I did a 20 minute test; more to see where I’m at for HillClimb Worlds, but really I wanted to crack 5 w/kg. To do that, I have to hit 300. I weigh 60kg (132) and somewhere around 10-12 body fat. At 47, that may be my floor (according to some), but I’m hoping to hit 8%.
Hit 288 on a 90 degree day up Highway 38 (Onyx Summit) for 4.81. This puts my mFTP at 4.6. I don’t think I hit it perfect (lost my water bottle 5 minutes in) but I wasn’t going to crack 300.
Since I am probably going to drop another 2 kgs, I’ll have to hit 306 for 20 for the .95 of FTP and 291 for a 20 minute value. Certainly tough but doable.
I am not 5 w/kg – but now that I"m down to 70.5 kg, I’m knocking on the door at 4.89, at 52.
I used to be there – a long time ago. Weight is the big thing. I weighed 152-56 all through my 20s and early 30s, but after getting married and starting a career in 2000, I’ve been up and down down from 152 to 175. I hope I finally have it licked.
As for getting to 345w at FTP (since TrainerRoad uses 8min tests, my best 8min in recent weeks has been 380w – after 20min at 315, so that 380 probably is just about what I could hold for a 2 x 8 test) – increase in training volume. From 2004-2015 I aimed for 500 hours/year. Since 2016 my target has been 600. I haven’t added more interval days or more intervals on the interval days, just training more overall. Along with the weight loss, that’s been it.
After having followed this thread for quite a while and having reached > 5 watts per kg @ threshold I thought I would give some insight into my process and thoughts.
Process:
I have been cycling for a few years now, however have only followed a structured training since winter 2018 with a PM. I also worked with a coach in 2018 until September but have moved to trainerroad since then
In May 2018, I tested 20mins @ 320 in and did almost exactly 305 over 1 hour a few days later, so the 95% of 20 min applies quite well to me for the threshold approximation. Weight was 67kg
Later in the season did approx 320 for an hour. However, keep in mind these tests were done outdoors and on a climb. My power on the trainer is approx 20 watts lower
2018/2019 winter I did traditional base mid volume with a lot of skitouring on weekends, followed by sustained power build high volume and century specialty high volume. Mid May 20 min test @ 335 watts, weighing 65kg, hence slightly under 5 watts / kg
Sunday did my last 20 min test @ 345 watts, weighing 63.5kg. Applying 95% of 345 leaves me at approx. 5.15 watts / kg.
Learnings
You have to love riding your bike A LOT and put in the volume. I ride 6 days per week and would ride even more if work would permit.
Stay healthy. Thankfully, I have stayed healthy most of the season and was able to train throughought the year
Best consistent: ride your bike at least 3 times per week (ideally in a structured manager), even in the off-season, and do other aerobic exercise if you are on travels or similar.
Have your weight under control: As you can see from my increase in watts I was only able to increase my power from last season by a meager 10 watts over 20 mins, the major gain in watts / kg is from my lower weight. Taller riders are obviously at a disadvantage
Thoughts and learnings
You will never the fastest rider out there. Having reached > 5 watts /kg I am still not the fastest rider: I get by but kicked up climbs and blew up on the last climb of my A-race - it just goes faster, hahaha
The urge to go faster never ends: I still want to improve and feel there is potential, however, it just gets more difficult
The doubting never stops: As I reaved > 5 watts / kg also due to decrease in weight (63.5kg @ 181 cm is the skinniest I want to get) I question myself if this is sustainable and whether I will be able to reach these power numbers again next season
Question where to go from here: How do I continue improving. I feel I have a quite strong base and feel comfortable at riding extended periods at sweet spot or threshold. However, my V02 max efforts and sprint efforts really suck. I would like to try to continue growing my threshold by work on supra threshold power. I am open for any recommendations. Plan would be to do sweet spot base high volume with a long mountainbike or trainer ride on weekend. Build I have no clue yet, but most likely I will follow general build, as it has a nice mix of all kinds of efforts.
I hope my experience is valuable for someone out there!
Thank you and well done! Some really useful info in there. Questions - what were your total weekly hours during base, including the ski touring as well as the cycling? Also were you just following the TR plans during Build and Specialty or were you supplementing with extra long rides? Or making any other changes?
Re the VO2 and sprint power I suspect you would find that you could make gains in those areas pretty quickly by doing the Short Power build and Crit Specialty. I was in a similar place to you at the start of the year, had been training for triathlon and TTs and my sustainable power was great, but in road racing I was an also ran. Dropped the run and swim training to focus on cycling, did some higher intensity work and the gains kicked in very quickly.
A typical week in base would be doing the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday workouts, followed by 4-6 hours of skitouring on Saturday and a two hour trainer ride on Sunday.
In warmer weather I always tried to do the weekend rides outside, hence I would substitute one workout for a longer base ride (approx 4 hours) with family or friends but include one or two threshold efforts on the climb. The second workout on the weekend I would simply do as prescribed outside and follow up with another hour of base.
