Solo Q&A episode this week answering 15 audience submitted questions! Lots of topics covered across a broad spectrum, including some light training plan analysis, semi-deep dives into the VO2 Slow Component, tire pressure/temperature dynamics, and more.
Hope something said will help make you faster!
// TOPICS COVERED
(0:00:00) Intro – Solo Q&A: Weight Loss, VO₂ Max & More
(0:00:35) Lose Weight Without Losing FTP
(0:05:00) TrainerRoad Plans for Power & Body Comp
(0:06:25) MTB Starts – Aerobic Fitness vs. Explosivity
(0:12:18) VO₂ Slow Component Explained
(0:16:00) Build Muscle Efficiency with Tempo & Sweet Spot
(0:19:32) Heat & PSI – Tire and Suspension Tips
(0:23:56) Power on Technical MTB Courses
(0:31:28) Training for Older Cyclists
(0:34:58) Cape Epic Prep – Running & Heat Adaptation
(0:42:29) Strength Training Integration
(0:46:02) Little Sugar Tire Insights
(0:48:56) Mixing Cycling with Backcountry Skiing
(0:50:53) Leadville Prep & Race Analysis
(0:57:15) Using Goal-Based Plans in Off-Season
(0:58:51) Zone 2 Intensity – Train Smarter
(1:05:21) Frequency vs. Volume for Fitness
(1:08:33) Why Consistency Beats Perfection
Man….that first question is one of my biggest frustrations with the podcast lately.
If you’re not going to give the guy some advice on how to drop weight, don’t even pick the question. Increasing his 400W FTP 20 watts is going to take YEARS. Losing 10-15 lbs can be done in 2-3 months very easily. Roadman has had some excellent nutritionists on lately that have been wonderful and I left with actionable diet related tips. Raise your FTP indefinitely just isn’t.
That wasn’t my take at all. What I heard was: don’t focus on weight loss to increase your wkg, focus on doing the work you need to do, and run a slight calorie deficit, and the weight will come off, and your wkg will increase. So, perhaps the same practical approach in both scenarios, but the idea would be to focus on burning more calories through activity instead of focusing on diet.
The risk of running deficit before big workouts is degraded performance. What I’ve picked up from the TR podcasts is a modest deficit on lighter days/weeks is ok, but always hit the fat and protein targets. Basically dial back the carbs when you aren’t a meal or two ahead of an intense session.
Yeah, it took me a couple of listens to realize he was mostly focused on contrasting his approach with a “bulk and cut” approach to strength and weight management. That’s why certain things were emphasized and the “calorie deficit” part wasn’t as front and center as I’d expect.
Since I use TR, I don’t have to think much about my workouts. I focus on my calorie deficit (to lose weight), macros (protein to minimize muscle loss and fat for general health), and timing workouts/meals/carbs (to complete workouts and to be able to focus on something other than my stomach).
If something has to give, I’ve come around to the idea of letting it be my calorie deficit. For example, this weekend, I’ll have to do my hard Threshold workout in the morning instead of after lunch. I’ll probably make my peace with eating more carbs at dinner (busting my deficit the day before) and drinking sugar during my ride (busting my deficit the day-of given other plans). But I only get that hard Threshold workout once per week, and I’ve got a lot more days where I can run deficits.
(Although this is somewhat easier for me, since I’m also not solely focused on W/kg. I want to get stronger for crits, but I know that I have a few pounds I can easily drop, so why not.)
I went back and re-listened to see if I missed the point. Nope. He brought up Jonas Abrahamsen…who is 172lbs. The Question was from someone who’s 203lbs.
For most people, it’s great advice to increase your power and it’ll burn more over the course of a training plan but this question came from someone with a 400w FTP. There aren’t many people going to be able to significantly bring that up. That’s bumping up into physiological limits for most people. And I quote Jonathan:
“Instead of trying to lose weight you should just try to raise your power and increase the work you do”.
