I think maybe you missed my real point lol.
I was trying to outline the various specific ways in which increasing volume can be completely unrealistic within a normal life for many (most…) people…
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Jeez. I’m further along that downward slide than I’d care to admit!
As long as you’re faster 
Running not that low intensity. I focus in Sprint duathalons (5k run, 20k bike, 2.5k run) and qualified for age group world champs. 5k PB is 17:54 set few months ago. My runs each week are 1x90 min long run (19-21km) and 2 x60 mins (12-14km) harder runs (v02, threshold runs, speed runs etc)
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[quote=“AJS914, post:69, topic:54303”]
Also, if I wanted to be as fast as I could be I don’t think 20 hours a week of riding would actually get me there. I think 8-10 hours per week or riding, 2 hours per week of gym/core/general fitness, and a couple hours per week of yoga might be about optimal.
[/quote]Circling back to my money analogy: You are just investing in a different method to get faster, but you are still investing time into getting faster/stronger/fitter.
I also do running and rock climbing on top of my cycling.
I mean, if you want to totally ignore what I said, then sure. I clearly said " If you only have $6000 to invest and “If you have $8000 to invest, but want to spend $2000 on a vacation (aka, watching TV), then that is your call to make, and no one can make that decision for you.”
But, sure, take what I say out of context as a defense to not ride more. If you don’t want to ride more, or if more riding causes too much fatigue, then fine.
But…seems like everyone who wants to attack my statement just wants to defend their choice not to ride more while convincing themselves they’ll get the maximum gains. Instead, stop trying to justify your choices and just do what you want.
Anyway, I will bow out of this conversation. Since you can’t seem to get my point, I will stop trying.
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Is it just me, or are more and more people looking for the easy way to getting fast these day? Endurance sports require training, put in the time, you will get results.
The one common thing is that fast people are consistent.
Depends what you say is fast, I know for me i need to do 10hrs minimum a week to be at the level i want to be.
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More and more people are posting that workouts and plans are too hard and they’d rather spend hours and hours on easy rides. It’s their call obviously, but it’s the easy way out.
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I mean if you need to ride hard to feel fast, rock on. I’m going to message Froome and tell him if he wants to beat Pogacar next year he better stop taking the easy way out
I hit 4w/kg on 9-10hrs / week, almost all outside group rides, not really structured at all. Last test was 307w FTP @ ~72kg (4.26w/kg)
Am mixing in more structure now, havent retested recently, but im winning races that i wasnt before, so its working to some extent so far 
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According to Allen and Coggan, 4.0 W/Kg would put you above average for a Cat 3 racer. Friel suggests Cat 3 racers should train 500-700 hours per year which is 10-14 hours per week.
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I think its going to vary a fair bit from person to person, but possibly a good average over the population
What are the maximum hours before you get slow? #kidding #notKIdding
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Wow some people are taking this shit waaaayyyy too seriously.
Getting faster is a time commitment. Everyone has differing levels of time they are reasonably able and/or willing to devote to the endeavor. Asking, and I’m paraphrasing obviously…“how much is enough,” is a totally legitimate question. A smart one, honestly. I think the snarky passive aggressive answers are counterproductive.
Now, obviously there is no hard answer to this question. But to a beginner, a forum with as many experienced riders such as this one should be a fountain of useful information to a person asking that question.
Edit: this obviously is not meant for everyone in this thread…there IS useful information here. Sorry…just turned 42 today. Maybe i’m feeling old/slow/decrepit lol 
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too many unknown variables, mainly your genetic potential.
I got to 4 w/kg (300@75kg) with LV + a little extra, avg ~5 hours per week. Started with TR (not off the couch though) around 250 and took 6 months to get over 300.
Now i’m struggling to improve further, so the current challange is how to get more out of it with a minimal increase in time.
Maybe AT will help with this, but currently, it’s trial and error, specially in build blocks
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My 2p. The twice I have hit 5w/kg I’ve been training slightly less (shorter turbo stints but sometimes more intense) but riding outside more. With longer TR sessions (mid volume) though although my w/kg has fallen to 4wk I think I am more sustainable 
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6 hours a week can allow most people to become reasonably fast. 3 x 1 hour structured intervals - Monday 1 x VO2, Wed 1 x 2x20 SS, Thursday 1 x 4x10 TH plus Saturday 1 x 3 hour outdoor Z2 ride including 3/4 5-10 second sprints for activation and technique. Rest and recover well, add a few % to FTP every few weeks. Take a lower intensity week when you feel you need it.
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#notkidding
tried this. after ramping up to ~20h/wk and keeping this for quite a while I went up to 25-30hrs. mostly LIT. Disturbed sleep and other markers of “too much”. At some point it is too much.
What is interesting to note that pros these days tend to train much less. Compare this to 20 years ago where >25h was the norm. You don’t see this that much anymore.
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I can’t say I’ve ever seen an Ex second row be this quick at running
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First part is to determine what “fast” means… But for simplicity, lets say 4w/kg…
I discussed this with my coaches since I was interested in understanding how so many family dads in the areas with “only” 5-8 hours a week could be so damn fast…
And simple answer was: consistency
So even if you ride a lot, you need to also ride all year round (which these guys do), have some kind of structure (some do TR, but most just do some threshold stuff mixed in with Zwift racing and the rest z2).
Most of these guys have also ridden around 60,000km or more in their career. So seems to be that a few years of consistency and pretty good volume (6+ hours) a week will get you pretty far.
Also, just riding z2 isn’t gonna work, these guys do lots of fast group rides and structured workouts. A polarised approach 
They also seem to do at least one longer ride a week, 4-5 hours.
TL;DR: Consistency over a few years, some structure, longer ride once a week, 6-10 hours.
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very true…the issue is my Sprint speed over 50 yards is about same as my 5k speed!!!