Lastly, what I feel was very beneficial were training camps or extended blocks of training. I spent 6 days cycling in tenerife over Christmas, was skitourig for one week, eight days on a training camp in mallorca, had another hard 4 day block in bormio and was cycle touring in Japan for 14 days. Consequently, I believe volume is really important and getting it in over such blocks is easier than in your day to day life. Just as an info I love cycling and hence dont view these large blocks as obligations but rather something to look forward to!!!
3.6 watts/kg is nothing to be sneezed at. I’m at the pointy end of cat 3/4 races at 3.6-3.7 watts/kg and I can stay with cat 1-2s for a while. You might never get beyond 4, even with perfect diet and many hours of training. So what?
I train and race because I enjoy training and enjoy racing bikes. It’s about the journey, not the destination.
Well done for reaching the magical 5w/kg! Sounds like what have you been doing is similar of what I am planning on (minus the camps, damn you work obligations!).
Would be interesting to hear what’s your background in terms of training. You mentioned you have only trained with structure for such a short time so I wonder whether there’s more to the story.
For those at 5 W/kg, I would be interested to see the weight distribution. My guess it that very few are above 180lbs and that most are in the 145-155lbs range.
@nilsaslak: Here a brief summary of my background:
Always been athletic and done sports, however mostly team, e.g. tennis and soccer. No background in endurance sports. 2008 got interested in cycling and got a mountain and roadbike. Also got a lactate and VO2 Max test done, but can’t find the results anymore. I do remember the doctor said I had absolutely no talent and should first work on my base.
Until 2012 I rode my roadbike maybe once a week, when I decided I want to ride accross the US. Hence did the Trans-USA in summer 2013. Since then been doing a lot more endurance sports, at the beginning running, e.g. marathon, and since 2015 more cycling. However, I always did some kind of cycling, e.g. spinning classes or similar. Also every year since 2013 I have done a longer cycling trips such as touring Alaska, China or similar always with minimum 14 days of riding. I feel the touring has helped with the base. As written above, since winter 2018 been training consistently.
@John_Barclay: I agree with the weight, it has also come to my attention
IMO, the bar has been raised across the board. We’re really only about 10 years or so into structured training for the masses.
Yes, prior to 2010 people trained, but power meters were rare even for racers, TrainingPeaks was just getting started, no Zwift, no real indoor training, and training plans weren’t as refined. All those things add up.
yeah, I had the same thought as I was typing it out. Ubiquity of power meters alone were a game changer. But easily approachable training plans like TR are another level for sure.
I would think that’s a good estimate. I had 5wkg as a goal this season and hit it at my peak, but I’ve actually made a conscious effort to keep some weight on.
Had been shooting for 350w@70kg but I’m now more focused on increasing power and eating everything in sight keeps me around 71-72kg. At 188cm I’m definitely still lean, but seem to recover more quickly and feel “better” in general when I don’t watch my weight.
Weight loss is very easy to get wrong and can definitely derail training and create all kinds of negative side effects in every day life. Weight is obviously important in cycling, but if you’re training enough to get to 4+wkg your body will probably hit its 99% optimal composition for overall performance by that point.
Not sure I agree with your last statement. I can get to 4+W/kg relatively easily (OK, not that easy as it’s a result of 25 years of virtually continuous endurance training, but I rarely drop much below 4 even after a break from cycling). But at similar training volume and FTP my weight has ranged from ~76kg when I’m watching what I eat to ~84kg when I was eating whatever I wanted.
I think your point applies more to running, a high volume of running always seems to make me lean. I think because it’s hard to carry or consume a lot of calories even while running at an easy pace, and running suppresses appetite plus makes me very aware of any excess weight so I naturally gravitate towards eating better. Whereas cycling makes me hungry, I can carry and eat a load of calories while cycling (especially with a cake stop…) and there’s not much penalty to carrying a few extra kg until I do a long climb.
So you are around 4.8-4.9 W/Kg? Nice! 5W/Kg is within reach for you.
I’m around the 4.2 W/Kg area (355W/84.5Kg). With a good training season I feel confident about adding another 10-15 W to my FTP. It’s definitely possible to get myself down to about 80-81 Kg as I’m only about 180cm…providing I can be more disciplined with my diet (but I like beer!).
Thanks! I think it will come. I seem to bounce around in the 4.7-4.9 range, which is fine with me. I was close to that doing lots of sweet spot in the spring and I’ve spent the summer riding more volume but without structured interval training. Barely got to race this year so figured I’d just enjoy myself and ride as much as possible.
It’s my first year training and while I quickly got my aerobic power up my short power left a lot to be desired. I still can’t sprint, but I’ve seen HUGE improvement between 1-10min. Closing in on 9.5/1min and 6.0/10min. Mostly thanks to Zwift racing if I’m being honest;)
