In January and February I’ve done gym work every other day. Barbell compound exercises with low reps.
Every tuesday I do torque intervals (tempo or threshold, 50-60rpm, uphill) that kind of count as strength training.
Goal Achieved.
Group Workout with Nate and Noah last night. Weighed 1 pound less than I did for July’s ramp test, but fluctuated as high as 153lbs in August/September.
Set a 10min all time PR of 375w 5 days ago so I was looking forward to see what this ramp test would show. Usually I always set my 10min PRs during the ramp test but not today.
Training the last 2 months has lost a lot of structure due to switching to a run and swim focus. Week34 was a 1000 bike TSS training camp week. No structure just lots of riding. Week 35 was nothing. And in Weeks 36 - 40 I have done 3 structured workouts and ridden outside 7 times. So 10 rides total.
I wanted to get this ramp test in as I think my performance will start to decline as I’m focusing less and less on the bike training atm.
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I’ve seen you on a couple of threads now.
And I am crowning you the unofficial joker of the TrainerRoad forum 
Extremely good post!
The restriction on food to look like a cyclist was something I did when taking up cycling almost 2 years ago, that probably cost me more than it helped me.
I did powerlifting before and weighed in at over 90kg. I have always been a slender guy (at 6‘2.5“), but lost a lot of power early on, that just wasn’t necessary. I got myself to 69kg, and didn’t feel like progressing anymore.
Switching to eating more, and especially more carbs was, what gave me another boost and got me over the hump.
Also one thing to point out is that people shouldn’t be to obsessed with FTP and testing it, but rather look at the greater picture. Depending on what type of riding you do, but focusing on VO2 Max improvement has done more for my overall riding, than just going after the FTP. Focusing on improving your FTP can lead people to become very good at FTP tests, but not very good at much else (sprints, short efforts, very long efforts, endurance, variability).
Shifting my focus on becoming a better cyclist, rather than a cyclist with a huge FTP did not only help me enjoy riding much more than before, but also improved my performance. My 20‘ max * 0.95 has now also gotten MUCH closer to my actual 1hr max, which I think is what it should really be about, when focusing on FTP improvement.
Nevertheless, @jb0980 your power numbers are massive, really impressive. At 23, there is loads of headroom for you. Have you looked into TTing and, since you appear to be British, hillclimbing? Might suit you well…
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yeah I think ftp is the most overrated metric in cycling. not that it isn’t important, but people seem to obsess about it. I guess that may be because it’s relatively easy to compare and quantify, as opposed to fatigue resistance ect. So many guys have huge ftps but they can’t hold anywhere near them after 3 hours of racing. races are won in the last hour (usually with an effort over FTP) so that’s pretty important…
Thanks very much, I certainly try my best. But not sure they’re that special.
raced a season in France in 2019, and although I wasn’t quite as strong as I am now, I was scrapping for results. Managed a few podiums but got 0 wins. Talent pool is pretty big out there.
I’m more of a sprinter/classics rider so not sure about getting into TTs seriously. Bit of a money pit, and think even if I had all the gear I’d be well behind guys like Bigham, Archibald and Chris Fennell.
Short hill climbs are something I’d be interested in. But currently focusing on building for the 21 road season. Whenever that may be… 
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Reading this now… How far did you get :)?
Interesting question. Took 2019 off due to misdiagnosed medical reasons, and we all know how 2020 played out… Since there was no racing I just focused on gaining watts instead of losing kilos. At race weight I would have hit the magic 5 mark. Maybe next year!
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Finally „officially“ broke the barrier.
With that being under my belt, I am happy to shift away from the „pursuit“ of a certain barrier and much rather be able to focus on improving my cycling in general.
Also, as aforementioned, shifting a little away from weight obsession is a positive also, that I‘d advice most cyclist. Being super lean isn’t the be all and end all in cycling, especially not all the time.
But I do understand everyone standing at X.8 or X.9 W/kg being tempted to drop even more weight, just to make the jump. Just isn’t a good tactic long term (as I expect most people close to 5W/kg to not carry an excessive amount of body fat).
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I don’t know about your age but your power and power/weight profile of year 1 and year 2 seem similar to mine. I have been hovering around 280-285, at 3.2 / 3.3 w/kg, for years, with a training regime that consisted of a short commute and long weekend rides, with some more mid-week riding from spring onwards.
Then the Covid lockdown forced me to train on the turbo. Just doing SS training consistently for 2 months, without a lot of structure and without thinking too much about recovery, upped the FTP to 307. The 20 watts don’t seem like a lot, but I had all but given up hope of ever improving. So yeah to consistency, even if you don’t follow the plan 100%, keeping the load and recovery even will help.
