, 330 would take some real focus. That’s what winters for though right!

@TRusername, you are what you are, genetics counts a lot as does age. I’m healthy and at 3.6 v/kg with an FTP of 235. Age is against me at 63.
But I have to accept I am trying to retain as much fitness and am still winning age category in road and CX occasionally. If I had TR 40 years ago, I would have been in the 5 W/kg bracket.
Enjoy the journey and riding your bike.

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Body composition is also a huge factor.

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it’s relatively easy to get huge increase in FTP where fitness level are very basic. the body is very grateful. unfortunately the increases become more and more difficult, sometimes in the way of single digit watt increase. That’s when athletes start looking at weight again as another factor to improve.
it takes time, it takes consistency. keep grinding

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Also remember that this is a classic social media thread that creates a very skewed view. Basically only people at 5 W/kg, or close to it, will post in here. It makes it look like everyone gets there, when in truth it is only a small minority. Have a look at the bell-curve of TR users thread to get a better feel for power distribution.

Imo, this and the “FTP increase” thread are among the most dangerous on here, creating the impression that everyone else is making massive progress and its just you who is struggling.

Don’t compare. Keep working, keep riding your bike, keep having fun. You’ll get stronger and then you can have more fun. :smiley:

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Well said. Or put another way, “comparison is the thief of joy” - T. Roosevelt

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Id have to disagree, it’s a thread about how people got to the 5 w/kg goal, it’s not dangerous, everyone knows and Nate has said many times that this level is far beyond what most will ever achieve.

It’s be interesting to see a similar debate about 4 wkg as that should be in range for anyone wanting to dedicate themselves without going to extremes to get there.

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I should have put “dangerous” in " ". But I do think it is, it’s like seeing only beutiful people in advertising. You’re getting the impression that you’re in some way a failure, even if you’re perfectly normal.

Personally I find it interesting, I’ve come to the conclusion that most 5 W/kg riders mainly got to that point by having a low weight. (Which again might be a problem for some people).

I’m not saying close the thread or anything.

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But what is the harm in shooting high? I don’t care if I stay at 4.6 as long as I’m improving, 5 for me personally is just a target for motivation over winter. If I hit 4.7, 4.8 etc that’ll still be great. It won’t have any negative effect on me, which is what I believe you are saying will happen to others if they fail in their quests for 5? :man_shrugging:

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This is true, statistically speaking. Similarly, if this was the “400w+ threshold” thread, it would skew towards the larger guys.

Taylor Phinney is 4.9w/kg. But he also has a 420w threshold.

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I think it’s important with any goal to know what your limiters are, then look at how you either accept them or break them down.

My main limiter is volume, I average less than 6 hours per week, to really up my performance I need to add more as there’s only so much intensity you can do. If I went up to averaging 8+ hours I know 5 would be possible. Having said that I don’t believe 5 w/kg is super important to me, but I’m keen to know what it feels like to be at it and how it affects everything else.

C’mon now, wishful thinking is all we have:wink:

I’m just back on the bike for a bit under a year after five years on the couch. Family, four kids, job, etc. Only ever trained/raced 4-5 seasons ever but finally fell into a place where I’ve got the time and figured I’d give it a go. At this point it’s all for fun, right?

Personally, I’m not hung up on the w/kg number, but being strong overall. I’m around ~4.7 at the moment and could probably smash a HIIT block and drop a few pounds if I really cared about a number.

With my schedule killing my racing plans this season I’m enjoying my consolation prize of swapping Zwift races for intervals and knocking out big rides and taking KOMs with ease. Having fun basically.

Full transparency, I’m 12 months into training, 38 years old, 6’2” 158lbs, put in 12-17hrs/week, current CTL 120. Think I’m pretty fortunate with my genetics, but training my ass off too.

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The heck?! 420w threshold?? That’s like my best 2 minute power.