His other suggestion was to lift weights more. A small caloric daily deficit in the offseason isn’t going to destroy anyone and feels like a much easier road to 4.5 for the question asker.
While this is true, Abrahsmsen was significantly lighter than he is now when he was focused on diet. When he gave that up, he put on a significant amount of weight (if I remember correctly it was 30 pounds, or more), but his power increased disproportionately more than his weight, so he got better.
TrainerRoad team: Jonathan’s “theme” throughout the podcast of scheduling a goal-based plan this time of year focused on Increasing Endurance or Improving FTP through longer-duration tempo/sweet spot/threshold efforts makes total sense to me. However, when I try to build such a plan, I don’t get those workouts at all. In a 12-week Increasing Endurance or Improving FTP, the intervals are often VO2 max, threshold over/unders, etc. Shorter duration, higher intensity. Same with the General Base plans. Where is the plan that has a hefty dose of 3x10s, 2x20s, 4x15s?
Are you using plan builder or the old training blocks?
I used plan builder and have 2 SS, 1 TH right now and the SS are starting on the shorter end but progressing in time. Lot of Venados(5,8, 10) right now but transitioning more to Eichorn(15-20 minutes).
Thanks, Elgro. Yes, that sounds like exactly what I’m looking for. I used plan builder, selected both Increasing Endurance and Improving FTP and neither gave me the types of workouts you are talking about. Out of curiosity, I also explored the Base plans and found the same thing.
What goals/parameters did you use to build your plan? Thanks.
I built my plan for cross country marathon so maybe that’s part of it. Base 1 and 2 don’t have VO2 and base 3 starts to incorporate it. Looks like my build phase is sustained power which I also just did this fall. That’s 1 VO2, 1 SS and 1 Threshold. I really enjoyed that phase this year.
M - Hard workout(SS transition to VO2)
W - hard workout SS
S - Hardworkout Th
Su- Endurance
Thursday/Friday I either do a group ride at an endurance pace or try to fit in a ride at endurance or if work is messing up the schedule I’ll shift W to fit.
Ditto. I also just don’t think some of these details matter that much for all of us non-professionals. It probably only matters if you are already on pushing your training and body to the limit. The rest of us can afford to cut some calories.
Roadman did have a good guest on recently who said that even at the professional level they don’t see cutting calories/weight loss having a long-term negative impact on FTP. This of course assumes they don’t cut too far I’m guessing. But the vast majority of us are not in danger of that!
What I didn’t get from this podcast was for the “MTB starts” part - where the cyclist has good punchy power but not-so-good >5min power or whatever it was, why would you tell him to even out his racing and not put in punchy efforts during the race? I 100% get telling him to TRAIN the longer, lower power efforts because he is weak in that area. But wouldn’t you want to utilize your best skills - in his case, punchy power - during a race? As long as it doesn’t otherwise interfere with strategy.
Never win the weight loss recommendation battle. Get a nutritionist! I used to have one to keep weight on. During Covid to keep it off. She’s zoom based happy to share. Turns out it’s a matter of how I shove in my face
Rodman, fwiw, I guess I am not a fan either. Looks like a follow the podcast and never listen to any. Maybe here is the time. Appreciate all the reasonable debate here.
During plan creation, if you keep the “Training Approach” slider low and increase the total hours per week, you’ll get less intensity prescribed. You can fiddle with the slider and durations to get something more like you’re looking for.
I understand how crazy it sounds to suggest an athlete focus on raising their FTP if they are already at such a high FTP, this athlete has room to improve, so it isn’t out of line to suggest this as a valid approach.
In terms of managing body comp with nutritional interventions, we’ve covered this in depth even recently on the podcast with experts.
My point could have been better communicated, but far too many cyclists think the only lever to pull when incurring a caloric deficit is by restricting calories, ignoring the other side of the equation that represents work capacity. Clearly doing both is best