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To directly answer OP’s question, yeah I think people are born very strong but that everyone can make meaningful progress w training.
When I first rode at age 19, I did a 20 min test at 320w for an estimated ftp of 4w/kg (75kg). I had a background of weight lifting and running the 200/400m in highschool track. I got serious into cycling training in college (10hrs per wk avg) and quickly got to 340-350 ftp (maybe in a year). I got into cutting weight and had 5 w/kg at age 23-24 (71kg).
Honestly, I would not recommend trying to cut weight if you’re already lean just to push up your ftp. I was 6ft 165lb before I went down to 155-158. It wasn’t sustainable or enjoyable for me. People rationalize it, but it’s pretty much a mild (if not more serious) form of eating disorder and body dysmorphia. Ended up not cycling for 1-2 years from burnout and losing interest.
Fast forward now I’m 29, 165lb eating whatever I want, and I have ftp of about 360w (4.8w/kg). Still training 8-10hr/wk but with more intensity than mileage (no time w a 9-5 as opposed to college student lifestyle)
I think what beginner cyclists don’t understand is raw power is far more important that w/kg. Your 1, 3, and 5 min power will determine if you make the selection or not - even into cat 1. Very few amateur races (at least in US) have long enough climbs for a 5+w/kg to force the selection. But if you want to be competitive beyond cat 3 you really need to be somewhere in the mid to upper 4w/kg with high 1-5min power.
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Having changed things up a bit over the last 3 months, pretty much all Z2 and Tempo work (7-8 hours a week) I almost hit the 5wkg mark last night after a 20 minute FTP test.
Those numbers put me 4.91w/kg. I did feel that I left some on the table and could have added more with 5 minutes to go but its always a knife edge isnt it. Although I plan to drop away from proper structure I am going to do some sweetspot / threshold over the next month (combined with some Z racing) then test again in another 6 weeks to see the impact. I may even be able to drop a couple of pounds too.
I really do feel that doing Z2 and Tempo has made me much more efficient, I have never really gone through a proper base phase before, its been a nice change and I can see the benefits.
5 w/kg next!
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Yeah, gotta agree with a lot of points, especially the focus on W/kg being too high, when W/CdA will likely win most races.
In 2021, my A+ race will be a super mountainous stage race, where W/kg would actually come to play. However, even here FTP is just part of the picture. Many races are several hours long so being able to recover between hard efforts, and being able to pace yourself over long events might be a lot more important than just having 4, 5 or even 6 W/kg for an hour once…
My conclusion is, that W/CdA is important for almost all races, W/kg can be important in some races, but it should all be considered as part of a greater picture.
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5 W/Kg aspirant here.
Peak was around 4.5 late 2017 then my daughter made her appearance and it all fell apart. She’s 2.5 years old now and finally I’ve worked out a training schedule that seems to fit family life.
Sitting at a lowly 3.5 currently but hopeful for what 2021 will bring.
Im posting this to try to add some accountability for myself. I will check in and report back progress.
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Glad to hear you got some positive results with 7-8 hours of endurance and tempo. I’m hoping for some positive adaptations with similar weekly hours. Like you I have to admit after 15+ years of riding I’ve never once done proper base training. Looking forward to the results. I touched on 4.4 w/Kg last season so 5 isn’t completely out of the question with better consistency.
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Ha ha, that’s a nice joke mate, but what’s the real secret?
Did you do polarized or pyramidal? Were you 80/20 or 70/20/10 or 65/25/10?
Did you do 30/15 or long VO2Max? Did you do hard start intervals?
Did you do SS at 88% or at 90 or 94%?
Did you do Zone 2 rides at the bottom, the middle or at the higher end?
/Sarcasm off
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@KlemenSj ( This may seem a bit sad but I collate all of my data into a spreadsheet, and here it is ( the bottom set of data are my numbers from last week and each row above is the week prior))
I terms of training I am a fan of the polarized approach but don’t often do efforts under 2 minutes in duration ( Efforts ranging from 3 - 20 minutes, and 95 - 110% of FTP are my bread and butter )
I am also a fan of lots of Z2 work
Hope this helps
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^^ purple represents a season PR and green an all time PR ^^
I haven’t entered this weeks data yet either - as I have a long ride today
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Thank you for posting this @Charlie_Botterill, I was actually being sarcastic about some users here on forum who focus too much on that 1% edge and all the tiny little details instead of looking at the big picture and actually getting the 99% of the training done.
Like you mentioned, there is no magic bullet. It’s consistent structured work over a prolonged period of time.
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Was that an outdoor or indoor ride? If outdoor, I’m more astonished at your ability to have such a clean separation; when I try to ride polarized outdoors there’s inevitably a lot more messiness in the zones.