Hi, I just want to get to 5w/kg or, equivalently to like 350w ftp. But currently I am stuck at 4,5w/kg (315-320w) for 2 years. I am not sure what I am doing wrong.
Cycling for 6 years. But training with a plan for 3. Weighting around 71kg. 34 years old. Healthy diet.
2021 - 220 ftp
2022 - 280 ftp
In 2023, when I started with TR, I went from 280w in Jauary to 320w in August. This was 4,5w/kg. I was sooo happy. The progres was rapid. Since then I am stuck at exactly this number. I am not sure what I am doing wrong.
It feels to me that in 2023 it was ānoobā gain/jump and since then I should slowly improve by something around 5-10w/year. And maybe stop at around 340-360w ftp @71kg. But I donāt improve at all. Even by 1w. I even slightly declined (to 313w this year).
Each year I ride around 400h (+50h weights, +100h cross training like running, skies). Since I got TR, I train always with it, with a training plan focusing on incresing ftp. Usually I do 8-10h/week. In 2024 I even started weight lifting (power lifting) and still I see no improvement in numbers. I am curius if I can hit 5w/kg by sticking to this amount of hours or do you think it is necessary to do something closer to 15h/week? I have to say that in 2024 and 2025 I cut very long rides and focused more on like 2-3h rides and doing TR workouts consitently. I feel that I might be pushing too hard, too much intervals. I donāt know. TR keeps recommending me 3 intervals per week, but I am always not sure when I should swap to 2 intervals when I up time on the bike outside. In base my week is: 2 x SS + 1 x Z4, build: SS, Z4, VO2, and speciality: vo2, vo2/Z4, Z4. Maybe TR plans are not the best tool to get to 5w/kg? Someone acheived 5w/kg with TR plans? I feel that TR is good for noob gains, but without big volume polarised plan, it might be hard to reach 5w/kg. But this is just my guess. What do you think? Can you reach 5w/kg on SS base plan? Alsoā¦ this might be an interesting explaantion of my stagnationā¦ my Z2 range is: 190-240. I tend to do Z2 rides at 230, even for 2h or more When I do 60-90min, I push even 240. Maybe the problem is that I am pushing too hard?I almost never ride at low or even middle Z2. Only occasionally, like once a month, when I do 5h ride with friends.
I am interested to hear how did you reach your 5w/kg or something close to it. Did someone faced stagnation and overcomed it? How? By improving non-training stuff (recovery, diet)? Hours on bike? Did you used TR plans or not?
P.S. Guys, is 6 weeks daily avarage TSS on TR just CTL? If so, my CTL in 2023 when I reached 320 ftp was 70-75. In 2024 and 2025 it was closer to 50-60. Maybe thatās the reason I am not progressing. And even the reason my I am declining. I am just not doing enough work. Although I am not sure how is this possible becasue I feel that I work hard all the time Maybe the problem is that I do too much intervals/too hard z2. Very often I feel I push to the limits, but it looks like that such a method of training does not allow me to hold 70-80 CTL for a long periond of time. Maybe it would be easier on polarised plan. Maybe piramidal requires better recovery than polarised.
Ive done it twice with TR MV plans. Once before my Op, then a couple of years after it. Iām currently hovering about at just over 4 w/kg now Iāve stepped down to a LV plan. It takes volume and drive IMO.
Yeah, I feel the same. That I need up volume. I train like time constrained althlete. Thanks for that advice. I also agree that this is some kind of limitation of TR. It works well for someone who trains around 6h/week, but if you want to do more, these plans become inadequate.
Interesting that you have lost that much. I always thought that when I reach some treshold, like 5,0w/kg, when I reduce training load, I will come down to 4,5, not 4,0. Currently, when I go into maintance mode, I go down from 4,5 to something around 4,0. But probably the higher w/kg, the bigger the decrese is when you reduce training load.
Were you adding something into MV plans? E.g., additonal Z2?
Maybe itās age (50y) and Im riding more for fun than for training (especially in the summer just passed) but Iām sitting at 4.15w/kg at the moment. Whilst I still ride alot (over 9,500 miles this year), I use to ride a lot of extra focused Z2, race TTs and ride with faster groups too.
I would definitely keep trying to mix it up and see if you can get there, but the idea that we can just improve each year forever is kinda wrong. At some point, we reach our potential. Maybe you have reached yours, in terms of FTP? You can still get faster by becoming more durable, more aero, being better at handling your bike, better at race strategy and playing the game. You could always address the kg side of the w/kg equation as well, but that only helps if you keep the watts. Can be done for sure.
Really? So you think there is no limit to your potential as an athlete? None whatsoever? You would be beating Pogi if only you had the time to train enough? Cmon.
I was stuck at 3.9 - 4.0 w/kg for a few years on about 10 hours a weekā¦ 9 months closer to 15-16 hours I got to a peak of 4.6 - 4.7 Great at the time but not maintainable for very long, it eventually just took too much time and commitmentā¦ it became an investment I wasnt willing to continue to make.
Maybe you can get there, I wonder how you will feel if you doā¦ the trade offs and commitment might be not worth it. Its just a number.
I get the wanting more and the desire to improve, Iām just pointing out it can be overrated
I think we mostly agree. I think the OP should keep trying as well and that volume is the first place to start. We agree that if you always do the same thing, you will always get a similar result. And I also agree with you that it is just a number and that it may not be all that fulfilling once it is reached.
I gave a bunch of ways someone could get faster without changing their FTP, but I realize that most people donāt race anyway, so they may not care about those things. The only part I disagree on is the ā99% of people on here are nowhere near their limit and never will beā. There are lots of people on here that work really hard and are probably within a couple percentage points of their absolute limit, so to say nowhere near is a bit much to me. I guess it depends what you mean by ānowhere nearā. If you think everyone on here has another 20% hidden inside, Iād disagree. If you mean, they have 1-2% more they wonāt unlock, then sureā¦that is more reasonable.
So when you did 15 hours and improved your FTP, was it unsustainable to keep it there when you dropped back down? Like couldnāt you just go to 10 hours and ride at the higher numbers?
I have wondered the same thing myselfā¦like if I took a season and just made that my lifeā¦would I be able to maintain those numbers?
That might be the answer for OPā¦to take a few months and put the other activities into maintenance mode and crank up to 12 hours a week cycling. and see if that moves the needle at least a little bit. Then decide if you want to go deeper.
As a side note to OP: as others have said, I know youāre frustrated itās not still going upā¦and I think thereās a way to improve, but with all you do, just maintaining that high level is a win for sure. Not saying to be satisfied, but def celebrate that victory and whatever youāre doing as been working very well. Might just need a small tweak at this point. I donāt think anyone is gonna have the answer for youā¦youāre gonna have to just try a bunch of stuff. ^ volume? different intervals? Less intervals but go deeper / harder? Who knowsā¦thatās your puzzle to figure out. I am looking forward to other peopleās solutions in this thread though. Great topic.
or, equivalently to like 350w ftp. But currently I am stuck at 4,5w/kg (315-320w) for 2 years. I am not sure what I am doing wrong.
Maybe the problem is that I do too much intervals/too hard z2. Very often I feel I push to the limits, but it looks like that such a method of training does not allow me to hold 70-80 CTL for a long periond of time. Maybe it would be easier on polarised plan. Maybe piramidal requires better recovery than polarised.
